Graphic Designer Draft concept

[ForwardProgress]

Hi guys, I wasn't sure where the appropriate place in this forum to post this idea was so I chose Concepts because it is indeed a concept, just not visual.

My concept is a Graphic Designer Draft held in late April and May. It would be modeled after the NFL Draft and would allow top companies looking to hire graphic designers to hire the best new talent that appears on the job market every May: graduating graphic design majors.

My initial concept was the graphic designers available to be drafted would be sports-minded and the companies drafting them would be sports companies too, but this doesn't have to be the case. (Honestly though I think if this whole concept is sports themed it makes it more fun and obviously more appropriate for SportsLogos.net to be involved. Read on...)

How do you determine the order of selection though? Would it be whatever company is willing to pay the highest salary gets to pick first? That would make the most sense, because then the most talented designers would get selected first and then offered the most money.

I was thinking this draft would be open to major sports companies (Nike, Reebok, adidas, Under Armour, etc.), the big four sports teams and leagues, minor league teams, marketing firms working with sports teams and leagues, ad agencies working with sports teams and leagues, universities *with athletic programs* needing creative help, and sports magazines and websites needing creative help. If you can think of any other types of companies, businesses, or organizations that could possibly want to be involved in the draft please let me know. I was thinking of including sports TV networks but my concept is more about print / 2D graphic designers and illustrators, not people who create television graphics. But obviously if you guys think television graphics should be included too by all means let me know. Obviously if ESPN starts drafting creative talent from this draft and mentions it on Sports Center it would be huge publicity.

Now for the graphic design talent and how someone can enter the draft: I was thinking ALL graphic design majors who will be graduating in the Spring semester of a certain year can be eligible for the draft of that year. For example, John Q. Sample is a graphic design major at My State University and graduating Spring 2015 (in May of 2015). Therefore he would be eligible for the 2015 Graphic Designer Draft. The idea of having it in late April and May is so that a college graduate can go from being a college student directly to being a working professional.

I have actually thought about this concept for many years and just decided today to let people know about it. I'm not sure why I didn't try to make this a reality before today, but hey, better late than never right?

Since this is my concept AND i need a job I would like to be one of the graphic designers available to be drafted in the inaugural draft. However, it doesn't make sense to have someone much older with much more experience than college graduates to be mixed in with a bunch of fresh-faced 22-year-olds. So I guess TWO different drafts would be needed: one for rookies and one for veterans. So I would enter the veteran draft. Problem solved.

Now here is my idea of how SportsLogos.net can be involved in this: obviously this site has a huge fan base, the majority of which are creatives interested in sports. If this whole draft concept could be website-based and hosted on SportsLogos.net, it would bring A TON more traffic to the site. Plus I'm sure SportsLogos.net would be able to make money off it, not just from more advertising revenue but from possibly charging graphic design graduates and veterans a fee to enter the draft, and charging the hiring companies a fee to be able to participate too. This could be a wildly successful addition to SportsLogos.net and I'm basically handing this concept out to you guys on a silver platter. And I'm doing this because 1) I need a job, 2) I'd be curious to see where in the draft I'd be drafted, and 3) I love sports AND art and having a job that combines both would be my dream job (hello, NFL Properties!).

Obviously if SportsLogos.net wants to pursue this concept and make it a reality I would want to be involved in the creation somehow. This concept is my baby and it needs to be nurtured so it can grow into the successful endeavor it deserves to be.

What does everyone think?

[biscuit faces of them]

Great idea. There are many geniuses (besides me cause im a moron) who deserve it

[VitorioArts]

Sounds pretty good to me!

[Guest]

You're missing the most important part of this, the companies/design firms... Lol.

[ForwardProgress]

You're missing the most important part of this, the companies/design firms... Lol.

What do you mean by "missing"? I mentioned the companies and design firms in my post and they are a major part of my concept. Obviously this concept can't work without businesses to draft and hire the graphic design talent. Did you not read the entire post?

[Guest]

You're missing the most important part of this, the companies/design firms... Lol.

