As you may have already seen, I have already posted such an introduction in Russian (which is my native language) and finally I am posting the same message in English. Now you can check if everything is quite understandable and post your comments about it - maybe I have missed something?
Of course if you speak any other language besides English, it would be greatly appreciated if you can help us translate it.
DesignContest.net is an international community for designers. Some of us are just beginners while others are professional, highly skilled, designers. The community is formed mainly around design contests with prizes ranging from $100 to $500. However, these contests are only available to: designers who have a certain level of design experience (but want to master their skills) and established designers who enjoy the spirit of competition. Participation in these contests will allow you to advance your design abilities, interact with real clients, and hear their comments about your work. It is needless to say that you can win some cash in the process.
The scheme is fairly simple. The client (contest holder) posts his/her project (which can be anything from illustration to website layout; though we mainly deal with logo and identity design) as a contest in a specific section of our forums. In the initial contest post you will find the description of the company, the assignment, the deadline, and the amount of the prize, as well as any other additional information. Thereafter, designers will post their entries for the contest in the contest's designated thread. As well, it is worth mentioning that the prizes for the paid contests are deposited before-hand to DesignContest.net's administration. This method insures that the money will be paid to the winner of a contest.
As mentioned earlier, not everyone can take part in the paid contests; in fact only members of our Design Team have this privilege. The acceptance process for the team is quite simple: To be accepted you will need to be a registered member of the forum and contribute actively to threads and activities for at least 1 week. It is recommended that you have at least 15 posts before sending your application. This simple rule is aimed at proving the candidate’s ability to use the forums, follow its guidelines, and respect other members. The most important requirement is to have previous design pieces ready for review (it is recommended that they are organized into a personal portfolio). No less important is it to know that, the official payment system of DC is PayPal and it is your responsibility to make sure that you can accept PayPal payments incase you win a contest. This should be taken care of before filling out an application!
While the contest is open, participants post their entries and the contest holder reviews them and post his/her comments. The contest holder can request changes and corrections of some specific designs and designers can then update their entries as per the contest holder’s suggestions. Note that, designers are not allowed to comment on others’ work in paid contests. When the contest is over, the contest holder chooses a winner. After the winner transfers all the required source files to the contest holder and the administration received his/her confirmation, the prize is sent to the winner’s PayPal account. It should be obvious that, for the duration of any contest, no form of plagiarism will be tolerated. Strict measures will be taken against those who copy others’ work and ideas. We all get inspired by artworks, but there is a line between plagiarism and inspiration that shouldn't be crossed. Lastly, designers are not allowed to reproduce third party images in design pieces unless it is required by the contest's guidelines.