Should you enter competitions?

This is mostly for the visual creatives out there, but might apply in other disciplines...

I never used to think much of awards and competitions as a marketing tool, but recently I've heard several buyers of photography and design talk about how they start with award-winners when looking for new resources. The fact that someone's work received an award or was "chosen" from amongst a group provides a first filter that saves time and helps prospects and clients separate the wheat from the chaff.

And I've heard creatives talk about the work they get as a result of being featured in a 'best of show' compendium. In fact, many "big books" seem to serve that purpose, including The Big Book of Self Promotion (from HarperCollins), which we wrote the intro for and which is coming out in the Spring.

So during these quiet holidays in the office, take time to research some upcoming competitions:

• http://www.howdesign.com/competitions/
• http://www.core77.com/calendar/
• http://www.id-mag.com/designcompetitions/
• http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/competitions
• http://www.commarts.com/competitions
• http://www.dexigner.com (search for competitions, there were 131 last I checked)

And what do you think of the competitions? Is it worth the time and money you invest? If so, why? Do your clients use them?

Comments

[mave]

Contests that pull from a pool of existing work and evaluate them and award them for excellence - those types of contests can be worth entering. They tend to be juried by professionals who are very knowledgeable with regard to the work they are evaluating, and the work is judged on how successful it was in solving the problem it was designed to solve. Getting such an award is therefore high praise and can really up the cachet of a creative.

On the other hand, the spec contests that have become so popular lately are just the opposite. Judged by people who aren't even in the industry and evaluated on whim and personal preference, conducted in unethical ways (all entries become copyright of the contest holder, for example), and held only for the purpose of getting "cheap" work and a bit of notoriety, these contests should be avoided at all cost. I personally have a policy of not hiring anyone who highlights such contest work in their portfolio, no matter how good it is.

[Kendall]

Ilise, I was just saying how I'm going to enter a design contest in the new year.

While I would never enter a spec contest, I've done some great work for great clients - and if a jury of my peers (or betters) decides it's award-worthy, why not? It gives some clients warm-fuzzies, can improve your perceived level of expertise/creativity/-whatever- and that only helps, right?

[lidia varesco design]

Design book publishers also often post calls for entries. Here are a few:

Crescent Hill Books: http://www.crescenthillbooks.com/submityourwork.shtml

GraphicBooks.org (upcoming books by David E. Carter): http://www.graphicsbooks.org/Blank.html

Rockport Publishers: http://www.rockpub.com/entries.asp

RotoVision: http://www.rotovision.com/entries.asp