A Logo Design Contest Explainer

A Logo Design Contest Explainer 2

Copyright 2015 Steve Douglas. All rights reserved.

Published by The Logo Factory Inc.

The information presented in this publication are provided‘as is’ and as such no warranties are guaranteed, offered,or implied. Neither the author nor the publisher shall beheld liable or responsible to any person or entity withrespect to any loss or incidental or consequential damagescaused, or alleged to have been caused, directly orindirectly, by the information contained herein. Referencesare provided for informational purposes only and do notconstitute endorsement of any websites or other sources.

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Thinking of running a design contest for your new logo?We can start this decision tree with one simple question.

“Do I need a logo?”

If you’re reading this, your answer is probably yes. Askthis one too:

“Do I believe my logo is important enough to require theservices of an experienced design professional?”

If the answer to that is “yes,” you probably don’t want alogo design contest. If you don’t really care one way oranother – you just want a decent logo – ask yourself this:

“Do I need to see a lot of design options, many of whichare completely unusable, just for the sake of seeing a lotof options?”

If that seems silly, you probably don’t need a logo designcontest either. A cacophony of proposals, especially if a

lot of them aren’t great, can be visual noise that actuallyhinders the development process and burns up time. Ifviewing a ton of options is still your thing, or abarometer that you use to gauge “design value,” then alogo design contest might be up your alley.

Types of design contests.There are two ways to go about this (see above.) Thefirst is pretty straightforward – ask people to submitlogos to you. Pick one. Award a prize. This is your typical,organic logo design contest. It will require you to havesome base – fans let’s say – to draw from.

The other is how things take place on commercializeddesign contest sites – platforms like 99designs, DesignCrowd, Zillion Designs, Crowdspring and a host ofothers. They often refer to design contests as“Crowdsourcing,” part of the so-called “Sharedeconomy,” also known as the “Collaborative economy” or


unpaid contests – hoping to win something, anything –rather than focus entirely on one. Yours for example.Remember, these designers aren’t getting paid for theirwork in a majority of contests they enter – but they AREparticipating in HOPES of getting paid and would preferto be – a fact that you should keep in mind throughoutthis treatise.

The mechanics of logo designcontests.It doesn’t matter what platform you use, or whichpackage you purchase. The formula is basically thesame. You pay 100%. The platform takes around 40% in“fees” for standard “packages,” the remaining 60%supposed to be doled out to the “winner” of yourcontest.

This is at odds with design contests selling point – “payonly for the design you keep” – but it is what it is.

Originally marketed as “pay what you like” – contest


whatever people are calling it today.

“[The design contest] model short-circuits the promise of CS[crowdsourcing.]”

Jeff Howe - author who coined the phrase“crowdsouring.”

The ethics of commercialized designcontests?Many professional designers and organizations areopposed to design contests and the sites that host them– they refer to the entire shebang as spec work. A varietyof reasons for that really, but the main one revolvesaround ethics, unpaid designers and “exploitation.”How’s that? Truth be told, a logo design “contest” on acommercial platform isn’t actually a contest at all.

Is design different that any otherprofession?

Ask yourself this fairly logical question:.

“Do I believe that people who aren’t assured a paycheckwould take short-cuts in their job?”

That’s any job by the way. Be it janitor. Cook. Doctor.Lawyer. Of course, the answer would almost always be“yes.” Why would you think design is any different?

“Would someone hoping to win a contest focus on one,or enter many to maximize to their chances of gettingpaid?”

Again, the answer is pretty straightforward. It would bemuch more conducive for someone to enter a lot of

It’s a group of people submitting logos and revisionsbased on your feedback – usually a professional activity– hoping to get paid if you pick their logo as your“winner.” One person in your “contest” will receivepayment. The rest won’t, regardless of how much timeor effort they spend at your request. Is that“exploitative?” Some think so:

“Exploitation is seen as the failure to pay labor itsmarginal product…”

Source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/exploitation/

It’s also worthwhile to point out that most design contestplatforms are owned by profitable Western companies.These businesses, and your logo “contest,” are onlypossible due to unpaid labor.

