Best design for our new logo will earn $545 at 99designs

[Sierra Jakob]

btw, I've never seen this 99designs thing before. I've been trying to figure out how it works--who is actually doing all this "voting"???--can't seem to find that info anywhere on the website. Anyone got a clue? (I just signed up as a designer, but now I'm having second thoughts....the inner workings don't seem to be very transparent--or maybe I'm just lost? Guidance would be appreciated.)

[Sierra Jakob]

Hi Sierra,

The contests are run by the people who wish to have work done and 99designs take quite a chunk of the amount they pay. For example, we paid $949 for the logo and business card contest but the winning designer will only get $545. There are several stages to the contest, in the qualifying round anyone can propose designs and we rank them. The star rating is:
1 star: has potential
2 stars: right direction
3 stars: good design
4 stars: great design
5 stars: leading design

The qualifying round lasts 4 days after which we have 4 days to choose up to 6 designers for the next round. In that round the finalists refine their existing designs or propose new ones. After 3 days the contest ends at which point we have up to two weeks to choose which design we want. Once we do so the IP rights and money will be exchanged.

It's a good model for people wanting design work, but I don't think it's very attractive to the designers themselves. It seems that only a few would earn decent wages using this model. That's why many of the designers come from third-world and second-world countries where the average wage is low.

[Sierra Jakob]

I do see one more design--it has more elements than I would have thought advisable--so I didn't see it at first.... but this designer has shaped the elements so expertly, and is using only one color so it is still quite simple and the lines are divine! Designer: Malsta 2908

In fact, I can hardly look away from this design. The blue on white is very pretty, but I especially love the white on blue! It's bold, the lines flow beautifully, and you just can't forget it--it kind of stays imprinted on your brain. I'm sold.

[Deuce Halsey]

Frankly I don't know how anyone can choose from this maelstrom of designs. Way before I got through them all I was suffering from severe logo fatigue.
My only advice is to avoid any of those designs that copy the Windows logo colors and theme for the kite panels. It astonishes me how many artists thought
that was a good idea.

[Sierra Jakob]

I'm having a lot of fun watching the contest. I can't help but get a little tickled though--Do the final logos seem surprisingly similar to the old logo?

[Ilan Tochner]

I've given the finalists guidance to try to take a step back and come up with new designs, the current ones they submitted are good but not great. Looking at their portfolios they should be able to design great ones.

[Sierra Jakob]

Cool. I would love to see some with really nice lines and great simplicity. Color can always be added--but simplicity, elegance, and good form--those are most apparent in monochrome, and can't be added later. Some of the elements that are being included just now--i.e., the fluffy clouds and other curves--seem to be diluting the power of the logo. They'd be great for something like toilet paper, but not so much a shiny "worlds-on-demand"-business. I mean, let's face it, fluffly clouds kind of cancel out the energetic feel your trying to create with "worlds-on-demand". It would be better for the different elements of the Kitely campaign strategy to work together seamlessly. I'd nix the clouds. Visually they just seem to weaken the image. Yes, they are "pretty", don't get me wrong. But they may not be the right choice in this particular instance for a logo.

I've always liked the Kitely colors. But, somehow it just seems like maybe one color too many. I'm not sure why, but it feels just a tad intrusive. I was hoping to see more choices from these artists in one or two color sets. I find that often gives a more settling feel... more trustworthiness, more strength, more calm. Add the kite symbol and a little tilt for motion and there is your energy--from the lines rather than the color.

Of course, you notice I'd rather be an "armchair quarterback" on this one. lol.

[Sierra Jakob]

Hmm.... so now the contest is being hidden from view?

[Constance Peregrine]

We wanted an extension for the final round and the account manager suggested that we also make it blind so the contestants will be encouraged to offer more designs without fear of the other contestants copying them. Once the final stage is over all the entries will once again be visible and we'll then have two weeks to choose the winner.

[Lawrence Pierce]

Hi Ilan,

You noted yourself that while the contest format is good for those seeking designs, it's probably not attractive to designers themselves. I'm wondering, since you usually promote a win-win in business models, why did you choose the contest format? Alternatively, you could have sought out a designer directly by seeking a portfolio that embodies styles you prefer, and by doing so you would have been creating a win for the designer, and the practice of design as a profession, as well as for Kitely. It's also not an unqualified given that a contest produces better results.