What do you mean by "missing"? I mentioned the companies and design firms in my post and they are a major part of my concept. Obviously this concept can't work without businesses to draft and hire the graphic design talent. Did you not read the entire post?

So you've sat down with the HR departments of Nike, Adidas, Russell, ESPN, NFL, MLB, etc. and they've signed off on this drafting format for hiring new employees? Highly doubtful. Listing these companies and actually having them on board for this process are two different things.

Don't get me wrong its a cool fictional concept, but thats really all it is.

[Jordyhazy]

Great idea. There are many geniuses (besides me cause im a moron) who deserve it

Why are you always negative towards yourself

[timberwolf]

It sounds like a really cool idea. I can say that probably 60-70% of the stuff I see on CCSLC is better than the stuff that team currently wears! I would definitely be a sponsor/helper in it if it becomes a reality. I would love to get invlovled!

TWolf

[ForwardProgress]

You're missing the most important part of this, the companies/design firms... Lol.

What do you mean by "missing"? I mentioned the companies and design firms in my post and they are a major part of my concept. Obviously this concept can't work without businesses to draft and hire the graphic design talent. Did you not read the entire post?

So you've sat down with the HR departments of Nike, Adidas, Russell, ESPN, NFL, MLB, etc. and they've signed off on this drafting format for hiring new employees? Highly doubtful. Listing these companies and actually having them on board for this process are two different things.

Don't get me wrong its a cool fictional concept, but thats really all it is.

No, I haven't met with the HR departments of all the major sports companies that could use creative help, and I don't think I have to. It would be easy to get them involved. All you have to do is send them a press release, or if you really want to be cheap just send them an announcement in an email. Or do some kind of viral marketing campaign on all the major social networks and YouTube. Obviously I can't do everything myself and need help to make this draft a reality so that is why I am presenting this idea to SportsLogos.net. SportsLogos.net is already established and I'm sure even the sports teams themselves visit this site to view their logo and uniform histories, so making everybody aware of this new venture would be pretty easy. I mean, Paul Lukas recently said that someone who works for NFL Properties told him they are watching him very closely, so get the Graphic Designer Draft mentioned on Uni Watch, and boom, the NFL knows about it, not to mention Paul's entire fan base, which includes many industry insiders.

But who says we have to start off with big name companies? There are plenty of small time firms, minor league teams, and D-II and III colleges that are involved with creating sports graphics and uniforms. Having the smaller schools, teams, and firms involved first would be great publicity for them so they would probably be more willing to be involved. Yeah, you could say no graphic design talent would want to be available in a draft if it is only small time firms, teams, and schools doing the drafting, but if they are offering competitive salaries, I don't think that will matter much. Money is money. If not the first year, the big name companies will come later, mark my words.

So to go back to something I mentioned in the original post: I think to help get the companies, teams, and firms involved, we'd have to make their involvement in this draft free. Obviously to get a higher selection in the draft they would have to be willing to offer more money to whoever they draft so that in itself is like they are paying to be involved. How SportsLogos.net makes money off of this is by charging graphic design talent a fee to enter the rookie or veteran draft (and from advertising revenue which they already know how to do.)

[MDGP]

Yeah... This isn't how business works... At all... Do you really think that any of the large companies would agree to letting talented designers go to another company just because it would be a fun idea? How would you determine who gets the top overall picks? Because smaller companies likely wouldn't be able to afford the money they'd have to pay. A company like Nike could just pay more money to get a higher pick, and then nothing would ever change.

Further, it would be EXTREMELY difficult to get them involved. Nobody is going to agree to it unless they can guarantee that others would also be involved. Just sending out a press release or viral campaign wouldn't do the trick. When money is involved, people are extremely cautious about things.

Like ChrisClement said, it's a really fun concept idea (honestly, it could be a great idea competition here, where several groups of designers are created as "firms" and compete against one another to create designs), but from a logistical standpoint, I can't see this being a real thing. There are just too many hurdles.

