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Comment by meritt | Hacker News Reader

I don't feel they are taboo at all. It's an affordable way for someone to get a lot of opinions and attempts at a logo. I don't think it's a good use of my time to spend the effort finding a talented designer, waiting for them to produce things, go through the revision process and end up paying 10x versus what I do on 99designs. I absolutely understand the level of quality is arguably lower but when I just "need a logo" to have something to work with, I'm more than happy to utilize crowd-sourced efforts like this.

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Taboo doesn't mean bad. I have had several great experiences with 99designs, but I don't bring it up in casual conversations with designers I know, much like people that have had good experiences with prostitutes don't mention it on dates. I do think 99designs has become more taboo over time. That being said, stackoverflow is a community site, so a community designed logo fits the business.

>"I do think 99designs has become more taboo over time."

Only on a site like HackerNews. Everyone I've shown 99D to thinks the idea is great (as do I).

I don't understand why designers care one lick what other designers are doing for work. I don't begrudge people for using AirBnB instead of a hotel, or using Uber instead of a normal taxi.

The difference is if someone doesn't choose to stay at your AirBnB, you take no loss. If someone continuously works on design competitions, they could walk away with nothing for hours of work.

I guess some people feel it is taking advantage of the less fortunate, but everyone knows how it works going in; for this reason I can't quite share the same disgust.

That's why I only use sites like Guru and vWorker. Development companies charge way too much for their work and take way too long. Seeing the attitude of devs on HN only solidifies my view: no, i'm not going to let you charge me to waste the day away with "daily billing," and no, I'm not going to pay for your day off and wait longer for my project just so you can have 4-day work weeks.

There is a big difference between outsourcing a logo v outsourcing software. For one, you can see everything you're paying for on one screen and there's no timeline issues etc. You get a finished product and it has a fixed scope.

Now, the logos may not be as good as done by a true design company, BUT, unless you are a big B2C brand, nobody cares what your logo is like.

However, if you're having a critical piece of software written for your business, then clearly you need to care about that - outsourcing may or may not be the best option, just as using 99designs for a logo may or may not be the best option.

The distinction here is that few of us will think you're a jerk for taking that approach. It's a completely valid one, in my opinion. I think it rarely leads to success, but if it works for you, go nuts.

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