Contest Holders Guide To A Successful Contest

My opinion on this matter is that if I were the CH I would want all entries to be displayed publicly. This not only gives designers inspiration, new ideas, etc. and an overall better logo for the CH, But ultimately gives everyone a fair chance.

PM should be allowed, if the entry is displayed after the contest, but to be fair should be posted publicly.

And I have felt the need to submit via PM because I was fed up with having my designs ripped right in front of me!

 

honestly if a person is ripping another persons design style
then they shouldn't even be a designer.

and the contest holder should most definately dissallow that person from continuing to compete.

i also think that DP should have a system setup that cleans up those that participate in
ripping others designs..

 

You don't need to see your competitions product in order to create your best work.
That's what these contest are about. Doing your best concept and beating out the
other persons concept. Contests are about Concepts.

I've had so many people rip off concepts from me and win contests because
that hack designer who couldn't think up a concept for himself saw something
I had done, copied the concept and added their own extra little crappy photoshop
filter/action and won the contest.

This is why I do everyone in Vector - No actions and no tricks.

 

^Ditto ! i agree with you mate

The only reason i want designs to be submitted publicly is to not let the rippers win !

- Brain

 

Does anyone know how it feels to go up-against a ghost?
That's how it is like, People submit entry via thread simply means THEY are part if the contest. then all of sudden the CH tells everyone theirs a WINNER VIA PM... now that's the Ghost!

let me give an analogy to this:
A Painting contest is being held at a Museum, and every contestant should be there... everybody posted there works, then all of a sudden the contest holder declares a winner... "someone package me their entry and I think it is the winner"

NOW TELL ME HOW THAT THOSE FEEL?

Ont the issue of getting ripped:
I've been on some design contest, that the issue of being ripped is no longer an Issue, 99design is the best example for this... if you find that your Idea is being ripped! report it on the contest thread, I bet the CH him self will do some JUSTICE.

and not all people PM entries are ORIGINAL... what if he saw some good Potential design on the thread Ripped it, put his concept to it, then sent it VIA pm? There's a lot of anomaly that can be done when people does not see what you're doing...

I don't mind getting ripped! and if ever I get ripped, good then somehow someone appreciated my idea of the design...

Real designer who does not ripped...


Hope my insight is a valid argument!

Cheers!

 

BTW!

I agree! I think this should be STICKY!

Cheers!

 

And I think admin should ban people who start contest and do not end it at specific time and without any specific reason. But I think DP should charge atleast 5 bucks for starting contest.

 

I think CH who dont award or abandone their contest should be banned, there are a lot of contest here that are getting abandoned and many designers have wasted so much of their precious time and in the end getting robbed of their ideas....

I think we should list down all the contest holder and their contest here...so we should be warned and watch out for them...

Just my two cents.

 

OK, here's where I am.

When I used to enter design contests I got very annoyed when people submitted through PM as it didn't give me a chance to know what I was up against, hence me not knowing whether I should take the time to compete. I think it's only fair to show all entries in the thread, as if someone rips your design it will be clear to the CH who should then ban the cheater from entering more designs.

That said, it is the contest holder's contest, so if they wish for entries to be submitted through PM, that's fine, just don't take part. They might not want their new site/design/logo posted on the internet.

 

Look at this contest

Contest flyer

I have seen that few people have done great work but CH is now not even bother to reply. I feel pity for the participants

 

Yes agree! bewarned so to speak!

 

I think a huge problem is that this part of the forum is very rarely even moderated by anyone.

 

the same thing i've been thinking for sometime now..
and its sad. the contests section definately needs a overhaul...
maybe not charing contest holders, but finding another way to
boost legitimate contests as well as providing a solution to lowering
the amount of rippers/bad designers that do crappy work as well..

 

Is it possible for DP to start escrow like facility so both the parties will remain safe CH and designers or participants? It is required now as many of the CHs are not running away with designs.

 

You're all forgetting something here: DP is a free forum.

Yes, I know where you're coming from, just because it's free doesn't mean you should get scammed out of your time and work, but it is still just a free forum and therefore you shouldn't expect too much. If you're at a website dedicated to designing contests, then you should expect full protection, but on a free forum don't expect too much.

 

We are just asking dp owner to charge atleast 5 bucks for the making a contest entry and lots of forum do that. That will definitely help to keep scammers away. Its not full protected but still it will give some protection.

 

It would provide a profit for DP as well, however established members should be able to hold contests free of charge.

 

Don't believe this forum is hardly moderated. I've gotten so many infractions in this forum from
moderators it's just plain silly and for the dumbest reasons. It makes me so frustrated some times
with the power tripping mods and the dumb rules. I've gotten a infraction for telling the Ch I
"entered via PM" or that "I was in". So be warned- you shouldn't be doing that because they can
ban ya for 7 days and you lose out on contests you're entered in. I know. Now I don't care because
I don't rely on this forum for jobs.. I get more work from other places. Just a head-up to all the other
designers.

 

As I said before, it's a free service, so don't expect too much, and also don't expect too much from the moderators. They don't get paid for what they do, so just be thankful they're there at all so there's some sort of order! To be honest, I doubt the revenue generated by taking money from bad contest holders would be worth the effort of setting it up.

Just be happy with what you've got.

(PS. Yippeee! Finally got my editing software back so I can start entering design comps! )

 

Great post! They really should have moderators heavily monitor this area. Also, as someone who submits contests quite frequently, I wouldn't mind paying $5 or so to prove the contest is genuine or something along those lines. I think if they did that, then their would be less crappy contests, less contests being abandoned, and less scams, which in turn would make more designers willing to do contests.