Knowing the following about 48hourslogo designers will help you better manager your logo contest and achieve better results for your new business logo design project.
When you create a logo contest with 48hourslogo, you will have the opportunity to work with a variety of logo designers. Since we have a unique crowdsourcing formula, it affects our designers in some specific ways. It would be a good idea to know some of these situations so you know better what to expect during your contest. So I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 Things You Should Know About 48hourslogo Designers (But Probably Don’t).
1. Designers like to join contests during last couple of days
The open concept stage of our logo contests rang between 1 to 7 days. Because many of our designers like to join contests during last couple of days, we typically recommend our clients to set the contest duration of 3 to 4 days. However, if your contest prize is above $200, you can set a longer contest duration because the competition gets fierce right from the beginning. At the end of the open concept stage, you will be prompted to select your finalist designers and have a full week to work on your design revisions.
2. Designers Cannot Copy One Another’s Work.
Designers own the rights to the artwork they submit, until one is selected as the winner and that begins the process of transferring the rights to you. So asking them to copy another designer’s artwork is equal to stealing within the design industry. The rules on the Designer Code of Conduct state “Keep in mind that borrowing ideas from other designs is OK as long as the new design looks sufficiently different.” So if you see a color that you’d like others to incorporate, or a font (as long as your logo isn’t a word mark, i.e. text only), it’s OK to request them. The logo designers just have to make sure changes are not going to cause their designs to become too similar to one another’s. If they do, they run the risk of warning points, monetary fines, and in worse cases, removal from the site.
3. The Qualifying Stage is Blind to Designers.
All contests on 48hourslogo have five stages to them, the first one being the Qualifying Stage. During this time, designers cannot see one anothers work. This is in part to force designers to be creative on their own. For more information on blind contests, see our post about why Blind is Better.
4. Designers Aren’t Always Online.
I know this one seems like a no-brainer, but I do have a point with it. Some designers have other full or part time jobs, or other responsibilities that take them away for quite a few hours. That being said, they know to check in as often as they can. Many designers will check in every 8-12 hours, some even more when they can. Don’t worry if you have less than 24 hours left in your contest and are waiting for revisions to come in. Most times submissions are made within the last couple of hours. You can always check on the Designer tab to see how long its been since they have last logged in.
5. Strictly No Contact Info During Contests
Designers are restricted from sharing their contact information until after a winner is selected for a contest. This ensures an even playing field for all designers. If you would like to work 1-on-1 with a certain designer, we’ve got an option for you.
6. Designers Are Not Supposed To Flood Your Contest
Our designers are encouraged to provide you with thoughtful, original logo designs to choose from. So if you see someone submitting a lot of designs to you contest and you haven’t given them any feedback about changes, chances are they don’t know what they’re doing, haven’t properly thought out your logo design, and we need to have a talk with them. It’s ok to ask them for some color, font, layout, or any other changes you would like to see. But it should be limited to the best 3-4 changes per request. This way you’re not wasting time wading through designs with just one subtle variation trying to figure out what the difference is. It’s really a matter of designers having a professional opinion and respecting your time.
7. Invitations To Your Contest Are Available
At the start of your contest or anytime during the Qualifying Stage, you can invite up to three designers to your contest. The cost is $5 each, and the designer receive that monetary incentive only after they’ve submitted a design to your contest. This helps if you find designers you like and want to see how they would do for your logo design. Don’t worry about the quality, our admins and moderators look out to make sure you’re invited designers give you good work and aren’t submitting a quick design for a quick buck.
8. Prizes Can Be Shared
It is very rare, but there have been times when the right logo is only achieved by designers working together and combining their designs. If it comes to that, you should get the designers to agree and they should notify an admin about the agreement. Next, they can work with one another, and one of them will submit a combined logo. Of course there can only be one winner, but the prize can be split by one of the site admins. I would use this method sparingly, but at least this way the designers get paid for their ideas on your logo and you get the logo you want.
9. The Email Notifications
Designers get message notifications every time you invite them, comment on their designs, select them as a Finalist, select them as the Winner, and comment on the upload section of your contest page. They see these messages when the log into 48hourslogo.com. Some designers will have their emails linked to their mobile devices, meaning when they get emails from 48hourslogo they should be able to access them anywhere. Designers get email notifications when they are selected as Finalist, Winners, and when you comment on the upload section of your contest page.
10. The Importance of Confirming the Logo Package
Once your new Logo Package is uploaded, it is very important for two reasons to review it and confirm it on the contest page. First, the prize money for winning your contest is released to the designer once the package is confirmed. Second, by confirming the package you complete the transaction of compensating the designer for the rights to the work they created for you. Confirming the package will benefit you and the designer, so make sure you’ve completed this step once you select a contest winner!
I hope this list will give you a better idea of how to make the best of your working relationship with our Design Community. If you knew about any of these before reading this, congratulations, you’re ahead of the game! If they’re all new to you, maybe it will give a little more perspective about the people you are working with. At 48hourslogo, we are always looking for ways to enhance the client/designer relationship.