All this boils down to one simple, binary equation. You’reeither okay with it. Or you’re not.

If you are, let’s continue.


holders were originally allowed to “settheir own price” within certainparameters – most design contestplatforms now offer several packagesat varying cost.

Naturally, their websites will try and up-sell you to themore premium packages, claiming that by paying moreprize money, you’ll “attract” better designers. While this

may be true in a sense, you’ll attract more designers ofALL levels. Of course, as the platform “fees” are a fixedpercentage, not on a sliding scale, they’ll actually end uptaking more of a cut. In some instances, even thepercentage is higher.

Good design takes time. Your contestwill take a lot of yours.It’s certainly true that you’ll be deluged with optionsthroughout your contest but are you willing to spend thetime it takes to give feedback on all the submissions?

Sure, it’s easy to critique the logos you like, but are yougoing to spend hours giving feedback on logos you

may have some interest in using, but aren’t sure?How about the designs you have absolutely nointerest in selecting as your winner? It’s good“contest holder” form to give feedback to

everything, and while certainly not mandatory, it’sexpected on some level. Designers on contest sites

are said to “thrive” on feedback and as they’regenerally not getting paid, a little tip-of-the-hat goes a

NOYES

NOYES

YES NO


long way towards motivation. It’s alsothe least you can do for people whoare working for you, the majority ofwhich are doing so without anyremuneration.

There’s another, lessaltruistic, reason tobe as active as youcan too. As it’s thecurrency of contestsites, and alsoindicates your levelof engagement,people tend to avoid“contests” with littleor no feedback.Trouble is, you mayget overwhelmedwith the hundreds oflogo options tossedat you, and findgiving feedback toeveryone simplyunmanageable.Platforms have comeup with an ad hocsolution to thisdilemma – ratingstars. As cynical as itmay seem, clickingon stars allowsdesigners to believeyou’re giving themfeedback on theirwork. Some siteseven have a selectionof “canned”comments that youcan pick from using apulldown menu.

The moneybackguarantee.Most design contestplatforms advertise amoney-backguarantee of somesort. It’s 100% onsome, on others theydon’t refund any up-sells or add-ons(private contests, NDAs, Twitter mentions, bolded text intheir contest listings are a few examples.) In either case,it’s a simple matter for these platforms to offer suchthings – they’re not paying designers for their time to

enter your contest. And while this:

“A logo you love or your money back”

looks great in a starburst on a webpage, when it comes

to launching a contest, they’ll recommend that you makeit “Guaranteed” – in other words, waive the right to arefund – to attract more or better designers. That’sactually true by the way. Many people won’t enter


contests unless they are “guaranteed,”having been stung many times beforein contests that weren’t. At somepoint this is academic anyway.Contests are no longer “refundable”

once they’ve crossed a certain threshold, usually pastsome type of initial “qualifying round.” It’s also why mostdesign contest sites will let you extend your contest pastthe original deadline, often many times, and often overthe protestations of participating designers. This gets


you over the timed refund hump andinto non-refund territory. If you stilldon’t like anything after that point,your “prize” money will be distributedpiecemeal to “qualified” designers (ifit’s guaranteed) or just pocketed by

the site (if it’s not .) As one designer wasn’t selected, orpaid the total in prize money, that means no logo foryou.

Let’s talk about the (optional) Non-Disclosure Agreement.In order to get more money out of the “prize” portion ofyour contest, and into their “fees” section – where theydon’t have to “share” it with designers – most contestplatforms will also offer you additional options aboveand beyond their “package” fees. Whether these are aworthwhile investment – they’re usually offered at aminimal surcharge – is anyone’s guess.

Critics view this is as a “Rights Grab.” In essence, you’retelling people what they can, and can’t do with their ownartwork – their property – even though you haven’t paid

anything for it. People entering your contest don’t getany portfolio pieces, benefits or perks because of thisNDA (the platform does by charging a premium.) Do youthink an NDA will stop participants in your “contest”from revealing details of your contest? That’s thequestion to ask, because they are NOT between you andthe contest platform.

