Hasta La Ideas

UPDATE: Thanks to the weight and nature of comments on here and on Twitter, Oli Barrett of StartUp Britain got in touch yesterday. 99 Designs has now been removed from the Top Tips list on the site and replaced with a link to the Design Business Association at our suggestion. There is still a link to it elsewhere on the site however. Barrett expressed his regret over the prominence given to 99 Designs and said that StartUp Britain will ‘endeavour to find great British talent wherever we can’.

StartUp Britain is a government-endorsed initiative “to make it easier for new companies and innovations to flourish and encourage people who aspire to start new businesses to work for themselves”. As long, it seems, as that business is not graphic design

StartUp Britain is backed by a number of entrepreneurs. The homepage features David Cameron wearing his most ‘visionary’ expression. It is, the site promises, “helping Britain’s future entrepreneurial talent by providing links to the web’s best business resources, along with offers from some of the biggest brands in the country”.

Below that initial promise is a list of four Top Tips to start you on your way. Number four is Create a Logo. And where does it link through to? Perhaps to a list of well-chosen UK design studios in various locations who could all benefit from the work? Nope, it goes to 99designs.com, the US crowdsourcing site where designers compete to knock out logos for ‘from just $295’.

Thanks Dave. So, rather than backing the design sector that your government so frequently claims to support, your big initiative to encourage hundreds of new businesses funnels commissions to an American website that systematically undermines the values of the very industry you claim to find so important.

Thanks to Jeff Knowles and various other people via Twitter for the tip-off.

CR in print

Thanks for reading the CR Blog, but if you’re not reading us in print too, you’re missing out on a richer, deeper view of your world. Our April issue features our Top 20 logos of all time. You can buy it today by calling +44(0)207 292 3703. Better yet, subscribe to CR, save yourself almost a third and get Monograph for free plus a host of special deals from the CR Shop. Go on, treat yourself.