Whether design contests are good or not, this argument is a sham. The real conflict is that design contests give non-designers a really cheap way to get design done. In particular they make it easy and low-risk to hire people from low-wage countries. And a lot of people claim the resulting design is just as good. So if you are a high-paid freelance designer, design contests are a threat to your business model.
http://www.thelogofactory.com/library/articles/design-logo-c... http://www.thelogofactory.com/logo_blog/index.php/contest-de...
Whether design contests are good or not, this argument is a sham. The real conflict is that design contests give non-designers a really cheap way to get design done. In particular they make it easy and low-risk to hire people from low-wage countries. And a lot of people claim the resulting design is just as good. So if you are a high-paid freelance designer, design contests are a threat to your business model.