Design contest and Logo design contest is great feature

Introduction

There are many international communities for designers. Some of them are just beginners while others are highly skilled graphic artists. The community is formed mainly around design contests with prizes ranging from $150 to $500+. These contests, called “guaranteed contests”, are only available to designers who’ve shown that they possess a certain level of design skill as well as a reasonable amount of commitment to forums

Author: astada.com

What’s in it for designers? Apart from earning some cash, participation in contests allows designers to advance their design abilities and build their portfolio all while interacting with real clients and getting feedback on their work.

Why start a contest? Most of clients will get a better deal from just one of designers than they would from anyone that they could privately contract for the project. In addition, consider the fact that you’ll have not just one, but multiple designers working on your contest and that this benefit comes without loss of design quality.

Concept is quite simple: Through website, the client (a.k.a. contest holder) submits his/her project and deposits the prize amount being offered for the work. The requirement to deposit the full prize amount is crucial. After the project has been submitted, Post it as a contest in a particular section of forums. The contest is, in fact, a regular forum thread, which refer to as a "contest thread". Within the contest thread site include a description of the company, the project details, the deadline, and the prize amount being offered as well as any additional information that the contest holder may provide. After the contest thread has been created, the competition officially begins with designers submitting their entries via replies to the thread.

Design Contest is a community shaped by the joint efforts of talented designers and contest holders. By hosting a design contest, contest holders are able to choose from a variety of great designs created by talented, professional designers. Designers compete for the prize offered, forcing them to push the limits and create innovative new designs.

It's fair to say that design contests have completely transformed our business. Instead of laboring over a design and doing a mediocre job, we get awesome design work that we can bring alive for our clients. Higher quality, a shorter turnaround on jobs, and greater profits -- hmm ... not much to argue with there!

Have you ever wondered, though, why some contests get filled with great submissions in a short amount of time, while others attract only a handful of entries that are generally of lower quality? You know the ones I'm talking about -- the project brief is only a couple of lines long, it includes no artwork, and there's no real feedback from the contest holder.

Some Tips for Great Results

1. Be Creative

Web design contest is a busy place, so getting creative with your contest will help you get more eyeballs to your project. More eyeballs mean more entries, and that means better results. A catchy title or some other fun twist is all it takes to attract designers to your contest.

A word of caution: you'll find that you need to be very committed to holding such a short contest, especially when it comes to provide feedback. Respond to each design as soon as possible so that designers have the time to make any necessary changes for you.

2. Money Talks

There's no denying the lure of a fat prize! A large prize (more than the basic prize outlined in the contest guidelines) will attract the best designers, and they'll work harder to give you what you need.

3. Communicate Often.

Are your clients taking their time deciding which design they like the best? Post a comment to your contest. Not getting what you want in the contest? Post a comment to refocus the contest. It's up to you, the contest holder, to steer the designers towards the end goal: a winning design!

4. Pay up.

As soon as you've made your decision, declare a winner and make arrangements to pay your designer. Nobody should have to wait for their money.

Remember that you're paying for the concept as well as the artwork when making a decision -- consequently, the design that you choose might still need some tweaking. This shouldn't prevent you from choosing a winner.

5. Guard Your Reputation!

Your reputation is gold -- the more contests you post, the more designers will get to know you and trust you. I've seen what happens when a contest holder loses trust, and it's ugly. Worse yet, you have the potential for getting yourself banned if you don't follow the contest guidelines. Read the guidelines carefully before you launch a contest.

6. Get Personal

Take a look at other contests, find designers who do great work and whose style you like, and invite them to join your contest. A personal invitation is not just a way to get better results; it's very flattering to the designer that you took the time to personally invite them to join your contest.

http://www.astada.com/

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