Hello everyone!

I´m new here and I´m supposed to introduce myself.
Well, I´m from Portugal, a beautiful country by de way.
But at the moment a terrible place to work in this area (graphic design). With journal, magazines, communication agencies and so on with massive layoffs or simply closing.
I´ve been working in this area for 20 years, mostly in national journal and magazines, and for 12 years now also as a freelancer making some other design works like company identity (logo, flyers, bus. cards, etc).
At this moment, with the massive layoff at my magazine, i´m only working as a freelancer, and I´ve decided to give a shot at design contests. So you guys, what´s the best way to start?