Julien, you are one of the co-founders of Creads (creads.fr): In a few words, can you tell us what makes this start-up special?
Creads connects a community of 50,000 international creatives with all the brands looking for creativity (SMEs, major accounts and agencies). We design everything from logos and brand names to mascots, car wraps and websites. What sets us apart is that we offer our clients a choice of dozens of creative avenues, but above all we have developed an algorithm that enables us to find the right talent for a very specific requirement.
So you work on a crowdsourcing basis: but these external 'collaborators' are not Internet users like the others...Are we moving towards a multi-speed crowdsourcing system, with ordinary people on one side and experts on the other?
Our community is made up of freelance designers who are experts in all areas of graphic design. On Creads, our customers can call on graphic designers, art directors, web designers, copywriters, illustrators, etc. For those who are just starting out, we provide support to help them gradually build up their skills. Graphic design is a field that requires technical skills, which is why we work with professionals. But above all, crowdsourcing gives everyone a chance.
Crowdsourcing in communications, Uber versus taxis, and so on. Is this a new, more autonomous form of work, or a new form of proletariat where responsibility for the work tool is transferred to the worker?
This is clearly a new form of work that will affect all sectors of the economy, starting with the most conservative. In the United States, one in three workers is self-employed, but analysts predict that in 10 years' time, the ratio will rise to one in two. In France, in 2015, freelancers represented only 10% of the working population. So there is enormous potential for reducing structural unemployment.
Crowdsourcing is well suited to generations Y and soon Z: are we heading for new, completely unstructured companies? What future do you see for professional crowdsourcing?
On the contrary, we're moving towards increasingly well-organised companies, capable of bringing together a wide range of expertise on a global scale and dedicated to performance. I also think that the future of crowdsourcing lies in the freelancing of experts, who will be able to manage all kinds of projects more quickly and more efficiently. In 2015, we call this "frugal innovation": I think that in 10 years' time, companies that have not integrated these principles will be on the verge of extinction.
Julien, you launched Creads, the 1era a participative creation platform 8 years ago: where did you get the idea for crowdsourcing? How does it work in practice?
We realised that there were many difficulties in the design market, both for clients and for designers. So we created a platform that brings together a worldwide creative community. Companies can call on it for all kinds of design projects. Our creative people live by the sea, in the mountains, in towns and in the countryside... all over France, and all over the world! It's this limitless potential for creativity that we connect with our clients through Creads.fr and Creads Partners.
Wednesday 20 January saw the 5thth The Creads Awards ceremony rewarded the best French creatives in crowdsourcing: why these awards?
In 2015, it's possible to work from home, earn a decent living and come up with ideas that appeal to the world's biggest brands. The aim of the Creads Awards is to remind us that no-one has a monopoly on creativity. Our aim is to reward the talent we work with by offering maximum visibility to the most deserving.
In the end, you're not really appealing to "the crowd", as the term crowdsourcing might suggest, but to a certain elite, more agile, more independent... Isn't crowdsourcing the dream job, not for Generation Y, who are still very much influenced by traditional corporate culture, but for Generation Z, who will soon be arriving?
Although our business can't be summed up by that word, it is crowdsourcing: from day one, our platform has been open to everyone. It's clear that Creads meets a growing need among designers, but more than a question of generation, I'm convinced that the future requires new ways of organising work, whatever the corporate culture.