They are between you and the people entering yourcontest. Further, would the information you’re revealingqualify as “trade secrets?” Are they available elsewhere?There are countries – India, where many participants hailfrom, is one example – where an NDA usually has to bestamped by a court to be enforceable. There’s the ethicalquestion too – do you think that people, who didn’t getpaid anything for submitting their logo ideas into yourcontest, should never use those designs to showcasetheir skills to anyone else? After all, building a portfoliowas part of the recruitment spiel that got them to workfor free in the first place. Here’s another, morepragmatic question – are you willing to hire lawyers intwo countries, one in yours and the other in theirs, tosue some kid from Pakistan or Burma for using a logo intheir portfolio? If not, those NDAs are unenforceable andfor all intents and purposes, worthless.


A quick Q & A.Q: “Are design contests crowdsourcedcollaborations between differentdesigners?”A: “No. They’re the exact opposite.

Designers will even copy each other’s ideas andconcepts to win your attention and your contest.”Q: “Really?”A: “Yes, but there is a solution. You can always host a“blind” or “hidden” contest where only you and eachentrant can see their submissions. Some designers willonly enter contests that are blind or hidden. Trouble is,designers are also supposed to report copied logos tothe host site and in ‘blind’ contests, don’t see the entriesuntil contest end.”Q: “Do design contest platforms vet, or pre-qualify, thedesigners on their platforms?”A: “Most don’t and anyone can join anonymously. Someplatforms have “premium” or “platinum” designers thatare supposedly pre-qualified – either by automatedpoint “system” or some undefined internal criteria – butit costs much more for a contest that’s restricted tothese designers. Ironically, you’ll also have access to farfewer people from the “pool,” at odds with the entirepremise of “crowdsourcing” in the first place. The vastmajority of contests however, are of a “anyone canenter” variety.”Q: “Doesn’t that mean that unless I pay a premium,some people with little design, technical orcommunication skills, might be entering my contest?”A: “Yeah. It kinda does.”

Say hello to your contestants.It’s hard to know what to call people who enter contests.Participants? Competitors? Entrants? Submitters? Justdesigners? It doesn’t matter really, but there are severaltypes of participants that we do have names for. Here’swho you’re likely to bump into during your contest:

Honest Designers.Many designers on contest sites ARE talented, honest,hard-working and ethical – presenting original concepts

& design – and it’s safe to say that the majority ofparticipants start off with only the purest of intentions.That is to provide contest holders with decent artwork,while hopefully picking up some pay here and there.They initially believe that the “best” design will win, that

contests are above board and the process just anothermethod of marketing design services in the digital age. Whether they stay that way depends entirely on howsuccessful they are. How many contests they win. Andhow many they have to enter before they do.

Here for the cash.

Design contest “communities” recruit new designer sign-ups by advertising that “anyone” can design logos &make money on their platforms. It was part of their“democracy of design” spiel used originally to sellcontests as a viable enterprise way back when. Theydon’t boast about this anymore to contest holders, butit’s still true and very much part of their DNA.Accordingly, it’s no surprise that many people withnothing more than internet access sign up. Alas, theyhave little appreciable design talent and marginaltechnical expertise. While there may be an occasionalgem from this group, most submissions, beingcharitable, will be underdeveloped. They also qualifyoften as plagiarists too – they don’t know how to designand knocking off a logo from something they found onthe internet is the next best thing. That this startlesanyone remains a mystery.

Repurposers & design necromancers.

Becoming disenchanted at not winning, and moreimportantly not getting paid for hundreds of hours ineffort, participants often enter rejected logos from othercontests in order to spread their probability of winningaround. They may change them up a bit to customizethem for your contest. They may not. This isn’t actuallytaboo – as long as the contests aren’t running at thesame time – and while design contest platforms don’texactly want this fact advertised, there’s not much theycan do about it anyway. While it defeats the purpose ofwriting an effective creative brief at the onset of yourcontest, as long as you end up with a logo you “like,” noharm, no foul.


