Design Contest Rules and Notes !!!

[Matt]

CONTEST HOLDER RULES - Please Read!



Rules have been moved to a new thread. Click here.


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Inline with the new advancements were making within the DC Forum, please could ALL NEW contests posted include the following format.

This is likely to change over the next week, but it will put in place some of the relevant information people will need to know to make your contest a success

Step 1 - The Thread Title

Please define what type of contest it is. Initially, we'll break this down into 4 formats.

1) [REQ-LOGO]
2) [REQ-BANNER]
3) [REQ-TEMPLATE]
4) [REQ-OTHER]

The reason for this is that there are some designers who specialize in certain areas. Myself, for example, can not really do Logo's, however I'm very content doing banners and templates.

Therefore, the title to the post might be:

[REQ-LOGO] - Financial Forums Logo Required

Adding the value of the contest is optional at this point. Some people will insist that it will get more people looking at the contest, others will say it makes little difference. The choice is yours.


Step 2 - The Contest Description

As with any form of contest, the more information the better for all involved. I know it adds a little more time implementing this for a contest holder, however, it should also increase the chances of you receiving designs that match your requirements quicker.

All elements MUST be covered (ESPECIALLY the end date/time).

Type of Contest :
Prize :
Contest End Date & Time :
Size Requirements :
Color Requirements :
General Requirements :
Additional Information :


So, to give you an example of how the post layout would be with the relevant information :

Type of Contest : LOGO Design
Prize : $25.00
Contest End Date & Time : 9.00PM GMT : 2nd October 2006
Size Requirements : 250px x 100px
Color Requirements :
I would like the design to be inline with the present site. View the site here: http://www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com/index.php - The background MUST be white and ideally the use of greys and blues for the logo, however, I am open to other color formats.

General Requirements :
The site is about football and tennis. I would like to have a symbol or two that are relevant to each sport within the logo if possible. If shouldn’t however look crowded. Ideally it will be clean and corporate. The domain extension is not required within the design, but the name MUST be in it.
Additional Information :
No Additional Info.


The above took me all of 3-4 minutes to knock up. That was from a made up version. Clearly, the objective is to give as much information as possible. By doing this when you initially post the thread, it will make designers lives a lot easier and should return better examples of what you want immediately.

As I said initially, this is essentially a "Trial" format. Feedback and changes are welcomed from the community. Please remember Designers, that we're not creating a historic reference with every little detail, just a solid outline of the main requirements to start submitting your quality designs.

For now, this will not be heavily enforced, but I may go into your thread to include this format so it is clear and we can get a good idea if it is working for people. I will not change any of your details.

Important Additional Note:
It has come to my attention in a couple of threads where the deal has been done, yet the thread has not been updated. Clearly there has been conversation in PM regarding this. That is not a problem, however PLEASE keep the thread updated so other designers know that you have made a choice and their designs will not need to be changed or required.

Thanks to all for reading.
Matt

 

[Matt]

DC Forum Rules - * UPDATED - 31-10-2006*

Welcome to the DC Forum in NamePros.

Due to myself recently accepting the Forum Leader position, I am in the process of trying to sort the forums out and produce some good standardised rules that are clear, concise and easy to follow. Due to this, these rules are evolving over the next few days/week. Once we have established the core rules, they are unlikely to change and then the title will change to reflect this.

If you are unsure of anything, please make sure you check back here.

Contest Holders

Rule #1
You MUST abide by these requirementshttp://www.namepros.com/design-contests/242085-contest-holder-rules-please-read.html
If you don't, then your thread may well be closed / deleted by an Admin.

Rule #2
All contest held within the DC Forums MUST have an end date. This CAN NOT be longer than 10 days. It is VERY unlikely, if it is a thought out contest, that you will not find a good design here in NP over that period of time. To maximise the response, we would suggest you post the contest so it allows for 2 weekends to be included. This gives the designers time to put together entries.

Rule #3
The contest holder is allowed to extend the competition by 48 hours maximum IF there are less than 4 design entries from 4 different members. It is unlikely that you will not get a design that reflects your budget within this time period.

Rule #4
Once you have started a contest, you have a total of 60 minutes, 1 hour to cancel it. IF a post has been made WITH an entry, then it is a running contest and you must select a winner. If the Contest Holder for any reason bails on his/her commitments, then a negative feedback will be given and an oficial warning. If it is repeated, irrelevant of your feedback, status or community status, you may be banned from NamePros.

