Thursday, December 22, 2016
While poaching ideas will certainly work in your favor, there’s absolutely no reason why you should let people competing against you have a similar advantage. Accordingly, the minute you see a copied design – rat out your contest mate.
This serves two functions. 1) It removes unnecessary competition and 2) it keeps the owners of the design contest site too busy trying to figure out which logo was first to notice the other prize-winning tactics you’re employing.
Don’t overdo it though – you’ll get a reputation as a ‘rabble rouser’ – about a one complaint per four contest ratio is pretty cool. Don’t complain openly in the contest comment thread (these get deleted very quickly and are often not acted upon) but through the website private messaging system (unless you’re going to be passive-aggressive, something we’ll cover in a minute).
Course, if you have friends on the system, or sock-puppet accounts, it’s better if complaints come from them. Complaints are a lot more credible if they come from someone NOT involved in the design contest you’re complaining about. Looks like they’re looking after ‘the community’ rather than for personal gain. Even if it’s close call, go ahead. Rat away. This is all about winning cash – and you don’t win any cash if you play nice. Get your competitor’s submissions withdrawn any way you can.
Yet another bonus tip. If a logo looks like it’s a stock art illustration, it probably is. Don’t wait for the client to realize this (they won’t). Don’t wait for the site owners to find out (they won’t). Only by searching for these images yourself will you be able to find out if the artwork’s been pinched from someone else.
Use Google image search and key words that are related to the artwork you think’s been nicked. Drill down in the results too. People using Google image search to find related artwork to borrow, usually don’t pinch stuff from the first few pages of search engine results (though you might be surprised). They figure lifting something from page 5 is deep enough in search engine listings to keep them from being found out.
Use the built in search engines on stock artwork sites. If you find the artwork came from istock, DON’T rat out your competitor directly. Find out who created the artwork originally and contact them with an e-mail. Something like this :
“I noticed that your great artwork was being entered into a contest here [supply link]. I found you through istock and love your work”.
They’ll tear off a ‘take my artwork off your site’ e-mail faster than snot, and you won’t be looked upon by the contest site as a ‘rabble-rouser’. Best use a sock-puppet lest the original designer tells the contest site that you told them.
End result – one competitor down and you’re not even connected to the complaint.
Adapted from thelogofactory.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)