Guidelines for Becoming an Elite Design Team Member

[seawise]

Important Notice
We will not pursue claims of plagiarism concerning commonly used, generic shapes - even if the shape represents a more elaborate concept. Such implications are potentially boundless and thus it would be unfair to uphold them. However, if some generic shape in your design has particular stylistic and/or contextual attributes, then the usual plagiarism rules will apply to those attributes. Generic shapes include circles, squares, letters, checkmarks, etc.

Introduction:
Plagiarism is a serious and unethical issue which will not be tolerated on this forum - and, indeed, should not be tolerated anywhere. Should the case arise that a deliberately plagiarized entry goes unnoticed in a contest and is eventually chosen as the winning design, the associated Design Team member assumes full responsibility for the act of plagiarism and any future reimbursement of the contest holder. More immediate consequences of in-contest plagiarism may include: deletion of the contest entry, a warning to the designer, suspension from the Design Team, or even banishment from the forum (either temporarily or permanently).

Due to the large gray area that exists within this issue, we've provided the following descriptions to help narrow the margins between plagiarism and inspiration.

1. Plagiarism defined
Theft of an existing design in any means is considered plagiarism. This design may be the actual logo, illustration, web template, clipart etc. of any individual or organization, or a design whose rights are claimed by someone else. This means that a designer should be careful to not to replicate an existing design which s/he has seen somewhere else -i.e. Google image search, logo/template databases or the portfolios of other designers.

It is of course not possible to screen all the designs in the world, yet it is obvious that a design which has NOT been plagiarized clearly has its own characteristics, although the idea may be similar.

2. Plagiarism during DC.net contests
Theft of the design ideas and elements of other designers DURING A CONTEST held in DC.net is also considered plagiarism and is subject to the same measures. This includes using the same idea, object(s), object combinations and/or in some cases color combinations that another designer previously has used, and which has not been specifically requested by the contest holder.

There may be cases in which some specific messages can be conveyed by ossified objects, such as using grapes for a wine company, and these are not considered plagiarism. Others, excluding these specific cases, certainly do.

3. The Boundaries of Plagiarism
The most difficult thing about inspiration is where to draw the line. Although many designers may have their own definitions of this boundary, we would like to outline the official DesignContest.net do-s and don’t-s concerning inspiration and plagiarism.

All designers may, without permission, adopt:

i. Any concepts brought up by a Contest Holder
ii. Any specific shapes/things suggested by the Contest Holder
iii. Shapes/things intrinsic to the company (e.g. cars for a car-dealership)
iv. Any unique idea(s) brought up in any way other than by designer submission

Only one designer may, without permission, adopt:

i. Any and all unique concepts created by that designer
ii. Any and all specific shapes/things used in his/her design
iii. Any and all combinations of things/objects created by that designer
iv. Specific positioning of shapes/objects within a design
v. Unique interpretations of an idea proposed by the Contest Holder

Note: Because the above rules are somewhat generic, there are bound to be cases where a design breaks one of the rules but retains its originality. In cases such as these, the best course of action would be to first contact the designer of the other entry, and then (if the designer is not a staff member) contact one of the DC moderators or administrators. That having been stated, such occurrences would be rare!

4. Ignorance/Negligence:
Negligence resulting in plagiarism will not be tolerated! It is in a designer’s best interest (and his/her responsibility) to know what ideas have already been proposed by other designers on the forum. If a designer has posted an idea that breaks any of the above guidelines, he/she will be responsible for removing it in a reasonable amount of time to avoid repercussions.

Conclusion:
Please keep these notes in mind when working on a design, so that neither the designer nor the other parties (design team members, contest holder and DC.net) are confronted with problems.

If you think an idea of yours has been plagiarized, please PM the moderators. Do not voice it in the forum thread!

