"Nude No More": Earn $2000 in cash!

I've stumbled upon a really neat website called Threadless. In short, the site allows users to create and upload an original t-shirt design. Other users then rate and comment on the design for seven days, and if the idea is selected, it gets printed and the designer receives $2000 in cash among other prizes. (Read more on threadless at Wikipedia).

This isn't exactly a new idea. It's called crowdsourcing, and more specifically, community-based design. Below is a diagram of the typical crowdsourcing process.

I think it's a great business model... outsourcing the work to a community of designers and paying them a minuscule amount compared to the conventional designer pay-scale, and receiving a similar (if not better) quality product.

Top Coder is another website that uses community-based design for company logos and other design work. As an example, the designer of this logo got paid $300, and River Analytics Consulting saved thousands on a great, professional-looking logo!

It's a win-win situation: get money for fiddling around with Adobe design programs and add something valuable to your portfolio/resume.