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Hello to all LT contest holders! As a designer, I was just hoping to get your point of view on an issue I have seen happening more and more in contests. Why, in some cases, do contest holders ask all designers to copy another designers ideas? For example, saying in the comment section "#101 has the idea, I want all new entries to be based off that concept". I can understand if there is a concept that you like and you want to see variations of it, but why not work with the original designer instead of asking everyone to copy? It creates animosity within the design community and you may find designers fighting amongst each other instead of working on new concepts for you. Have any of you encountered this situation? I'd love to hear thoughts about it! Thanks!

Deluxedesign
As a new CH that got a great design from DAZ for my logo I can understand why CH's would ask for others to take concepts from one design and tell the entire community to work with that into their designs. As a new CH that was one of my first comments and then I read the rules. The reason I did so was that I think everyone has great designs and creativity, but as a CH if you find something a font or a color or a technique that you like you want people take that piece and see how others would use it and be creative with it. I never thought of it as stealing but more of telling everyone the direction I am going so that I could get everyone to focus and hopefully get designs that were great. You have to remember we are looking for your thoughts but we also want you to listen to ours. If I like a purple star then I want people to stop submitting red stars because I won't even look at them so I don't understand why the entire community wouldn't want that piece of information.

The strange thing that I noticed in my contest was that the longer it went it seemed like designers were copying the similar styles and techniques in one shape of form anyway.

How long was your contest..anything over 7 days is way too long in the design world..CH's need to know we work fast..we have too....I never book a project in advance..ever, there i snot thrill knowing have 6 month to complete because there is no rush. Other may like it but not me...I thrive on my client knowing that they can come to me last minute and get the best..seriously One ofclient emailed the other day wanting something re-done in about 4 hours...needless to say 3am my time...woohoo

The really good designers here know who to read a brief and get a general feel for the designers, other just feed off of those. individuals..not a fair practice but they deal with it. DAZ is one of those who does awesome work...but so many just mimick what is done...

One thing that ocured to me months ago is a famous saying

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" it is so true...CH can end a contest at anytime when they have the design..but no they drag it out...because what if what if...in most cases what if never happen if it does it's done poorly.

Thank you for your reply youcanriseabove! I actually did follow your contest, and I know Daz is a great designer. I actually commented that I was impressed that you did not get sucked in by the copycat designers and you stuck with the best and the original. That is wonderful to see, you ran your contest well. I do know that Daz was concerned with all of the copycats though. What you have to understand is that designers are not allowed to copy other designers here. So when you ask the community to copy another designer's concept you may find designs that you like better but those designs are subject to Logo court. If the designer loses the logo court case, all of their designs will be removed from your contest and will be uneligable to win. I would find that very counterproductive in a contest since the design you really like is one you can no longer pick! Then as well, the original designer is sometimes looked at negatively by a CH because it is their fault that the "favourite" design has been removed from the contest. The best thing to do as a CH is to ask the original designer to expand on their concept and to give the rest of the community a vague direction such as "I love how Daz's design embodies a lifting, hopeful feeling, please try to express this same feeling in your future designs" That way they don't use the same person with a star concept but they understand the direction that you would like to see the logos head.

Thanks ECC, we all know you are a fast and furious designer!!

Thanks for letting me know that I ran my contest well as it is a very stressful and challenging process for the CH if you have never been on this side. At least from my standpoint I tried to not cross the line of the rules while giving feedback that would be positive enough to keep designs coming but trying not to waste designers times. I think the biggest challenge for a CH is that you see each designers portfolio so you know that they can do some amazing things so you are constantly wondering if the one design that they sent that you don't like so much is all they got or are you just not giving them enough to go on. So from our end you try and describe things that you like as best as possible but it is difficult when you aren't able to really talk it through like you would in a sit down meetings. So I think the average CH would do what you would do in a sit down meeting by using examples and saying things such as "have you ever seen that izod logo I like the way that it is block but has a glass look and I really want some type of logo like the polo guy in ralph lauren etc." When you aren't a designer it is hard to express your thoughts in a visual way so you try and use examples that you have seen to help them see what you see. So when you are in a contest you are seeing different things that are starting to give you a better picture so when you get an ah-ha moment you want everyone to go down that path, but because of the way the rules are set you feel very constrained which may limit the amount of a+ designs.

I understand that it is your job to interpret and the better interpreter will design the best, but as a CH you want everyone to be the best not just one or two and you figure that all the designers on the site wouldn't be there if they were not capable of being the best so then it must be what you are or are not giving them.

I like your statement above on the vague direction, but I think you may need to expand the area in the CH registration where they choose logos that they currently like such as BMW etc. this might help the CH more and limit the amount of comments about what they like in others designs to the larger community.

This is a big problem, but I think there is a fine line that you are trying to walk to be helpful while stopping theft of design. If only everyone was respectful of each others work :-(

youcanriseabove said:

If only everyone was respectful of each others work :-(

If only...

In a perfect world, mate.

Very true youriseabove. I appreciate your time to respond, and you are absolutely right that respect within the design community can solve a lot of these issues. Best of luck with your business, and new logo!

youcanriseabove said:

Deluxedesign
The strange thing that I noticed in my contest was that the longer it went it seemed like designers were copying the similar styles and techniques in one shape of form anyway.

Interesting. What if CH's could set a timeframe during which submissions could be hidden. Only the CH could view each designers submission. What effect would that have on the contest?

luminate, yes this is an idea that has come up a lot here. The only problem we can foresee is that the hidden entries are not subject to inspections and can end up having clip art or traced images in them. Without the community to monitor, contest holders could find themselves with a logo that they cannot trademark. We'd love to hear more suggestions as to what CHs think the best way to solve these issues are though, thank you for your feedback!