Designers - Make some cash with 99Designs

If your a graphic/web designer or developer, I highly suggest that you check out 99Designs. This is a site where you compete against other designers in contests and the cash prizes are worth competing for. Not only can you win and earn some cash, but you can also build your portfolio and network with designers and potiential clients.

At 99Designs, the contest holders are looking for 100% original work, so no use of ANY stock images are allowed. If you are caught using stock images you will be suspended and even banned, so just DONT use stock images. Its not worth losing you account with this site, because it really is a great place for designers, in more ways than one.

Here are some tips I received from the 99Designs staff that were really helpful and helped me improve my contest entries.


1. It is always helpful to look at other designs throughout the contest to see which ones are getting high star ratings. This will give you a better idea of the style direction the contest holder is leaning towards.

2. I think one of the best ways to learn is to go back to all of the contests that you entered and see which logo won. You can then compare the winning logo to your entries and see the differences. This can help you to see how your designs missed the mark.

3. Check out this section of our blog that features some of the best designers on our site that we find to have quality work: blog.99designs.com/category/designer-profiles/
You might be interested in checking out their work and reading about their experiences.

4. Always read the Design Brief thoroughly before entering a contest. Make sure to open all of the links and/or attachments provided to get a better feel for the needs of the Contest Holder.

5. Remember that stock art is NEVER allowed in logo design, even if you altered it. If you are reported for using stock, you will be suspended. This is because contest holders are looking for 100% original work that can later be copyrighted.
**If you decide to use stock in other categories, make sure to link the source of the stock images you are utilizing in order to avoid being reported for copyright infringement.

6. Make sure that you are familiar with programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, or Inkscape when creating your designs. These are the programs you should be using. Paint and Adobe Photoshop will NOT create quality designs.

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