Crowdsourcing for design-related projects has never been a popular means to an end as many designers would argue it leads to an ineffective final product as a result of droves of designers fighting tooth and nail to win a project while appropriating – if not outright stealing – other’s work.
As there seems to be an exception to every rule, in a recent crowdsourcing effort by Chiquita, the company has proved that crowdsourcing can yield some great results when it’s used properly.
From the contest’s beginning in June, designers were asked to submit sticker designs which were then voted on by viewers. Fans submitted more than 100,000 votes for the top 50 design finalists. Understanding that the fate of their designs were in the hands of a large audience of viewers, designers posted their entries on Facebook and other social media sites to garner as many votes as they could (one of the winning designs garnered over 7,700 votes). The top 18 were declared the contest winners and will their designs will be popping up in stores across the nation this November.
“For nearly 50 years the familiar blue sticker has adorned Chiquita bananas… now consumers and fans alike are part of the Chiquita story by helping design and vote for stickers that join the symbol of our company.” (Tanios Viviani, president, global innovation and emerging markets chief marketing officer, Chiquita).
So why did this crowdsourcing effort work when so many other have failed? The typical crowdsourcing project, whether it be for a corporate identity, brochure or website, has shown to severely undercut and discredit the work of participating designers. Unlike other crowdsourcing projects, designers had much less to lose by participating while enjoying the added bonus of increased exposure to hundreds – if not thousands – of viewers. How many crowdsourcing competitions can you name that have encouraged such a high degree of public involvement?
“I eat bananas every day before I sit down to work at my computer. Basically, bananas plus a graphic design contest equals magic.” (Max I., a contest winner from Chico, CA.)
View all the winning entries for yourself at www.eatachiquita.com/sticker-contest/winners.aspx and keep an eye out for the new stickers adorning Chiquita bananas this November.
Scott Creative and the On the Grid Blog 