Step 1:
Determine Need: I want a cool, unique, custom WordPress theme without doing or paying anything in return for it.
Step 2:
Realize Some Incentive is Needed: Okay, no one will do it for free. Let’s hold a contest for what seems like a lot of money!
Step 3:
Announce Contest and Make It Sound Cool: See here.
Payment Plan
Or how it works out to one dollar an hour.
So Flashmint is offering $500 to the person who can create for them the most creative and original custom WordPress theme. Five-hundred dollars, I could use that! But before you’re tempted by the cash prize, let’s think about how much you’re really getting.
For my estimate I’m going to say that it takes 50 hours to design and code a custom theme. (Really it’s usually more than this, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.)
So, at 50 hours for $500, you’re making ten dollars per hour. Not bad I guess, as long as it’s just for fun.
But Wait!
Oh yeah, you’re not guaranteed to win anything! Let’s say ten people enter the contest, all things being equal you have a 10% chance of winning, so now your potential hourly earning is more near to one dollar per hour.
A Better Solution
Make good use of your theme AND your time.
Instead of spending your time and hard work building a theme for pennies to be used only by someone else, release it for free. Seriously, it’s a great way to get your name out there. You’ll get traffic to your site/blog, great experience with publishing and the joys and pains that come with it, and the satisfaction of seeing others use your theme.
Weblog Tools Collection announces new WordPress themes weekly, and it’s not hard to get on the announcement list. Ian even set up a template for it. So what are you waiting for?
Are design contests ever worth it?
Not really.
In short, no. They cheapen the web design/development industry as a whole and usually benefit no one but the contest holder.
However, for fun’s sake, let’s a do a reverse calculation to see how much money a contest holder would have to offer to possibly make it worth your while.
Using the same parameters above, let’s say you want to earn seventy-five dollars per hour. So $75 multiplied by 50 hours is equal to $3,750; and to make up for the 10% chance of winning, multiplied by ten to get a grand total of $37,500.
So if you want to participate in a contest that pays, wait for one that is offering tens of thousands of dollars!
Commentary
I completely agree. I was appalled when I first saw the contest and stated my disbelief in their comments.
There’s also no statement anywhere as to what happens with the intellectual property. For all you know, you could be agreeing to totally handing over your work.
I believe that people need to be re-educated on this. A lot of starting designers & programmers consider this as a great opportunity, whilst the benefit is almost non-existant.
Hmm, your post sounds interesting.
1. Let’s see how much time you spent for the post (usually it takes about 3 hours). How much money you earned spending 3 hours? :)
2. It seems like flashmint paid you for this post just to get more traffic in this way and make the people to know about that.
3. What do you think about this contest? http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/08/03/guest-author-contest-reminder/
Is it worth? Get MacAir for one post :)
I agree that these contests cheapen the web design industry for established, experience designers, but what about those who lack experience, or a portfolio?
How would a contest website compare to an internship, for example? Specifically, an unpaid internship? They both pose a unique set of challenges that no established professional will ever have to deal with, but they’re both ways to get experience, and get the qualifications needed for a full-time job.
Gilles: You’re right about the intellectual property, that’s a big deal.
Mike: The Smashing Magazine contest is a bit different. An excerpt from Smashing Magazine’s original contest announcement:
The main idea behind the contest is not to get as many guest articles as possible, but to find talented guest authors who will want to work with us after the contest and get properly paid for their work. (Source)
However, I personally wouldn’t defend it too strongly. Put me down as undecided there…
Dan: For those who lack experience and/or a portfolio there are several ways to establish yourself.
1. Pro-bono work
You get better experience working with someone when building a website rather than a one-shot try at winning a contest.
You’ll learn more about listening to what they need and translating that to a design; and you’ll get valuable experience from explaining your design and working through iterations to come to a final one.
Then, when you’re done, the site is up and you can link to it from your portfolio. With a contest if you don’t win you can’t link to anything, you can just show a screen shot. Especially if the contest holder assumes ownership of all the designs, both winners and losers.
Also, there’s the potential for referrals from the pro-bono client if you do a good job. Not so much from a contest holder if you don’t win.
Finally, you can be very picky about your clients since you’re doing it for free. So you can find someone who you’d be really excited to work with (local record store, coffeeshop, church, etc.) or pitch a design offer to someone who has a very popular site. The latter approach has worked out very well for some.
2. Release a free theme
Like I mentioned in the post, this can be a great way to gain exposure.
3. Work on your website
I’ve gotten more than a few emails that start off with something to the effect of “I really like your site design, so…” A great personal site is a great starting point. I think that’s how Matt Brett started his successful career (not entirely sure, though).
4. Get creative
I’m sure there are many other ways to get your name out there that don’t involve doing work that may or may not get you paid, that may or may not give you something for your portfolio and that may or may not give you exposure. Everything from creating fake websites to giving away free icons. The experience you get from user feedback and publishing alone is worth much more than creating one design to try to win a contest.
As far an internship, I would basically argue the experience and professional connections you make as an intern far outweigh participating in contests. Although I can’t speak from experience, so I guess take that for what it’s worth.
Your comment about me is right on the money, David.
I redesigned my blog as part of the CSS Reboot back in 2005 (when it was a pretty big deal). At the time, everyone was just getting into the “web 2.0″ look, so gradients and reflections everywhere, which made my grunge site stick out like a sore thumb. I managed to get featured on all of the big design showcase sites (there was less than half a dozen back then) and that was essentially the opening of the flood gates. Since then, I’ve been doing quite well freelancing. So much so, that I’ve been struggling to find time to do another redesign. One of these days!
Great article, BTW. I’m waving the “contests cheapen design/development” flag as well.
Thanks for stopping by and clarifying, Matt. I’m looking forward to seeing your redesign!
You’ve got a good list of suggestions for budding designers in your reply, David. I just wanted to clarify that when I asked my question, I wasn’t stating a disagreement with you, but rather, was interested in seeing your thoughts on that particular aspect of the matter.
I personally am not a huge fan of contest sites either, but that’s mostly because when I was naive, I tried one once, and found it nearly impossible not to be outbid by a whole team of web designers in places like Singapore, Korea, or India. At the time, I just figured I wasn’t enough of a go-getter to be successful in a forum like that. In hindsight, it really is a system that demands more than it rewards.
I think this is a very interesting topic.
I would guess that just about every profession in the world has to deal with these types of issues. There is no doubt that contests and sites like 99designs, Elance, etc. influence the market and perception of value for designers and developers alike.
As a developer, I cannot compete (nor do I want to) against these types of sites or even against individuals from certain areas of the world.
That being said, it is something that we will always have to deal with. I personally believe that you get what you pay for…however, that is not always evident to clients…and the current economy doesn’t help that either. ;)
The intellectual property issue would be my big concern, other than that as long as there are plenty of people willing to participate, this “issue” is not going away.
Side question: based on your estimate of 50 hours, I’m curious how would you split the time between design and development?
Dan: Thanks. It’s nice to hear of a first-hand experience.
Eric: Yeah, I doubt design contests are going away anytime soon.
Regarding the time estimate, it’s hard to arbitrarily pick a split because of the range of variations a project can have. Really for most of the themes I create the time is more near 150 hours… Or at least it seems that way.