Idea for a new forum

What if we had an informal forum where we posted fake design contests, had people enter, and had some of the more experienced designers give detailed critiques. I can think of several ways in which this could be advantageous, here's a few ideas...

1) New designers would get feedback on their strengths and weaknesses
2) We would be developing a community portfolio of designers entering the same contest without having to worry about copyrighted works...the way I see this going is that we could also do some kind of "find a designer that suits you" where it shows random anonymous entries from each of the designers grouped by these informal contests and they click through several and then the system tells them which designer they best matched with, at which point they could contact the designer to hire them or contact them to ask them to enter the competition
3) It would be fun
4) It would generate many more examples of what the members of this site are capable of.

I think it would be great, but what do you all think?

yes, this ideas goes along with John's idea about design battles with no cash prize! I would love to hear thoughts of other members about such forum

Design battles are always fun...I don't know about a full fledged "design contest" though. Because honestly, they get pretty boring to work on, doing the same thing over and over with minor adjustments for the picky client ;0)...

Design battles would be fun though.

Well, my idea wouldn't be so much a contest (with revisions and such) so much as just a good way to give feedback on all of the designs and then pick a winner based on best concept/rough.

What I suggest is something like a logo contest.
Someone gives a name and a field of activity for a given company and we all design something according to the specifications. Only one.

Then mods or anyone else named for it makes a complete critique of all logos received. But still everyone can critique. Its just to make a little more formal.

And it ends just there. If you want to rework on it than its up to you. But there is no need for a follow-up on every single update. You have to be able to go by yourself.

These "contest" could be a week or a month long. No contest, no winner, just some fun.

Or, if we did it monthly or semi-monthly, we could have a bonus of having a "featured designer" on the front page and that would be whoever won the monthly contest (can't win twice in a row, but other than that)...

why not... this would be a good way to get designers to participate, to get involved.

And at the end of the year, there could be a "Round of Champions" where all the monthly winners would compete for a price or something, maybe just for pride !

I think this would be fun

sounds fun, where do i sign up

If this lifts up, than I would be glad to give a hand.

And maybe we could make it somehow like American Idol. There are the judges that are giving feedback, the the members are voting for the winners. I don't know if there would be enough participation but anyway ... its an other idea

Well if this helps any, this is where my idea originated:
http://www.penguinpedia.com/pixel/

I have now decided to move the battles here, so I will probably start this up shortly. Anyways, read through the rules and such to get an idea of what it would be about.

I'm new to the DC forums, however I believe the idea to critique new artists' (as well as some seasoned artists') work is a great idea... Mock-Contests would be a great way for some to build up a body of work as well as some reassuring self-esteem.. So long as the favorites game doesn't become a factor, it should bring an even higher caliber of work to the DesignContest community...

Just doing logo contests or battles wouldn't be very helpful to some. I've just started branching out in that area myself so logo contests would help me, personally, tremendously. As far as I know, this forum is for anyone who wants to hold a contest that has artistic value, so a contest holder could ask for anything from a simple logo, to a full magazine layout, who knows. Make the contests more varied so the people entering have more choice on where to build their strengths and improve their weaknesses. I just think more variation gives better chances to those who lack skills in some areas, and who wish to learn.. what better way to learn than through critique, advice and help from more experienced people. There is a diverse bunch of people here, all together they have many skills, pool all of those skills together and everyone comes out a winner.

To make my long winded statement short, don't limit the contests to one area of design, if people really want to learn and improve their skills, more choice is needed.