Best of luck in the contests,
Seawise
Moderator
DesignContest.net

_Redrum
Administrator
DesignContest.net

[resurepus]

We have had a big discussion in the Design Team only forum about regulations we should make to define in what form and quantity entries could be posted in the paid contests. What we have decided is that each designer should be allowed to post up to 3 entries to a contest. It will be allowed to post modifications of the submitted design if requested by the contest holder. Removing an entry will not allow you top post a substitution. The entries should be posted on predefined canvases - the template can be found here:

old link removed; members with DT status, please get your canvas here

This template is obviously designed for entries to logo contests. In the main area you can post the complete version of the design and in the smaller boxes flat color, grayscale and black&white versions. As for the color boxes in the footer of the canvas - you can identify the colors you have used in your entry by pantone or CMYK codes, however it is not obligatory.

As for the website design and other contests. There is no predefined canvas, but the limit of 3 entries per designer and possible modifications if requested by the contest holder apply. The rule does not aim at limiting your creativity. The point is to let yourself filter the ideas and post only the best ones.

[Blazen]

Hello,

Sounds good and looks good. Can't wait to see how things work out.

Regards,

[resurepus]

how it will work will greatly depend on the DT members

[rinaldidesigns]

Great

[ssdesign]

If a rule needs to be made so badly, then sure we should have it, but then I am not sure how good is the idea to restrict the layout.

Can we do something like this?

Lets say that every logo design concept should make use ot 500x650 pixels and should have one large size logo and three variations in smaller size, Flat Colour/Grey Scale and B&W (Pantone information optional)

Then let the designer choose the layout.

My point is, Lets say the logo is more vertical then horizontal, Then I will need to change the canvas to portrait.

In that case, is the template flexible?

[resurepus]

My point is, Lets say the logo is more vertical then horizontal, Then I will need to change the canvas to portrait.

In that case, is the template flexible?

Yes, the template is flexible. And thanks for the question!

[mdesignr]

i know you don't want any personal logos on the template, and i agree with that, but could you do something as simple as color variations. i also think that the dc logo should be on the template also. (bucket and pen included) - put that where i have the design contest text.

i think a personal logo takes away from the designcontest.net organization. say someone wins and the next time the client needs something they end up contacting that person directly, that doesn't help with the promotion or expansion of this site.

however, i would like to ad my avatar to the template. let me know if this would be acceptable.

[resurepus]

i know you don't want any personal logos on the template, and i agree with that, but could you do something as simple as color variations. i also think that the dc logo should be on the template also. (bucket and pen included) - put that where i have the design contest text.

i think a personal logo takes away from the designcontest.net organization. say someone wins and the next time the client needs something they end up contacting that person directly, that doesn't help with the promotion or expansion of this site.

however, i would like to ad my avatar to the template. let me know if this would be acceptable.

Well, I don't mind. Especially in your case, when personal logo doesn't dominate over the entry. By the way, that's a good idea, to add DC logo to the canvas!

[phacker]

I am using Illustrator 9 could you save a copy as an earlier version. I can't open your eps.

[pentool]

Is there a chance we could have this template posted as a sticky in the actual logo design thread? I was going nuts to find out where everybody's getting this template from.

[george_stefan]

The good part: a template permits an easy comparation
The bad part: the attempt to frame in a woks pattern can limit the creativeness.

[intrepidguppy]

I have read this and understand it.

[resurepus]

...and understand it.

that's the best part

[RaqCuellar]

Great...thanks!

[nevadabadgirl]

Hi Everyone, more news.

Contest holders no longer need to have paypal to send their deposits.

I am capable of setting up a special payment gateway that will allow them to pay with MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover credit cards.

If any contest holders need this service, please contact me via pm or email at Vicki@nevadaprodesign.com

[dTrAx]

Hi.. this is great...

[dylanjones]

Sounds good!

[Al3x]

The contests should produce better results and alot more creativity. Good rules.

[piroman]

Hi,

I've wrote to this email, but I got no answer. Is this correct email address?

regs
Piroman