It might be helpful to turn this around, and compare it to working in some other field. For example most programmers would not want to work like this, constantly under time pressure, competing with others without time to gather requirements properly or interact with the client, and accepted or rejected for unknown reasons at the end. For a small hackathon or other little competition, it'd be fun, but who would want to work this way all the time, with no dialogue, and the possibility of your work not being paid for but being harvested for the best ideas which are then farmed out to the cheapest bidder? I'd fire the client for even suggesting it.
This sort of process implies a lack of respect for the design process, a belief that it's just a veneer, and a lack of trust in your designer. Most design isn't just about firing off a brief and receiving some stuff back, and then judging which is best based on the client's instincts, it affects flow, functionality, and most importantly of all is based on a dialogue with the client and moulded by ideas extracted from the client; it's not piece work.
Most good designers would respectfully decline an invitation to a race to the bottom, except if the work is really well defined, like a logo, and could be viewed as a small fun sideline or a way of boosting profile. I'd never work professionally this way, would you? Why should they participate in this sort of bargaining for any amount of money if other clients take what they do seriously? Design is a collaborative process, and getting to the real requirements is actually not dissimilar to say website or app development - it requires time, patience and commitment from both sides. If you can call this process "pay and pray" you are (both) doing it wrong.
I actually think the SO competition was a good idea, and they ended up with a nice logo which suits them, but for work larger in scope than say logos (like app design, or almost any other design job) it doesn't make sense, and even logos are better done as part of a larger process about the whole brand.
This sort of process implies a lack of respect for the design process, a belief that it's just a veneer, and a lack of trust in your designer. Most design isn't just about firing off a brief and receiving some stuff back, and then judging which is best based on the client's instincts, it affects flow, functionality, and most importantly of all is based on a dialogue with the client and moulded by ideas extracted from the client; it's not piece work.
Most good designers would respectfully decline an invitation to a race to the bottom, except if the work is really well defined, like a logo, and could be viewed as a small fun sideline or a way of boosting profile. I'd never work professionally this way, would you? Why should they participate in this sort of bargaining for any amount of money if other clients take what they do seriously? Design is a collaborative process, and getting to the real requirements is actually not dissimilar to say website or app development - it requires time, patience and commitment from both sides. If you can call this process "pay and pray" you are (both) doing it wrong.
I actually think the SO competition was a good idea, and they ended up with a nice logo which suits them, but for work larger in scope than say logos (like app design, or almost any other design job) it doesn't make sense, and even logos are better done as part of a larger process about the whole brand.