[ForwardProgress]

Yeah... This isn't how business works... At all... Do you really think that any of the large companies would agree to letting talented designers go to another company just because it would be a fun idea? How would you determine who gets the top overall picks? Because smaller companies likely wouldn't be able to afford the money they'd have to pay. A company like Nike could just pay more money to get a higher pick, and then nothing would ever change.

Further, it would be EXTREMELY difficult to get them involved. Nobody is going to agree to it unless they can guarantee that others would also be involved. Just sending out a press release or viral campaign wouldn't do the trick. When money is involved, people are extremely cautious about things.

Like ChrisClement said, it's a really fun concept idea (honestly, it could be a great idea competition here, where several groups of designers are created as "firms" and compete against one another to create designs), but from a logistical standpoint, I can't see this being a real thing. There are just too many hurdles.

Whatever company has the higher salary offer gets the higher pick. It's that simple.

I'm not trying to change anything. What's wrong with the most talented people going to the biggest companies and getting paid more than they would at smaller companies? Absolutely nothing. Welcome to capitalist America.

This whole draft concept would make it easier for companies to find top talent, and they are being offered this opportunity FOR FREE. The only place where money is involved is with the salary amounts which determines selection position, and it's not very different than how salary negotiation works in the real world (in both sports and business): whatever company offers more money will most likely "sign" the designer/athlete they want.

Maybe it would be more feasible if instead of a draft, the right to make a job offer to a graphic designer was auctioned off? Then companies can't complain because if they really want a certain talented designer, they'd be willing to pay the most for them.

[derschwigg]

It's a sound idea, but it has almost no feasible chance of it actually working. I'm not a finance person or business person by any means, but you can smell the red tape from another hemisphere.

I'd go ahead and file it under "fictional" if you want to go through with it.

And if you DO go through with it, I'd pick Fraser Davidson with the #1 pick.

[ramsjetsthunder]

I'll be honest, I really like the idea and I think it'll be a ton of fun. However, the chances it can become a reality are slim, I don't even know how we could start to put together this stuff. It could happen someday, but for now I have a concept based off your concept.

We take the folks here at sportslogos.net and whoever wants to enter this "draft". We do a for-fun kind of made-up draft this May with graphic designers on this website. There could be the top-level designers or anyone interested on this site to be the drafters, and they could draft those who entered based off logo designs. There could be a design "combine" maybe in which there is a sports team assigned and the draftees must redesign their look.

I think it would be a cool way to get all of us involved, yet stay fun and local. It would be amazing if your idea became a reality! But for now, I think having young, local designers on the site could be a fun project for everyone.

[Conrad.]

^ now you're thinkin. a practical application of this idea. run with that.

[ForwardProgress]

We take the folks here at sportslogos.net and whoever wants to enter this "draft". We do a for-fun kind of made-up draft this May with graphic designers on this website. There could be the top-level designers or anyone interested on this site to be the drafters, and they could draft those who entered based off logo designs. There could be a design "combine" maybe in which there is a sports team assigned and the draftees must redesign their look.

I think it would be a cool way to get all of us involved, yet stay fun and local. It would be amazing if your idea became a reality! But for now, I think having young, local designers on the site could be a fun project for everyone.

How would you determine who is eligible for the draft and who is eligible to be a drafter? And why would a "top level designer" (however that is determined) want to "draft" a "low level designer"??? For what purpose? Just so the "low level designer" has bragging rights that a "top level designer" thought his designs were good? Your combine idea just sounds like a normal design contest budding off this draft concept. It would make more sense if the combine was used to gauge talent ahead of the upcoming draft, just like what the NFL does in real life. So I could see some kind of design contest with "Combine" in the name being held like a month or two before the draft and the designs submitted for that contest are used to judge the talent of the draft-eligible designers and therefore help the drafters decide who they want to draft.

This is kind of turning into Fantasy Graphic Design.

[MDGP]

We take the folks here at sportslogos.net and whoever wants to enter this "draft". We do a for-fun kind of made-up draft this May with graphic designers on this website. There could be the top-level designers or anyone interested on this site to be the drafters, and they could draft those who entered based off logo designs. There could be a design "combine" maybe in which there is a sports team assigned and the draftees must redesign their look.

