First of all, it is absolutely important to understand that at jovoto, it’s not designs that are being created, but CONCEPTS. Any concept, which gets chosen for realization, is paid a license fee, and of course only THEN will the design work kick off! So this process actually CREATES design jobs and does not lower the cost of design services.

We appreciate constructive criticism because its people such as yourself who make jovoto a better platform. That said, you had mentioned prize money, that the prize for a Sold Idea in this contest was 10,000$. To clarify, the 10,000$ Award was a Jury recognition, a prize money not connected to any rights transfer.

To your criticism of the idea that won: I agree it’s a little surprising that the jury chose a concept so simple and, at first glance, not very spectacular. But, The jury consists of people with a vast experience in thinking about sustainability and finding practicable solutions (People like Graham Hill of Treehugger.com) They chose this concept with the explanation that it is simple, requires a minimum of resources, creates a sense of community AND is effective in solving the problem AND can be implemented almost instantly. I totally respect this decision. If you look at how the community decided, you see some more elaborated concepts there, with intelligent cup designs, return-schemes and communication concepts, all of which the Jury and Starbucks have found interesting and are still in the process of evaluating.

Some more background on jovoto, a platform created about 2 years ago by Students of the University of the Arts in Berlin. It’s absolutely our goal to offer a fair and sustainable service for creatives, a service with real benefits and job opportunities. Unlike you suggest, our business relies not only on running contest - our development team is actively engaged in project work beyond the jovoto platform.

Of course, in a contest model, not everyone can win. But it is up to you how much time you invest, and, the Karma Cup example shows; simple ideas can go a long way. In this case, it is sad that the Karma Cup authors did not engage with the community more actively, on the other hand it was not the purpose of the Jury to reward community activity. We have other mechanisms for that!

Long-time engagement and community-spirited behavior IS valued on jovoto and we offer people who have proven their talent and community spirit to move on to other collaboration formats.

In a changing market, things aren’t as simple as your calculation model. jovoto works because it lowers entry barriers for creatives, connects them with brands and organizations in an effective and flexible structure. And we’re constantly evolving to meet new needs.

As most companies, we are always accepting to feedback and I hope this clarifies your initial concerns.
I hope to have been able to give you some more perspective on what jovoto is about.

with kind regards,Nadine - jovoto Community Management