Don’t Fall For It!

When you hear the words “design contest” you probably think of Project Runway, which is arguably the most famous example of a design contest there is. So maybe you’re thinking, what could be bad about a design contest? Design contests give artists and designers the opportunity to gain exposure for their work just like Project Runway! And while in a perfect world all design contests would be just as prolific for all participants like all the major televised contests are, but unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world.

Rather, we live in a world where design contests act as an opportunity to exploit designers and artists for their work without receiving proper compensation or recognition. In most design contests, a contest holder launches a competition where multiple designers participate by submitting designs that have been created specifically to fulfill the requests provided in the brief from the contest holder. This means that each designer competing is creating completely new and original work for the contest.

But why does this exploit designers you ask? Lack of payment.

Most design contests only provide any compensation to the winner. This means that any designers who compete in the contest – creating completely new and original work for the competition – but don’t win will leave with nothing. 

But hey, it must be relatively easy to win! Unfortunately no…. In a design contest, your odds of winning range from 0.2% to 10%. This means that you are 0.25% more likely to get audited by the IRS this year than you are to win a design contest

A blog post from ApexCreative describes it best by saying, “Imagine working hard, and submitting 100 designs, which probably took you at least 100 hours, and only getting paid for less than 10 of those. And that’s if you’re lucky. The average chance of you winning any contest is roughly 5%. Which means the chance of losing is 95%…doesn’t sound like good odds to me.”

To make matters worse: even if payment is “guaranteed”, that doesn’t actually mean that you will be paid. Many design contests end with the contest being abandoned, the contest holder canceling the competition, or just straight up backing out. So picture it: you did all this work and happened to land yourself in the 0.2-10% success group who won their contest, and suddenly the contest is cancelled, the contest holder backs out, and you get nothing.

Now, maybe you are one of the people that believe that contests are fun, even if you don't win. Which sure, entering a local radio contest to win Arianna Grande tickets is fun! But spending hours of your precious time coming up with unique and amazing designs which allow a company to take advantage of your creativity and design abilities in exchange for less than you would get paid as a minimum wage employee? Definitely not fun.

Even the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), takes a strong stance on design contests – claiming firmly that they are unethical. AIGA states on their website that,“AIGA believes that professional designers should be compensated fairly for their work and should negotiate the ownership or use rights of their intellectual and creative property through an engagement with clients. To that end, AIGA strongly encourages designers to enter into client projects with full engagement to show the value of their creative endeavor, and to be aware of all potential risks before entering into speculative work.”

So, if the main professional organization for graphic designers and artists believes that design contests are unethical… you probably should too.

Even if you’re just looking to gain experience and for a chance to create some designs for your portfolio? A design contest is not the way to do it! By competing, you are cheapening the value of your design excellence, supporting the occurrence of unethical design practices, and allowing for the exploitation of designers like yourself to continue. Which I promise, is not worth $1,000.

So before you think about joining or holding a design contest head the words of ApexCreative, “Remember, as a designer, you are a service provider. And as service providers, ALL we have is our time. Your time is valuable, and should be fairly compensated.”