Do GDF have a marketplace?

Throughout my 30-year career, I have consistently dismissed designs stored on external drives. While they are not inherently flawed, they often fail to meet the client’s immediate needs. Typically, I manage to sell these designs without issue, but I believe it would be beneficial to create a dedicated space where designers can showcase their work on this platform. While it’s not a necessity, I think it would be a valuable resource for both students and professionals alike.

I’m sorry, but I’m confused.

GDF is a low-budget forum running out of low-cost commercial software. Unfortunately, we’re not able to compete with Pinterest or Behance.

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Yeah, I am a little confused, too. Are you looking to share work you’ve done just for the sake of sharing it or to offer inspiration to others? If so, I don’t see why we couldn’t have a thread dedicated to sharing work. I’m not sure what sort of traction it would get, but there is no harm in trying.

The first part sounds like you are looking for a resource for things to use for your projects.
ie a Marketplace for designs to ‘use.’
The second part sounds like you are looking for a refrigerator door to post your work.

Are we doing something other than the Crit Pit and Student Critique and locking the thing so no one can comment?
Like B and Steve-o, I have no idea what kind of traction a “Look at Me” thread will get. I know I can’t post there due to client NDAs and no-post agreements.

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@Just-B @Steve_O @PrintDriver I apologize if my earlier post wasn’t very clear. To sum it up, I wanted to ask if this community would be interested in having a dedicated space where members can showcase their artwork for sale.

For example, an artist could share something like:
“I created this illustration of a kangaroo! If you’re looking for something like this, it’s available for $99.”

The idea is to provide a place for artists to display their work, set a price tag, and connect with potential buyers.

Does this sound like something the community would enjoy or find useful?

Oh! I was just thinking aloud, inspired by this wonderful community. I’ve been browsing and love seeing how everyone helps each other, especially those who are learning design. I had a thought about creating a space where people could showcase and sell their work. Just wanted to start a friendly conversation about it. I hope everyone understands my positive intent!

It sounds like you are describing a stock agency. Like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStock, etc…

Creating an additional forum section where people could post examples of their work is possible, but I’m unsure how useful it would be.

The software on which the forum runs, isn’t very flexible. It’s software meant to facilitate threaded discussions. A dedicated part of the forum for people to display their work would need to exist as threaded discussions with replies turned off (to keep it from duplicating the Crit Pit forum.

I’m unsure how useful this would be since each new design example would drift off the bottom of the page in a few day. There’s no way to set up something like Behance or Etsy because the forum software doesn’t make it possible to manage, arrange, and update existing design collections based on user accounts.

As @PrintDriver said, most professionals wouldn’t post their work here since they typically don’t want to post client work online without the client’s consent. In addition, most professionals on the forum are here to discuss things, not show off their work.

I have a gut hunch that a dedicated part of the forum for posting artwork would turn into a spot for crowdsourcers to advertise their work, which we don’t want since it might undercut the purpose of the forum being a spot for professionals, students, and serious amateurs to discuss design-related issues.

Maybe @RedKittieKat has an opinion to share.

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That’s what stock sites are for.
Or Deviant Art.
Or Etsy.

Graphic design is so specific to the project and the client that someone’s posted ‘art’ isn’t likely to hit the mark.

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I truly value your perspective.

I was referring to specific illustrations or distinctive assets that other designers may need or want for different projects.

That’s an excellent observation. That would be truly dreadful.

A thread could be started with art for sale and then have the commerce take place outside of GDF, but I see two downsides with that. One, it would likely be a spam magnet. Two, given that a search for kangaroo illustrations on Shutterstock resulted in over 41K results, Shutterstock or iStockphoto would continue to be my go-to sources.

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Yup, my thought is there are existing sites/markets that most people here already use and or have an existing relationship with. GDF isn’t set up to be that sort of site.

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Sorry, not a fan of anyone trying to upsell their work here.

There are plenty of sites for that. We are the folks who make the things, not the folks who buy the things :wink:

We welcome members to post a link to their portfolio if they would like to show off their work. We also have a section for work to be critiqued. If you would like to start a thread for posting images to show off your skills with NO pricing involved, that is fine as well. However as it’s been mentioned, you may not get many participants as most have NDA’s with their clients. We used to have a classified section for potential clients or designers looking for work and it was always more of a pain than it was worth.

That’s my take on it :wink:

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On a side note I wondered why I had a small cake icon near my name (and @RedKittieKat name too). Apparently this was the anniversary of the day we joined which isn’t surprising as many of the original GDF forum members signed up on or around the same time.

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That is correct :smiley: … Happy Anniversary!:cake::partying_face:

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Do designers buy other designers’ work?

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I hope my response is received in the friendly spirit it’s intended. This is meant to be a constructive conversation for mutual learning and understanding. I’m sharing my thoughts respectfully and am open to different perspectives:

I have collaborated with many designers. There are great agencies and design firms seeking fresh perspectives beyond their own, and I’ve been contacted for exclusive contracts by designer friends who understand their strengths and weaknesses. Currently, I’m collaborating with a good friend on an app’s UI using Figma, and I also have a comic book panel project needing backgrounds. Thinking that we don’t need each other in this industry is somewhat presumptuous - people choose who they want to work with, and competition can be harmful for everyone. For instance, if I like a particular style, rather than trying to copy it to please a client, I reach out to the designer and offer collaboration. If they’re interested, we can work together. If they decline (sometimes designers focus more on which companies are in their portfolio), that’s perfectly fine. In short, designers do purchase other designers’ work, collaborate, and share projects. In my experience, it’s quite common.

They are, and I hope our responses are received in the same way.

I don’t think anyone is saying that designers don’t collaborate or that art directors don’t look for and contract with designers for one-off or ongoing projects. Like many here, I’ve been on both ends of those arrangements.

You previously mentioned the example of someone posting an illustration of a kangaroo for $99, so I think the responses have been with that sort of thing in mind. There are much better places to look for artwork — places that specialize in exactly that on websites specifically designed for that purpose, such as Getty images, iStock, Envato, and others.

This forum is primarily for designers. People looking for serious designers should search websites like Behance or LinkedIn for talent.

If we created a section on the website where anyone could post examples of their work, it would be filled with amateur work from designer wannabes posting their crowdsourcing and contest work. We don’t want that and don’t have the resources to curate what would be accepted and what wouldn’t.

There are no paid employees here, and the traffic is relatively low. The resources do not exist to overhaul this website into something that could compete with larger companies specializing in various niches connecting creatives with clients.

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I completely understand. Thank you for showing me that this community is a place where we can all enjoy and learn from each other’s comments.

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