Designers who bid on design contests tend to develop their own methods and strategies for winning clients (and bing the competition). When I was asked "What are your tips for winning a design contest?" nothing came to mind right away but, upon reflection, over time I have developed some strategies which I find work for me. In this article I will share my 7 tricks and tips for winning design contests. Enjoy!

1) Know Your Strengths

Some designers are good at creating logos some are better at web designs. Some are good in Photoshop, some in Illustrator. Some have a talent for web 2.0 style logos, some are good at creating 3D style logos. Some have an aptitude for bold and strong symbols, or freehand drawing and cartoons.

What are your favourite styles? You don't need to be told to look for projects that you like, but of course you have a better chance in winning the projects that you enjoy working on and projects that suit your strengths.

Analyse your portfolio and the designs that your peers and clients like to work out your strengths.

2) Pay Attention

Read the brief closely. Find out what the client likes or dislikes. If you don't understand, ask. The clients who are better at writing project briefs and providing samples are more likely to get what they want.

Clients don't always provide all the information you need, but you can Google the client's website to get a sense of what the company is like.

Don't follow the style of the existing logo or website,though, because the client posted a contest which means they want a change.

3) Research

Find out what the logos of the client's competitors look like. The logo you design should stand out and look better than the competitors'.

4) Submit Two Designs

Submit two designs, one in a "safe" style, and the other your ideal "creative" design. The safe style is a conventional logo that is easily accepted by most clients. But keep in mind that the contest designs must be full of this style of logo, so you need to submit something else to attract attention. Sometimes a client will choose you just because you have submitted a unique logo, even though the logo they go with is your safe version!

"Safe"

"Creative"

The creative design won!

Your research in step 3 (above) should influence both your logos.

For your "safe" submission you might use a more conservative design style and include some attributes that shows the company belongs to the same group of the business field (think of it like communication conventions in a particular industry).

For your "creative" submission (see tip #4 below) maybe you could close your eyes and imagine you are buying this wonderful product or service and expecting the best: what would the logo look like in your imagination?

5) Be Strategic

Submit early or submit late?

Each has its own advantages. I have experimented with both, and just when I was convinced that one was better I found I was wrong.

If your client is an advertising company, or a project manager, you need to submit early. The advertising companies don't want to confuse their clients with new choices in the later stages of decision making (unless your design is truly brilliant). Same with the project managers who need to set meetings for the decision makers to agree on one thing.

For direct clients, if you submit earlier, the strength is that your design can be more memorable. If you make a strong first impression, any designs similar to yours that are submitted later will have less impact on the client. The weakness is that some clients don't trust their initial reactions and concentrate more on "the pack" that can sometimes emerge in the last third of the contest, after a couple of rounds of feedback - especially where the instructions are very specific - and the submissions become more uniform in style.

6) Be Productive

The more contests you work on, the better your chances of winning. But still, keep the balance between the quality and quantity of your work: designers need to have a nice portfolio.

7) Be Persistent

Don't let the winning or losing affect you too much. Some designers get discouraged and quit after losing a few contests. Keep in mind that the most artistic or original logo doesn't always win: it's the client's decision based on their needs. This is the same when pitching concepts in the real world. Whether you're working in an advertising agency or freelancing, sometimes you lose a project to other designers or design firms. Learn what you can from the experience and move on.

In Conclusion

This blog post was written by Elisha Leo - the #1 logo designer on DesignCrowd in 2010 and winner of '2010 Logo Designer' award on DesignCrowd.