Squarespace Logo launches, stirs controversy
Squarespace is known for making high-end web design accessible to entrepreneurs and small businesses better than most of their competitors. This week, they launched Squarespace Logo, a simple, minimalistic online logo designer to accompany their existing suite of tools. The launch caused quite a stir in the graphic design community which reacted vehemently, particularly through social networks.
The drag and drop tool was mocked by designers as a bad concept. Paul Wright at RubberCheese.com said, “I often think ‘it would be cool to be a pilot.’ In my spare time, I’ll play a computer game on a machine which allows me to fly around and pretend to be one. It’s great fun, but if you was to put me in the pilot seat of a real plane, I would just crash and burn. Most people believe they have a bit of creativity in them, but it doesn’t mean they are designers, and they certainly shouldn’t pretend that they are.”
Wright sounds exactly like many, many other designers who aired their grievances online, and it is understandable, as some saw it as a threat. But not all designers mocked the tool, which is interesting given the rise of the logo design contest websites, Fiverr.com and the like, but perhaps the fact that so many designers host their websites through Squarespace, they felt disintermediated and betrayed. That makes sense.
And then the mocking designers were mocked
Being upset by #squarespacelogo is the equivalent of rioting against Nike for selling running shoes at the mall.
— Thijs Remie (@thijsremie) January 24, 2014
Loving all the designers melting down over #squarespacelogo in one tab while they browse stock photos in another tab.
— Clayton Cubitt (@claytoncubitt) January 22, 2014
But maybe it’s actually helpful?
People are really upset about #squarespacelogo, but I say it's amazing. It gives the entrepreneur with no money an opportunity to grow.
— Edreece (@edreezus) January 24, 2014
Some designers supported the tool
Tina Roth Eisenberg is a Swiss designer in Brooklyn who opines in her industry blog, “Never forget: The web is a place of abundance. There will always be folks that appreciate the importance of a custom tailored brand. So, designers, take a deep breath. It’s all good. There’s a place for basic tools like Squarespace Logo *and* for your craft.”
Eisenberg adds, “And, next time we want to ridicule someone else’s labor of love, let’s all remember this great talk by Jason Santa Maria [below].”
dcphoto
January 27, 2014 at 11:15 am
…seen it all before in the photography field… once upon a time there were commercial photographers that would make a living with assignment work. Content aggregators came in and licensed millions of images from photographers who missed reading the details of these deals. Their work now is a commodity, diluted in the sea of millions of lesser work… Few of these photographers remain gainfully employed. The ones that do now see photography as a second job. Now that the standards have been lowered Stock agencies do not worry about a lack of photography talent… To the rescue Flickr and other social media sites that provide C class photography at the right price (free).
Creativity dies when it is sold in bulk. The very people that make the tools (Adobe, SquareSpace, etc) are the ones that see a short term opportunity in displacing creative talent and selling their wares by the container. In a world of competition there is little space for arguments like “there will be discerning customers willing to pay for talent” – NO. These discerning customers live in a competitive environment and they cannot afford to do the right thing if that raises their costs and jeopardizes their competitiveness.
It is up to designers, photographers, artists and the associations and groups that represent them to send a message and start doing something about this. My guess is that will never happen since they operate as small islands. The increasingly rare fruits of their creations will become extinct.