Cloners & recyclers.When repurposing old rejected logosdoesn’t work either, some participantseventually get impatient and enter thesame logos into many contests at thesame time. Sometimes on multiple

sites. While this increases their odds of getting sometraction with contest holders, there’s a very good reason

why platforms view this as a fairly serious “offense.” Thesame logo may win multiple contests. That usually isn’tdiscovered until much later – long after the prize moneyhas been awarded – and with multiple parties happilyusing the same logo to market themselves. Blissfullyunaware of each other until someone notifies one or theother. This does happen and sometimes it’s even morethan just two contests that have ended with the samewinning logo.

Toolers & Frankensteiners.

These guys are a particular nuisance. While out-and-outcopied logos are relatively easy to detect – either visuallyor via automated algorithm – these participants cobbletogether logos using bits and pieces copied from otherdesigns, stock art & portfolio sites and are almostimpossible to catch. Whether these “frankensteined”logos would pass a copyright challenge by the variousparties being infringed upon is anyone’s guess, and theirlogos may be ticking time bombs in the intellectualproperty department. Toolers and Frankensteinersenter, and win, a lot of contests.

Plagiarists & copycats.

There’s no other name for this category. Plagiarists copylogos wherever they can. Google Image Search, stockimage sites and even winning logos from old contests.While they will eventually get caught out and bannedfrom the platform, they’ll enter many contests beforethat happens. Once banned, they’ll simply move ontoanother site – they’re not exactly hard to come by.Contest sites will tell you that this type of participant is“rare.” They aren’t. They’ll also tell you that it’s rare thesecopied logos win contests. It isn’t.

Gig snipers.

This is a relatively new phenomenon, and while theprevious categories are well established, the impact ofGig Snipers on design contest sites is yet to bedetermined. Problem is, this “technique” is almostimpossible to detect, so it may never be, and nottechnically against any “rules,” so it may not matteranyway. This all started with the advent of “gig”platforms – websites were people can purchase tasks or“gigs” for a minimal amount of money – Fiverr is themost well-known example – including logo design“services” for $5. The way gig sniping is supposed towork is this – someone grabs a brief from a designcontest platform, hires a seller on Fiverr, then submitsthose designs into your contest. Trouble is, there’snothing actually wrong with this, it’s known as arbitrageand is a perfectly legit way of doing business, merelyexploiting a vulnerability in a system for low-risk, highprofit. It is, ironically, the very concept that designcontest sites utilized in their own business models.Trouble is, low-cost gig platforms that offer designservices are also rife with copyright infringement issuestoo, so this could turn into a major headache foreveryone concerned. And you, if you’re running a logocontest. As this is a recent development, howwidespread it might be is anyone’s guess but there areseveral articles on “Get Rich on the Internet” websitesthat outline, step-by-step, exactly how to participate inthis scheme. Again, if you end up with a logo you “like”there shouldn’t be a concern, outside the “value” ofrunning a design contest, and the chance of selecting acopied logo with questionable, or unknown lineage.

Plagiarism & design contests.Sure you’ll get a lot of logos to sift through, but do youcare if design work submitted to your contest is original?You should. And while not completely exclusive todesign contests, knocked-off logos are certainly an


inherent risk of the model. Do youbelieve that the platform you’rerunning your contest on will monitoryour contest for plagiarized logos?They won’t. They expect otherentrants to your contest to do it for

them and then report the knocked-off art. Fine anddandy, but remember the “blind” or “hidden” contestproviso we talked about earlier? Nobody will even seethe plagiarized work till your contest is closed.

