Why I wouldn't enter a Logo Design Contest

...and why I think they are fundamentally bad for both the design industry and the buyer.

A design contest is the most basic form of ‘crowdsourcing’, and has gained popularity in recent years as providing hundreds of design solutions for a tiny fee that the buyer stipulates at the beginning of the contest.

Unfortunately, I find the whole system to be flawed, and offers a poor product to both the buyer and the contestant.

Problem 1: The client and the designer don’t communicate.

If the goal of a logo design is to communicate to others the principles of the company it represents, then surely it’s essential that the client and designer communicate with each other. I find it ridiculous that, in most cases, the client has to produce a brief in a vacuum, without any help from the designer, and the designer has to work in a vacuum, with little communication with the client.

Problem 2: No depth of concept or rationale offered for any of the work.

The guiding principle of a good design is that it delivers both visual appeal and meaning. Without meaning and rationale, it is just a pretty picture that anyone could produce. Logo design contests offer just the visuals, without any rationale, and because of the inability to communicate with designer/client, there is no opportunity to present a rationale. Furthermore, because of this lack of communication, most contestants appear to lack this fundamental understanding of what design actually is supposed to do and cannot offer any rationale for their work.

Problem 3: No consultation or guidance

All of my clients come to me with a design problem. They may be experts in their field, and because they understand the importance of the service they offer, they also appreciate the quality that another expert can offer them when producing the identity for their business. In a design contest, the client receives no guidance or support in making their choice, and as such have to choose a design in a vacuum. Invariably, this lack of guidance, combined with a lack of rationale for the concepts, leads to a choice of the ‘shiniest’ design in the competition, rather than the most effective solution.

Even worse than this - the design is chosen that best suits the clients taste, without any guidance of what is best for the target audience - that company’s customers. This is nothing short of negligent.

Problem 4: No accountability

Now we get to the scary part. Most contests are held with anonymity for the contestants. You’ll deal with a ‘screen name’ and the money you pay is held by the contest site’s owners. You don’t know who the designer is, their real name, their address, and you don’t receive an invoice from them. The designer gets all the protection. After you’ve printed your stationery, marketed your new logo, applied it to uniforms and vehicles, signage... what happens when it is discovered that it’s a direct copy of an already existing design that could easily be found with a search of Google images? As the contestant knows they have little accountability, what’s to stop them churning out plagiarised work? And what hope do you have of ever finding them?

Problem 5: Your designer did this for free

A design contest is great value, isn’t it? All of those designs for a small fee, how could that be a bad deal? Well, I ask you to look at it from this point of view. If you receive 100 design concepts, which isn’t uncommon, how many of those people will be paid? 1? Perhaps 2 or 3 if you give prizes for 2nd and 3rd place? So 90+ ‘designers’ are entering that competition, spending their time in the hope of winning a tiny fee, knowing the chances are they won’t be paid at all.

Ask yourself this: If you were even reasonably talented, would you accept those odds? Particularly knowing that you have no chance to discuss the thought and work that has gone into the designs you produce?

Now ask yourself this: If you intelligent enough to be able to hold down any job at minimum wage, let alone being a skilled, experienced designer holding a professional qualification, would you even need to work for free with a slim chance of being paid?