As a start-up company, I was tired of the disappointments but more importantly I was tired a lot of money going down the drain on unsatisfactory work which I couldn’t afford and which sometimes I still paid for so the graphic designer didn’t feel so bad. So imagine how pleased I was when I stumbled upon mycroburst / logo design gurus. I could simply get lots of ideas at a fraction of the cost AND it could also give me ideas even I never thought of. That is what some companies do when they require uniforms and go to a design college and ask students to come up with designs for next to nothing. In some colleges, it is even worse because these contests are mandatory and if you do not participate, you do not get grades for that assignment and it will affect your term average…and I am speaking from experience.

For me @ this point, patronizing these contests is simply is a business decision and a way of paying less to achieve more. In my opinion, these contests are optional and if these designers don’t see themselves as being shortchanged then fine. Why fight someone else’s battles? There really is no sentiment in business. I still haven’t submitted my brief but I plan to. And if I get burnt…well…I can afford to turn a blind eye since the money is not so huge.

HOWEVER, I did read Grace’s comments and I know it’s been 2 or 3 years but if she is still affordable or still does pro bono work, then I am willing to work with her to come up with something for my company. But at this stage after what I have been through, I have simply refused to pay some “professional” who will charge me an arm, a leg and 2 ribs for substandard work…. which I cannot even guarantee was not a rip off of someone else’s work. Chances are you may never find out anyway…unless of course you, unfortunately, get sued. I am aware of 2 cases and I know these people must have paid professionals to come up with their logos and these companies are HUGE! Both were “literally” lifted, text, logo, background and all. I’m not too sure but I think one is currently going through some legal battles.

But anywayz, after all I’ve said, I think I’d like to conclude by saying live and let live! I know these contests directly affect your income as they are major competitors but one thing the “professionals” must realize is that not everyone is your customer. If they choose to patronize contests, then understand that they have their reasons and if you can convince them otherwise, fine; else just live with that fact and focus your efforts on attracting clients that are willing to pay your fees.

So, all in all, it’s best to stay away from that kind of thing.

I also must point out that finding a top notch designer that is on the same page as the client is not easy. I hired a respected national web design company that had horrible communication and follow through, and the mockups they provided were sub-par. Wasted $13,000. Now I hired a high-end UI design firm, $125/hr and honestly the communication is just as bad and the designs are also sub standard IMO. It’s unbelievable, I could get the same quality work done for 1/3 the price on Elance. Some “professional designers” are really not very good, although they charge a fortune. You don’t always get what you pay for. I just met with a local free lance artist who is cheap, $45 hour, and I have to say meeting face to face is great.

So the point is spending a few hundred dollars on a design contest is chump change for the the brain storming value. You can go back and forth with a designer telling them how to modify a design to get the concept or look the way you want, and this costs hundreds of dollars. A design contest can give you ideas that could save hundreds of dollars and possibly take you in a direction that you or the designer couldn’t have imagined.

We just launched our contest website which is currently in Beta. We are very concerned about IP theft and considered this very carefully when building our site. Although it is virtually impossible to eliminate this altogether we believe we have built some well thought out tools that should reduce the amount of IP theft on our site to a bare minimum, we are even working on zero tolerance policies right as we speak.

To date it works like this. Any registered user can report any uploaded design entry on the fly, the design will then be locked out for all registered users to see and the reporters name and reasons are published right within the contest page in the comments section at the bottom of the contest page. From there any registered user can vote on that design by voting “Yes” or “No” as to whether they think it is a violation of some sort. Then only the contest holder can unlock the design if they feel comfortable with the amount of votes.

It’s not perfect but we will work hard on this to make it a fair system for all.

That being said, when I came across design contest sites, I immediately thought them to be a God-send. I’m looking to pursue a career in graphic design after college, and these sites seemed like a great way to get my foot in the door of the design industry. I know that contests aren’t the same as working for at a real office, but I’ve gained a lot of experience on interacting with clients and designing to meet a breif’s expectations (two things I had never really done before; most of my designing had been for friends or my school up until then). I was also making a lot of money that was helping to support my recession-hit family.

Again, I would like to point out that I don’t have time for either a part-time job or an internship at a graphic design firm. I do some work for non-profits, as you suggested, on the side, but the money from participating in contests is really helping out my family. If I had the time to invest in real freelancing jobs, I would gladly take them, and I understand the negatives you’ve pointed out in this article concerning contests. But in all honesty, do you think that what I’m doing is “bad”? As a future-designer-hopeful, I don’t want to be helping to bring down the design industry before I even turn 18, but I don’t really see any other options.

And when the “so called” prize for these logo contests frequently runs between $200 to $500 for the most, the client is not served well in getting a logo that best serves their present and future needs. In other words, they get what they paid for, and that is frequently not much.

If I was spending all that money on the image of my company, I’d want a designer to spend more then just a few hours working on my business brand. To get a custom logo that makes you unique in the field of all your competitors, I want to pay my designer enough money to spend the time to research those competitors; to raise my company to the top of the consumer list.

If the designers are spending that time to do the research, then they are not getting paid … pennies on the hours.

To the contest holders: You get what you pay for.

To the designers: don’t sell you business skills and education short.

To both: Give design the respect it deserves! Many times it can make or brake a new business.

[...] David Airey Logo design contests are bad for business The reality of logo design contests [...]