Here’s another problem. Contest platforms like to boast

about the size of their communities. Often in the highhundreds of thousands. Some near a million. A few overthat. The sites themselves are staffed by a handful ofsupport personnel, representing a wildlydisproportionate ratio between staff and onlinedesigners. One major site has a ratio of 1 staff memberfor every 9,580 designers. Most design platforms are soover-scaled and deluged with support tickets, theirresponses to copied logo reports so delayed, if somedesigns in your contest ARE reported by anotherparticipant, you may pick one before support even getsto it. Then they have to make a judgment call on


whether to informyou or not.

There’s a solutionto all this that youcan provide

yourself, but it’s not without somecaveats. Can you use Google reverseimage search? You can checksubmitted entries to see if Googleknows about them. The downside tothat is many of the logos enteredinto your contest are presented onmock-ups – business cards, on walls,the side of vehicles and the like –which while looking pretty and all,also bypass Google Image Search’salgorithm.

The contest platform you’re using isresponsible should you pick awinning logo that’s been copiedanyway, right? No. Their Terms ofService state specifically that they’renot. Any legality and liability restsbetween you and the winner of yourcontest. Quite often some kid inPakistan or Bangladesh.

Generic logos &concepts.Did you know that even if reported,most design contest platforms won’tremove “commonly used” “commonideas” or “generic concepts” fromyour contest? Sadly, that’s true too.Sites can’t ban someone from theirplatforms when they submit logosfor which there’s no clear lineage ofownership, so they’ll stay in youroptions. What if a design is deemedas a copy before your contestscloses? They’ll eliminate it from youroptions and probably ban thedesigner, closing their account. Anodd twist to that? If a designerwhose logos you like, gets bannedfor submitting copied designs intoother contests, they’ll get bannedfrom your contest too. They’lldisappear. As will their submittedlogos and all the time you’ve spent“art directing” them. Good lucktrying to find them again.

If you pick a bootleg logoas your winner.

If the platform finds out your“winning” logo is copied, they might

“let” you keep it – though this is knowingly facilitatingcopyright infringement and not really their position todo so – but they’ll tell you that you’re “fully responsible”and ask you to “waive them” from future liability. All fineand dandy, but are you prepared to redesign and reprintall the material you created after your contest was longsince over? Once the owner of the intellectual propertyin your logo, tells you to stop?

Exercise this option, if made available, with extremecaution.

Stock art logos.

There’s also a very high probability that some of thelogos submitted to your contest will be from stock artlibraries – commercial outfits like iStock, Shutterstockand some lesser known free vector sites. The problemwith this? Most stock art sites don’t license their art foruse in logos. If they do, you could buy the same stock artyourself for a few dollars, not the hundreds, orthousands, you spent running your contest. Or all thetime you invested giving feedback on logos you weren’t interested in.

Identical logos on different sites.

In a more bizarre twist, and it does happen, you maypick a logo that won another contest on the same site,or another contest site, but resubmitted into yours by

the same designer or someone else. What’s the officialposition on plagiarism in commercial logo designcontests? They can’t deny it because there’s so muchevidence of it happening, so the party line is that it’s“rare, but does happen.” That’s only half true. It DOEShappen. But it ISN’T rare. In fact, it happens all the time.

Logo contest deliverables.

How your logo “looks” is one thing. How it “works” isanother. The file setup of your brand assets is actuallyvery important, becoming more of an issue the morecomplex your logo is. Here are some common file types:

As this is supposed to be a DIY enterprise, with youplaying art director and all, it should come as no surpriseyou’re on your own there too. Can you check these filesto see if they’re set up correctly yourself? Before yousend them off to the printer? This may require AdobeIllustrator or similar software and some technicalknowledge of how these files are supposed to be,otherwise, it’s a matter of blind trust.

But if you’ve made it this far, and are okay with this too:


Copyright 2015 The Logo Factory Inc.www.thelogofactory.com

A definitive look at the mechanics of design contests – why they work, some reasonswhy they don’t and some very real issues you should be aware of, but probably aren’t.

A series of buyer’s guides & help sheets.

Thinking about launching a design contest for your new logo?You should probably read our primer first.