Design Contests are 93% FAIL.
Enter 100 design contests and you might win 7 of them. Good job.
March 1, 2009 by Gary Simon
So what do I mean when I say they’re 93% fail? Because when you take a look at the numbers, the average designer has a 93% chance of failing every contest they enter. To put it differently, if you enter 100 contests; you’ll win a whopping 7. I kid you not, just take a look at the “recent winner” profiles on the lower right corner of 99designs.com and average them all out (But don’t bother, I already did that for you). This ratio is probably even worse when you take into account all of the designers who entered contests and never won a damn thing.
Let’s look at some other numbers, such as $ earned vs. time spent
If you look around, the average design contest earnings are $200 per project. Let’s assume on average designers spend 2 hours per project (this includes revisions as well, and we also have to consider they allow full site design contests here too). If a designer were to submit designs to design contests on a full time basis at 40 hours a week. That’s 20 contests a week, or 60 contests per month. Since the average designer wins only 7% of the contests they enter, that’s 4.2 contests they can win. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say they won 5. 5 * $200 = $1,000. A full time job grossing $1,000 a month comes out to $6.25 an hour (below minimum wage). Flipping burgers is more profitable than this shit. Let’s go over this again:
1. Joe spends 40 hours a week entering contests
2. Joe, as an average designer, invests 2 hours per contest.
3. This means Joe enters 20 contests a week, or 60 per month.
4. Joe, as an average designer, wins 7% of his contests (or 5 per month).
5. Joe, as other average designers, wins $200 per project.
6. This means Joe grosses $1,000 a month on a full time job.
7. This means a 16 year old nerd who’s never been laid makes more money flipping burgers than Joe.
Contest Starters are often times blind.
Design contests are also fail because there’s a decent chance the contest starter will choose a logo obviously inferior to others submitted. A lot of these contest starters don’t know shit about what makes a good logo, just take a look at these astounding examples of real winners chosen in real contests at 99designs:
“But design contests are fun!”
Fine. I’ve entered a few contests myself for the hell of it. But if you browse around on some contest sites like 99designs, you’ll see profiles of those who’ve literally entered hundreds, even saw a couple that entered well over a thousand contests. This means there are “designers” spending a good majority of their time entering contests, making shit.
“It’s a good way to learn and build a portfolio”
No. A better way to learn is by making money doing it. There’s a market for every budget, it’s simply a matter of finding those clients.
You can spend your time more wisely…
Instead of entering design contests and using the excuse that you don’t know how to find clients, how about you give it a shot? It’s not all that difficult to find clients, and stop wasting your time on a gamble. In fact, coming up in a blog post, I will show you how to find clients.
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Comments
Adrian
March 1, 2009
I really like your no nonsense style. Blunt & informative. I’m really interested in your method of finding clients. I eagerly await the blog post.
Michael Elliott
March 1, 2009
I can wait to make a site like 99designes. they get 40 a client regardless… sound good to me just have to find that php programmer now. lol
TipJar
March 2, 2009
Gary,
I’m really glad you posted this -
I’ve entered quite a few design contests on DP, and have yet to see just ONE winner. The thread starters either run off or pick some crappy design. At first I was thinking…”is it me, do my designs suck?” but now I realize it’s not me….it’s just that the odds are not in your favor in design contests.
Yeah, they’re fun to enter every once in a great while, and to build up a portfolio, but I agree with you; it’s much easier and more profitable to open your own business =)
Neil
March 2, 2009
Awesome blog post, thanks. I’ve never entered a design contest for one reason. I’m afraid I will be told, “Sorry no prize for you” and days, weeks or even months later find my exact design/designs being used somewhere on the web. This may or may not happen, but there is a good chance of it.
Now, I’m not saying my designs are the best in the world but I have worked fairly hard at my craft and the thought of my work being taken from me is less than discouraging.
Needless to say the web is the easiest place to undergo such unspeakable acts. The last thing I want is for my designs to be taken and used somewhere on the web forcing me to compete against my own work. I already do this enough and do’nt need anyones help with that.
Neil.
Tyler
March 3, 2009
For every free piece of design one of these mouth breathers creates to further lower the market price of my own work, a bag of kittens shall be tossed over a bridge.
that’s right…
a bag.
Artie
March 17, 2009
Gosh, this stuff cracks me up. But it’s seriously the truth, dumb turds like me often spend so much of our human lifetime behind a monitor creating crap that won’t even benefit ourselves.
I’d rather f***ing go out to BurgerKing and fill out an application.
Dawz
March 24, 2009
Really looking forward to the next blog of how to generate Clients. ‘I will show you how to find clients.’
Rasmus
March 28, 2009
Lol, I have no idea, how I found this page, but those comparisons are hilarious.
Justin W.
March 1, 2009
I can’t wait to see how to find clients. I’ve tried freelance sites, but since I don’t have many reviews, people choose outsourced people instead.
I’ve also tried the contests but that was definitely a waste of time.