↵

Squarespace announces new logo builder(blog.squarespace.com)

9 years ago from Seth Kasky, Designer at Deskpass

  • Todd Smith-SalterTodd Smith-Salter, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

    This really bothers me. These guys should know better than to devalue what others in the same industry do for a living.

    15 points
    • alec salec s, 9 years ago

      100% agree. :(

      1 point
    • Joe BarberJoe Barber, 9 years ago

      I disagree.

      Think of it this way: Have you ever had a family member ask you to make a logo for them, but you don't the time/drive/desire/whatever to do it? Send them to Square Space. They were never in the market to pay designer to develop a brand for them, they just want a cheap logo that looks good.

      I do this all the time with websites. I hate making things for friends or family because it always ends up being way more time than I want to dedicate and can ruin an otherwise good relationship.

      But I know if I send them to square space they're going to be able to build the site themselves, and it's not going to look like a pile of shit, and they aren't going to be conned into buying a bunch of extra garbage.

      If you really think that this is Square Space devaluing logo design, then why didn't you think the same of them about web design?

      42 points
      • Jake Lazaroff, 9 years ago

        100% agree :)

        2 points
      • Er. F.Er. F., 9 years ago

        If you really think that this is Square Space devaluing logo design, then why didn't you think the same of them about web design?

        To me it looks like Squarespace/Wix/etc are strategically going after the low end out of the web design market—jobs that normally would go to freelance web designers. Is that not what they're doing?

        0 points
        • Joe BarberJoe Barber, 9 years ago

          That is what they're doing, but I'm not sure why you think that low end = freelance. Most of these people can't afford to hire a good freelancer.

          2 points
          • Tim GauthierTim Gauthier, 9 years ago

            Exactly, these are the people who would have been rejected from us as clients anyhow.

            0 points
      • Al HaighAl Haigh, 9 years ago

        Well said.

        0 points
      • Todd Smith-SalterTodd Smith-Salter, 9 years ago

        I don't disagree with your sentiment. Squarespace have strategically placed themselves in the design marketplace as a product to do-it-yourselfers. In the scenario you've described above, I would be happy to send a family member or friend to Squarespace to create their own logo. I do have a problem when anyone insinuates that creative design is on the same level as a simple tool as this one.

        When you want a new chair, you have several options before you: 1. Buy a chair from a box store (Ikea, etc.) 2. Buy a chair from a craftsman 3. Make your own chair

        Unless you're a craftsman yourself, or have the knowhow to fake it until you make it, your chair is going to be technically deficient to both options 1 and 2.

        If you have the money, which means you likely don't have time, you're going to buy a chair.

        0 points
    • joe andersonjoe anderson, 9 years ago

      Markets/innovation will always move towards being more efficient, to ignore this is a huge mistake

      2 points
    • Jake Lazaroff, 9 years ago

      Isn't Squarespace's entire business "devaluing what others in the same industry do for a living"? They run a service that makes it easy for anyone who's not an engineer to build a website/blog/online store/etc.

      Maybe when the bar for something like creating a logo or a website gets lowered, the right thing to do is: be happy that it's now accessible to people for whom it would otherwise be infeasible. Instead of complaining, push the boundaries of your craft even further and make things that these tools can't.

      10 points
    • Jim SilvermanJim Silverman, 9 years ago

      the people who will use this seriously are not the ones who you want as clients.

      11 points
    • James ZhangJames Zhang, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

      Really? Just because there is something that makes it easier for someone to do something that you do as a part of your profession, it devalues your profession? That seems rather pompous.

      By this logic, cab drivers devalue public transit and Instagram devalues every photograph ever taken.

      5 points