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Ask DN: Is Dribbble getting dumber?

9 years ago from , Digital Product Designer

So, Dribbble was a great place to learn something from other great designers at the beginning and looking a cool place to hang. I'm a player about 4 or 5 years and I can clearly see that we could not keep the league clean.

So many designers (or I don't know what they are) in there now and commenting, liking other designer's works. Some comments are really interesting. Some of them like "cool, nice, great, amazing" etc. What the frick? Making a comment to a clean design like "wow, clean" looks so stupid. Nobody have to make comments, right? Just like it or not.

Another annoying thing is nonsensical Dribble phenomenas. Some players that have followers over 10K gets more likes even if post their shits in flat design. This makes me sick.

I guess I don't like Dribbble like I used to. League is not a clean place anymore and users just trying to get more followers. They pushed work quality into the background.

So what do you think guys? Am I wrong?

1 comment

  • Darren MotenDarren Moten, almost 9 years ago

    no, elitist sentiments are not new in this industry, nor are the debates concerning the merit or quality of dribbble.

    I can't say you're wrong (as these are your opinions) but it certainly comes off as a bit douchey and jaded. I think dribbble manages its expectations extremely well by citing that it's a show & tell for designers. It's not a source for art direction, constructive feedback or other helpful tidbits. Think about it, when you were in the first grade and you came with your photo album for show and tell, there weren't moments for critique, or reflection. It was just with your doo-dad and a story to tell.

    10k likes makes you sick kinda seems suspiciously jealous. Although I can agree that some shots are not largely as appealing as others, most of the designers who stay on the popular page, have done a LOT of very reputable work in the industry, networked and built relationships. As a result, you support the people you feel connected to. I'm almost certain that you'd be mistaken by equating a like with a stamp of approval. Do you not root your team on even if they turn a ball over? Why? Because you want them to win. Is it possible that a like could be encouragement, or support even in the face of a "brick?"

    Finally, the thing I appreciate most about traditional agency hierarchies are that there is a space for junior and mid-level designers to grow into senior designers by being in the company of those designers, absorbing their wisdom and interacting with them regularly to sharpen their design thinking. Adversely, with the startup scene there are far fewer opportunities for that growth since every single designer is expected to come to the table possessing wizard levels of design skill and acumen. I bring that up to ask, how would you expect designers to grow into quality designers without being involved in a community of advanced designers? They submit their work, folks help to sharpen their thought process and they begin to approach design problems more intelligently with each new opportunity.

    Not to be an ass, but you sound like one of those people who admired dribbble when it felt "elite" and became twice jaded a) because the popular kids just got more popular and b) somebody let the losers sit at the cool table, so now it's not as cool anymore.

    Shit just wreaks of high school petty man. We should be better as a community.

    0 points