A Perth graphic designer has unveiled a website for design projects that aims to address many of problems with intellectual-property theft that swirl around competition-based sites.
Klick360 plans to emerge from beta this month after four months of public testing. The site currently has about 500 registered designers, according to Jamie Russ, site founder and the director of Aurora Art & Design. Russ assembled Klick360 with web developer John Lombardo.
Here’s how Russ’ site plans to set itself apart in a niche that faces persistent questions about copyright violations, inconsistent ratings for entries and satisfactory results for the design client.
- Russ starts by pointing at himself. He says he has more than 15 years of experience in working with designers and design clients. “We believe that … will lead to a better overall user experience,” he says.
- Klick360 allows registered users to lock possible copyright violations posted to contests. Registered users can then vote on whether the entry is, indeed, a copycat. Only Klick360 administrators can remove the lock, pending the vote outcome and the nature of the possible violation. Russ says that in beta testing, the tool “worked better than we expected, resulting in having a few copyright violations removed promptly and efficiently.
- A client who is not satisfied with the entries at the contest deadline can extend the deadline four times at no extra cost. Klick360 will offer the client advice on how to improve contest result, based on how the first week went.
- Instead of the four- or five-star system used on design-contest sites, Klick360 employs a system similar to a traffic light. A “green” vote means the entry is considered excellent. Yellow means “good, but needs work.” A red vote means “sorry, not what we wanted.” Russ said the star system confused many clients, who would not rate many entries or, worse, not rate anything at all.
- A “versioning” system slims down the number of total entries. A designer initially can submit three contest entries. A yellow rating on any entry mean the designer can resubmit it, based on the client’s feedback. “This saves hours of work for both client and designer,” Russ says.
In a competitive landscape, amid designer ansgt that such sites undermine local design communities, we’ll be watching Klick360’s progress with interest. Is another crowdsourcing website good for the design industry?