Rule #5
In the VERY unlikely situation where you have narrowed the contest down to 2 winners, and one of them has been "removed" from NamePros due to illegal activity, you will have the option as the CH of 1 of 2 options.

Option1 : Select the "joint" contest leader at the due End time of the contest or...
Option2 : Extend the contest by 48hrs.

This is a rare occurance and can only be authorised by the DC Forum Leader or a NamePros member of Staff.


Designers:

Rule #1
All Designs MUST be watermarked. This is more for your own benefit than anyone else’s. 99% of all contest holders are unlikely to try and "scam" your design, however, people forget this is a PUBLIC forum and thus, anyone can potentially see your design. With Billions of web pages on the net, there's always that chance someone will lift it and use it. Please make sure you watermark it properly. To assist you with this, please see : http://www.namepros.com/design-contests/113937-how-to-watermark-your-graphic-designs.html

Rule #2
When a contest is posted, ONLY Designers and Contest Holders should post in the thread until it has finished. It is great to support other designers and offer them feedback, however, please make sure this is done by PM's. I DO NOT want to see people commenting on the designs and submissions if they do not fit into one of these 2 categories. I will remove the post immediately.

Rule #3
IF, for any reason you will not be around for longer than 24hrs AFTER the contest has finished, please drop a quick note in your submission. This at least lets the contest holder know, should you win, that you will be back and that you have not ignored them. This is pure common sense and courtesy. This applies to Contest Holders as well!



Rules for both Designers & Contest Holders

Rule #1
Under NOOOOOOOO circumstances should ANY entries be submitted or accepted by PM. The reason you are holding a public contest is so people can enter, and see the competition. It also opens up the whole possability of "Rips" and "Copied" material. If I find this happening, the contest will be closed immediately. I would also like to add, when the "advance payment" system is introduced, ALL money will be forfeited by the Contest Holder, the designer will be suspended and the money will be given to the best design in the comp decided by the Admins / Staff. The design/work will then become the property of NamePros.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


General Rules!

Attention ALL Designers ..... You need to report ANY Non-payers to the staff as soon as there appears to be a problem .. We can't read every single thread in here So you can't expect us to catch these non-payers without your assistance.

We have a ZERO Tolerance for non-payers in the Design Contest - Meaning : Permanent Banning for those who wish to go this route.


Ok, there will no doubt be more rules coming. IF you have any suggestions for rules, please PM me.

I would also like to add, that as the Forum Leader, if need be, I will edit your thread. This is purely to keep things inline with the above rules. I will ALWAYS keep your original content in your post.

Thanks
Matt

 

[Jaynesh]

Heres a VBCODE version of it to make it easier for contest holders

[B]Type of Contest :[/B] [FONT=Arial Black][U][I]LOGO Design[/I][/U][/FONT]
[B]Prize :[/B] [COLOR=Red]$xx.00[/COLOR]
[B]Contest End Date & Time :[/B] [I]date here[/I]
[B]Size Requirements :[/B] [I]250px x 100px[/I]
[B]Color Requirements :[/B][I] color requirements here[/I]

[B]General Requirements : [/B][I]general requirements here[/I]

[B]Additional Information :[/B] [I]No Additional Info.[/I]

Type of Contest : LOGO Design
Prize : $xx.00
Contest End Date & Time : date here
Size Requirements : 250px x 100px
Color Requirements : color requirements here

General Requirements : general requirements here

Additional Information : Additional Info here

 

[RJ]

There have been a couple instances of formerly banned members signing up again and starting new contests with bad intentions, so we've set this forum to require moderator approval before new threads are made public. Threads should be approved pretty quickly, but allow up to 12 hours.

If you start a new contest thread, please take this delay into consideration.

 

[Mark]

Threads Merged for a Cleaner "Sticky" look in the Design Section.

Suggestions are still always welcome here :
http://www.namepros.com/design-contests/242040-feedback-comments-suggestions-d-c-forum.html

 

[Mark]

PLEASE NOTE :

No new members will be allowed to open a Contest here without First contacting the Admin/Management.

And even then - Unless you have a Reputation built up on other Trusted sites .... Don't expect a miracle.

A few "Staff" have volunteered to act as "Escrow Agent" in the past. Don't assume we will offer this though ... It puts us in "Bad" position should anything go wrong.

 

[RJ]

Rules consolidated to an Announcement Post here --

http://www.namepros.com/design-contests-announcements.html