Official Design Contest Rules and Guide

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Rules

1. A winner must be selected only from active entries on NamePros.

2. All elements are required: end time and date; prefix and contest type; prize; size requirements; color requirements; general requirements; and additional information.

3. Contests may not have an end date greater than 10 days and can only be extend by a maximum of 48 hours if less than 4 designs are entered by 4 different designers.

4. All contests that are actively running with submissions are considered valid.

5. You must update your thread to reflect your decision about a winner.

6. New contests will not be allowed until the winner from previous contest has been announced and paid.

7. All entries must be made in a public reply to the thread and not by a private contact.

8. Use of stock images or stealing others’ artwork is prohibited in accordance with General Rule 1.4.

9. Contests are considered abandoned 7 days after contest end date without activity.

10. Banned users or disqualified entries may not be chosen as winners.

11. Do not post any issues regarding a contest or contest thread.

12. Disqualifications for breaking the rules and all NamePros staff decisions are final.

13. All contests must have an exact (date and time) or relative (e.g., 24 hours after last submission) end time that is clear and unambiguous.

FAQ

1. Why do I need to select a winner from NamePros?

a. Since the contest that you opened was on NamePros, you are required and bound to select a winner from your contest thread if it has 1 or more submissions.

b. In the instance another mock-up design is submitted outside of your thread, you may select that as the winner for as long as the designer submits it in the thread before the contest end date.

2. What does each element mean?

a. End time and date: This is the end of your contest. All submissions submitted before this date are considered valid and a winner must be selected from them.

b. Prefix and contest type: These two are essentially the same, except that you have to choose a predefined prefix. The prefix allows designers to see if you want a logo, banner, template, or other type of design before opening the thread. You are welcome to expand on the contest type while formatting the thread.

c. Prize: The offering may be anything you desire if it conforms with the standards of NamePros rules. However, you may get more submissions if the prize is for money. All monetary prize amounts will be in USD by default if no other currency is mentioned.

d. Size requirements: You may expand on this how you see necessary in order to convey what you are specifically looking for. You may put it in pixels if known, other units of measurement, or a description of what you want your design on, such as a business card or a sign.

e. Color requirements: You can include the required colors, which could be the colors that your current business has, what you would like to see, or leave it up to the designers to be creative.

f. General requirements: This covers anything required that is not already covered. Some details that could be included for this section could be that it must be a flat design or have a specific font.

g. Additional information: Anything can be included here that does not fit elsewhere. If there is nothing else to include, this section should be marked as not applicable.

h. Any contests which do not include these requirements may be closed or deleted, even if they are live.

3. If a contest must have an end date of 10 days, how is it possible to extend?

a. The initial contest may not be set for more than 10 days and is believed that this is ample time for anyone to enter a contest. Though, there are cases where more designers enter a contest than conceived. In the instance where 4 or more designers submit a concept, a contest may be extended up to 48 hours so that revisions may be done and the best possible product can be decided for your prize offering.

4. What happens if a contest doesn’t have any submissions?

b. At that time, the contest may be cancelled and resubmitted.

c. If the contest had no entries, the requirements should be revisited.

d. If you would like to cancel a thread before it has been approved and is live, please contact any member of NamePros staff.

5. Why do I need to select a winner in public?

a. A winner needs to be selected and posted in public for transparency reasons.

6. How come an entry has to be posted in the thread?

a. This is so that everyone may see each design and comments from the contest holder. It allows the current and prospect designers to get critical feedback on what the holder would like to see in their designs that is not already posted in the original post.

b. It’s also required so that the contest is transparent to everyone and to deter copied material.

c. If private submissions are encouraged or are persistent without warning NamePros staff, the contest will be closed immediately.

7. Why are stock photos prohibited?

a. Stock photos are prohibited from use as there is more than one type of license for them.

b. In the instance that you do have the correct license to design for other people and it is reported, you must indicate what type of license you have and be prepared to prove the existence of it.

8. Why can’t I post anything in a contest thread about another entry?

a. It isn’t up to you to post anything critical about someone else’s entry.

b. In the case that the entry contains stock photos, report it rather than commenting on it.

9. What happens if I abandon my contest thread?

a. The contest holder will receive infraction points and lose the ability to hold a contest in the future.

b. Bailing on commitments repeatedly will also receive infraction points, negative feedback, and possibly banned from NamePros.

Guide

1. It is recommended that your contest’s time frame is longer rather than shorter so that it allows the opportunity for the maximum amount of entries. More time gives designers to put together quality entries.

2. Designers greatly appreciate thread starters who offer feedback on entries. Feel free to tell them what you like and dislike about their entries in public so your likes can be narrowed down.

3. Try to be descriptive as possible in the title to encourage entries. Some people believe adding the price amount to the title also makes a difference.

4. In order to abide by the requirements of rule #2, this cookie cutter template has been made for your convenience to copy and paste.

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

5. Below is an example of the provided template filled in.

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.

6. 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.

7. If you suspect that a design is not original, please perform a search using TinEye and Google's Reverse Image search. If you find evidence of this, please submit it to a moderator.