Member shi… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 This topic was imported from the Typophile platform So the very first time I submitted to Print I got into the Print Design Annual. It was really great since that is my favorite design contest out there. However I have been submitting every year since and have not made it in again. So now they have raised their prices and I have lost a bit of my confidence... so my question is are design contests worth the money to submit and how can one tell when something is worth submitting? thanks! Link to comment
Member Si_… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'm sure this is a total coincidence but the description sounds like a classic confidence scheme, where the mark gets a small pay-off at the beginning, but then continues to pay in long term after that. Link to comment
Member shi… Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Hmm I guess it might be a bit of a scheme at that. Also my local design community only seems to respect you if you get design awards. Link to comment
Member Dun… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Also my local design community only seems to respect you if you get design awards. So tell them to get stuffed! I don’t think that the Print awards are a scam, but I wouldn’t pay an entry fee to help somebody else put together a magazine, either. Link to comment
Member bem… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Real-life work trumps award work, in my opinion. Sometimes the two coincide. But award lists only tell me who likes a particular designer and not necessarily whether I'd like their work. Link to comment
Member Nic… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I don't enter or judge design contests. Maybe if there was something that worked like the Oscars. Cedric Gibbons was one of the organizers of that, BTW. Link to comment
Member Jac… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Maybe you should reconsider if you're only entering in the big national ones. In my experience I've never had someone contact me from being in one of the big awards publications but I've had people contact me after seeing work in smaller shows I'd never heard of before or even knew I had work in (from agency and client submissions). Link to comment
Member hra… Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Try to enter only free contests - you won't feel dirty if you don't win. Nick, the Oscars?! Scamalicious central! hhp Link to comment
Member fre… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Competing in design... It's not optimal, but it is what we got. If you get over the fact that it may not always be fair it can be fun. Some design contests are crap obviously, but win a Yellow pencil in D&AD and you have my eternal respect (and the clients continued confidence, presumably). Link to comment
Member Nic… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Hrant, the Oscars are voted for by a professional organization of around 6,000. So it's not the celebrity whim format used in the design world, more of a rank and file thing. That much at least keeps it real, although the campaigns targeting Academy members, and the awards night hoopla are a bit over the top. Link to comment
Member hra… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Yup, it's just like US elections. Rigged. You can tell that contests like the Oscars and many design ones suck simply by looking at the results: they suck. > celebrity whim Actually, good design judges actually exist, and some organizations manage to select them for their contests. hhp Link to comment
Member alu… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 We designers are ego based. I usually don't enter call for entries that require an entry fee. Mainly because I'm cheap and lazy. Remember that these are rather genius businesses...they sell books/magazines full of content that they have you PAY to have included. I've won a few free entry call for entries and admit that it's nice to get your ego stroked when you win. Has it won me clients and fame? No. Link to comment
Member alu… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 The Oscars suck because it's 'crowd sourced' critique. And that never produces the best...just the average. Link to comment
Member shi… Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share Posted March 25, 2009 Thanks guys! I think I feel a bit better. I think in the end we have to please ourselves most of all, but sometimes it does feel good to get the extra validation from outside. Link to comment
Member bem… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Money in the account can be a form of outside validation although I would *strongly* caution against using that as your sole measurement of worth or usefulness. Many a person is undervalued and many a scoundrel overpriced. Link to comment
Member jak… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 For what is worth, it's a boost when applying for a job...especially for the employer that doesn't know jack about art & design. They tend to focus more on individual accomplishments. Link to comment
Member sco… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 @sii ...classic confidence scheme, where the mark gets a small pay-off at... it's so funny that you refer to the scammed as a 'mark' it's like a spy movie! I generally feel weird about contests and whatnot but Jakes has a great point about employers and resumes and whatnot. I think it was at the AGI student conference this past Spring where the panel was giving us advice about winning contests: make it big, if it's printed and huge, it dwarfs everything when they're all laid out on the tables. make it quickly/simply understood. no complicated folding.. the first judge going through the work will unfold it and wont care to fold it back up. - Scott Link to comment
Member Fee… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Bruce Mau Manifesto Most of this is pretty life-coachy, but #26 is a good one. I don't really follow this rule 100%, though -- I enter in free contests, because there's nothing to lose except a little bit of time. Most of these are books, which will stay on the shelf a lot longer than a magazine, too. Link to comment
Member Fee… Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 @jakes: totally agree. in school, you get a lot of info about how to impress art/creative directors. What you don't learn is you're lucky if you get to deal with a creative director, and a lot of times you're dealing with some MBA clown who can only see "oh, they must be good, they worked on Coke and Nike, and have won a bunch of awards." And often times "creative" directors are the same way, as this cartoon points out. It's nice when you deal with someone who can recognize great concepts and executions in a project for a small non-profit as much as they can for a big global company, but this is not always the case. Link to comment
Member dl… Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Is there a list of free contests anywhere? Link to comment
Member Si_… Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I have one. I'll sell it to you for $25. Link to comment
Member Sha… Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Thanks for the Bruce Mau link, Josh. There were some good thoughts there. Sharon Link to comment
Member Sim… Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 yes josh, thanks for that link! Link to comment
Member Fee… Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I'd be curious to know: of the art/creative directors on typophile responsible for finding talent, how many look at annuals, magazines and books to find people? In other words, are you making the investment of entering contests worthwhile? Link to comment
Member pat… Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I used to enter them when I worked for a company that paid for it - we won quite a lot. I also juried a few back in the day. That said, now that I'm on my own I never enter these things. It's a lot of money. I also think (at least with AIGA) that if you don't participate and schmooze you don't win prizes. Sorry, but it feels like an old boys club to me. Again, I'm not paying their exorbitant membership fees now that I no longer have a company buying it for me. Link to comment
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