Personally, I draw and paint all of my artwork and when I enter a challenge and see designs that have ranked higher than mine and look like AI or clipart designs I feel cheated. It's not ego. I just feel the playing field is not even.
I totally understand how you feel (I'm in the same boat)! Sadly, the field will never be even. Voters vote for a "look" or "feel", often not taking the amount of work into account. And the platform itself promotes what sells best. Again, a certain look 😞
Dear Darya, I have started with Spoonflower a couple of months ago and I was so happy at first. As I went deeper into the designs and entries to the competitions I started to realise that the AI cohorts are already there. I used to sell my art on Etsy and, at one point, I decided to put in my discriptions and in my key words that this is not an AI art. After 2 weeks I didn't have my shop. I am doing design for fun and as a creative outlet but it was extreamly frustrating. There was no explanation, no reasoning - nothing. I started looking online what is going on and the problem with AI is huge, especially with the design comunity. People are loosing their jobs and their business left, right and center. There are petitions and people getting together, etc.. What actually happens is that those people who make money out of AI commit a crime. This is a theft of intelectual property because this is how the AI works. I don't belive that at this juncture Spoonflower, Etsy, Zazzle, Society6 or any other similar company will make any real effort to stop it and to really stand behind theit principles and original reson d'etre. But I decided that I will continue creating and developing my shop because it makes me happy. I started a second job, it is not how I want my life to be right now but I will not give in to those grifters and let them have an easy win. I will also start to look for a comunity to join and to contribute as much as i can.
Likes (hearts) are not the same as votes and never have been. Hearts can only be given by a Spoonflower member when they are logged into the site. I haven't entered for a while and nor have I voted lately. I had one entry not done well, but it has sold anyway.
Hi Darya. I’m so glad you made this video. I’m horrified by the AI challenge entries. More human devaluation. Originally today I was looking for reasons why the SF challenge votes have dropped to such a minimum. I don’t get that many votes to begin with, and I noticed the change to the challenge structure on the site has impacted my enthusiasm to participate. I, too, have invested many hours and money into my SF shop. I’m TextureTerry and seem to sell a lot of samples. It’s practically a joke. Now I’m afraid people are copying or teaching AI with what I make. I could call it a day, and stop uploading swatches, but then I get excited about a new pattern and want to put it out there. I’m also researching other POD platforms where artists can make a better commission. Thanks for your video and keep up the good work! Terry
I'm feeling all the exact same things, Terry! Thank you for your comment. After contemplating, I decided the only thing I can do is just keep making patterns. I'm also shifting my priorities to other things such as my website. But I'm not leaving Spoonflower. If you find a good platform, please let me know 😭 Love your shop name, so cool!
I have one of my designs on the first page of a challenge (the total of pages for that challenge is 20). Does anyone know how my design got to the first page?
![We tried to compete with AI... [AI vs. ARCHITECT]](/img/n.gif)
Personally, I draw and paint all of my artwork and when I enter a challenge and see designs that have ranked higher than mine and look like AI or clipart designs I feel cheated. It's not ego. I just feel the playing field is not even.
I totally understand how you feel (I'm in the same boat)! Sadly, the field will never be even. Voters vote for a "look" or "feel", often not taking the amount of work into account. And the platform itself promotes what sells best. Again, a certain look 😞
Dear Darya, I have started with Spoonflower a couple of months ago and I was so happy at first. As I went deeper into the designs and entries to the competitions I started to realise that the AI cohorts are already there. I used to sell my art on Etsy and, at one point, I decided to put in my discriptions and in my key words that this is not an AI art. After 2 weeks I didn't have my shop. I am doing design for fun and as a creative outlet but it was extreamly frustrating. There was no explanation, no reasoning - nothing. I started looking online what is going on and the problem with AI is huge, especially with the design comunity. People are loosing their jobs and their business left, right and center. There are petitions and people getting together, etc.. What actually happens is that those people who make money out of AI commit a crime. This is a theft of intelectual property because this is how the AI works. I don't belive that at this juncture Spoonflower, Etsy, Zazzle, Society6 or any other similar company will make any real effort to stop it and to really stand behind theit principles and original reson d'etre. But I decided that I will continue creating and developing my shop because it makes me happy. I started a second job, it is not how I want my life to be right now but I will not give in to those grifters and let them have an easy win. I will also start to look for a comunity to join and to contribute as much as i can.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ❤
Spoonflower now makes it a rule on challenges AI cannot be used!
Likes (hearts) are not the same as votes and never have been. Hearts can only be given by a Spoonflower member when they are logged into the site. I haven't entered for a while and nor have I voted lately. I had one entry not done well, but it has sold anyway.
Hi Darya. I’m so glad you made this video. I’m horrified by the AI challenge entries. More human devaluation. Originally today I was looking for reasons why the SF challenge votes have dropped to such a minimum. I don’t get that many votes to begin with, and I noticed the change to the challenge structure on the site has impacted my enthusiasm to participate. I, too, have invested many hours and money into my SF shop. I’m TextureTerry and seem to sell a lot of samples. It’s practically a joke. Now I’m afraid people are copying or teaching AI with what I make. I could call it a day, and stop uploading swatches, but then I get excited about a new pattern and want to put it out there. I’m also researching other POD platforms where artists can make a better commission. Thanks for your video and keep up the good work! Terry
I'm feeling all the exact same things, Terry! Thank you for your comment. After contemplating, I decided the only thing I can do is just keep making patterns. I'm also shifting my priorities to other things such as my website. But I'm not leaving Spoonflower. If you find a good platform, please let me know 😭 Love your shop name, so cool!
@@PatternTalentbyDaryaKarenski Thank you! I’ll let you know if I find something!
Spoonflower has recently made it a rule on challenges AI cannot be used!
I was also horrified by the number of votes I received on the whimsiogothic challenge. Thanks for making this. I was wondering what is going on.
The Spoonflower challenge world is not the same 🥲 I'm still adjusting to the changes. Thanks for your comment! 💗
Voting is hard with such big challenges.
Yes, absolutely! 🤯
I have one of my designs on the first page of a challenge (the total of pages for that challenge is 20).
Does anyone know how my design got to the first page?
Designs are shuffled randomly for each voter. The order will be different every time you open the voting page.
people use AI to make the designs for the challenge and they win. so there's no point to get in the challenges anymore.
winning isn't the only benefit of participating.
Spoonflower now makes it a rule on challenges AI cannot be used!