Pet Peeves: Design competitions asking for paid submissions

I started seeing a trend a few years back and it only seems to be getting worse… that of companies asking designers to submit amazing designs but having to pay for each entry.

Reasons to charge

Design websites and magazines, struggling to make ends meet, have discovered an easy way to get some creative work while generating revenue at the same time… using design competitions. Sometimes, if you read the fine print… they actually OWN your design even if you don’t win. READ THE FINE PRINT! From the site’s perspective, it costs money to review what people have sent, looking at pictures but most importantly, I think they see the value they bring to the table to the winning designs or participants. Sure, a hundred dollars here, a hundred dollars there helps the bottom line but at the end of the day, they see a way of generating what is essentially PAID ADVERTISING for their properties with relatively little effort. I’m also guessing the money request is also used as a way to prevent them from being flooded with designs. They shouldn’t call these design competitions, they should be called revenue streams.

Reasons to keep it free!

I think by launching a design competition where there are no barriers to entry is the way to go by far… hundreds if not thousands of artists are out there, barely making a living… and they need as much recognition for their time as major breakthrough artists. It takes about 5 seconds to keep or ditch a picture of a design, this isn’t a lot of time invested for the design contest but for a designer, who can easily spend days and maybe weeks on a design… it’s an added insult to have to then PAY just to have a design reviewed. Haven’t they paid enough in time, materials and equipment already?

Solution

Make design competitions FREE and open internationally… and let the best designs win and get the recognition they deserve! Get sponsors to subsidize the competition, don’t charge for creative submissions.