I think it would be a cool way to get all of us involved, yet stay fun and local. It would be amazing if your idea became a reality! But for now, I think having young, local designers on the site could be a fun project for everyone.

How would you determine who is eligible for the draft and who is eligible to be a drafter? And why would a "top level designer" (however that is determined) want to "draft" a "low level designer"??? For what purpose? Just so the "low level designer" has bragging rights that a "top level designer" thought his designs were good? Your combine idea just sounds like a normal design contest budding off this draft concept. It would make more sense if the combine was used to gauge talent ahead of the upcoming draft, just like what the NFL does in real life. So I could see some kind of design contest with "Combine" in the name being held like a month or two before the draft and the designs submitted for that contest are used to judge the talent of the draft-eligible designers and therefore help the drafters decide who they want to draft.

This is kind of turning into Fantasy Graphic Design.

ramsjetsthunder's idea is exactly what I was thinking, except much more eloquently put.

We've got the competition council, they could take applications for the drafter positions, say like 10 of them, and determine who gets to pick for their team. Then everyone else can submit themselves for the draft. The "combine" could be used to supplement the existing body of work, just like it does in real life sports.

Then we could use the draft for a team competition where the designers on each team work together to complete a series projects to a panel of judges, who can award prizes (maybe this could include a combination judge vote and "fan reaction" similar to the Russell challenge, to simulate real-life. Then the winners can be deemed the top "firm" of the boards, similar to how Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas are "ranked."

Sure, it's pretty much Fantasy Graphic Design, but it takes your initial idea of having a draft, and could be extremely fun. I think this could also be a valuable teaching tool for newer designers, by giving them the opportunity that they otherwise wouldn't have to work with some more experienced designers, who could give them pointers and share their own experiences (I know that, I for one, would love to have the opportunity to work with the elite designers on the CCSLC).

And who knows, maybe it could get some publicity (through uniwatch or some other place), and companies or teams take some interest in designers on here, which would achieve the ultimate goal that you were originally going for. And think about it this way, sports just started out as something fun for people to do, then people realized it could make money. Why can't this be the same thing?

[JPDesign]

The problem with this concept is that the corporate recruiting world is much more similar to the college sports recruiting world than professional sports drafts.

[Guest]

Like others have said this could be a cool contest, get 10 of the "top designers" be captains of firms and do a draft to fill the rest of their team... Then have the teams compete in a three legged contest to find the champion.

[tBBP]

I'll be honest, I really like the idea and I think it'll be a ton of fun. However, the chances it can become a reality are slim, I don't even know how we could start to put together this stuff. It could happen someday, but for now I have a concept based off your concept.

We take the folks here at sportslogos.net and whoever wants to enter this "draft". We do a for-fun kind of made-up draft this May with graphic designers on this website. There could be the top-level designers or anyone interested on this site to be the drafters, and they could draft those who entered based off logo designs. There could be a design "combine" maybe in which there is a sports team assigned and the draftees must redesign their look.

I think it would be a cool way to get all of us involved, yet stay fun and local. It would be amazing if your idea became a reality! But for now, I think having young, local designers on the site could be a fun project for everyone.

For whatever this may be worth, and because I know some have asked about this before, the website/designer community Dribbble works pretty much just like this. That said, that's also "stompin' with the big dogs" there. So with that said, I think something akin to a Dribbble "D-League" might work around here. It'd be a more interactive logolympiad/design contest type thing.

The thing with that though is: one would have to enlist the services of however many "established" graphic artists/designers the Creamery has left to serve as the "drafters"--which would also entail volunteering to take stewardship of the "draftees" i.e. being actively involved in helping cultivate the talents and develop the skills and abilities of the draftees--which would also involve a considerable amount of personal time (because people do got jobs/school and all that )--but if enough people get on board with it, it'd be worth giving it a whirl.

And plus...that'd be one really effective way to help try to get this whole Concepts forum back up to the standards of years past, so....

[Go Red Sox!]

This is a neat idea for a fictional just-for-fun project, but it got almost zero chance to actually work in reality, even less when money is involved.