Im wondering if any of you have felt demoralized or depressed when you lose a design contest. You always thought you were the greatest designer on earth until you lose most of the contests you take part in Would like to know your thoughts. Whenever I lose a contest I always tell myself that 'this is the last one Im taking part in EVER' and then I see another contest and cant stop myself from submitting an entry..
Look at the bright side. Loosing is as good as winning, even some may say better than winning. If you are willing to perfect your craft, best way to learn is from your mistakes. To do this you have to have capacity to accept your mistakes and able to analyze them properly. BTW, "you" doesn't refer to you agapito, just a figure of speech or something.
I think everyone goes through that at first (Whether they admit it or not). A key factor to remember is that Anyone can learn how to use a software, however creativity comes from within, without creativity all you have is a software taking up Hard Drive space. While one can't learn creativity, they can learn software specific skills, features, tricks, etc... & become good enough with it to give an illusion they are creative. Besides that, we must remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So while one may get frustrated that they lost & felt their design was top notch, We also notice that some CH's / Clients end up selecting a concept that looks like it was done by a 9 year old that just got a trial version software. You can't control the taste of the CH / Client, only your own. So don't stress over it. Simply remove the design (Iconical / Graphical elements), Archive it (Seeing that it was NOT sold & you still own all the rights to it) & remember that it may sell later to someone with different tastes **Note, this only applies to those that actually designed it from scratch them self** I've actually made more on my recyclables (That's what I call the ones that didn't sell the first time & I still own the rights to as the designer) than what was offered for it the first time around. My latest was a iconical logo that originally was priced at $50.00 + Unlimited revisions (From a contest no doubt), It lost (This was 5 months ago). It sold for a base rate of $150.00 + $20.00 per revision x 3 revisions = $60.00 + $150.00 = ($210.00) last week Think more positive & Recycle what doesn't sell! Just my 2 cents
You know what sucks..I always find that contest holders very often pick the worst designs! Especially at 99designs.com but still the prizes are big enough to want you to keep trying
Well think of it this way. You get to have your design featured on this forum. If a company is also looking for a designer and they stumble upon your design, they might hire you for a job.
I do it for fun. I go into it and do my best, but if I lose, oh well. Sometimes its sad, but sometimes its ok. Everyone has different tastes, so I dont expect ANYONE and EVERYONE to like what I do.
I will agree that I do the contests for fun and for practice. it is good to see everyone ideas. And just because your entry does not win the contest that does not mean that it is not a good design. Many times the contest holders will choose a design that is not the best, but they are paying for it and they can pick what ever they want. There is a lot of competition so you can not expect to always win. Just keep practicing and don't give up!
Better part of design contests are, you will know the standards, other competitors quality of work , what is the client's expectation . And if you keep trying may be you will start winning one day.