Get FUNK’D! Say no to design contests.

15 June, 2008

FUNK’D have posted in the Red Bubble forums (and I suspect a few others) about their label competition. Please consider absolutely all the entry conditions before entering a design contest like this.

From their website’s FAQ:

Do you offer a cash prize?
We do not offer a cash prize. The winner will have their design printed on a min. of 10,000 bottles (along with their myspace or website URL) that will be distributed throughout Australia or Internationally.

Will my entries be returned?
No. Each entry will become the sole property of FUNK’D™.

COMPETITION RULES:
By participating in this competition, you hereby release all rights to the submitted art work final to FUNK’D™. You must be the legal copywrite owner of the said artwork (design entry). Every design entry submitted becomes the exclusive property of FUNK’D™. By submitting a design, the designer thereby grants FUNK’D™ perpetual license to use the design on its press releases, advertising, and any other way it sees fit worldwide to promote the FUNK’D™ or GO GET FUNK’D™ brand.

In conclusion: You will not get your original artwork back, nor do you retain copyright and there is no cash prize. Basically they’re inviting potentially thousands of artists and designers to submit potentially thousands of entries, and will not pay them for their time, expertise or work.

If you want to find out more about why this kind of competition is bad news for the design industry and the people who work in it, check out No!Spec.

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  • Suckers? no sense of self-worth? I have had no training in graphic design and I particularly enjoy sitting on the internet or designing for a bit of time wasting, enjoyment and skill building. I have plenty of self worth, thankyou very much. I think those types of opinions are not worth your time.
  • Well Mandy and Mellie, you guys are obviously suckers who have no sense of self-worth.
  • I dont see a problem either. I have entered and know what the deal is with copyright and such. I am a budding graphic designer and getting my work put on a bottle would make me ecstatic!
  • mandy
    i don't really see the problem, i have free time between commissions and i spend it entering competitions etc., it helps to get my name out there and i actually enjoy it, i guess its not for everyone but we have all done stuff for free.
  • That's awesome! Viva la revolution!
  • You got linked on Laurel Papworth's blog:

    http://silkcharm.blogspot.com/2008/06/protectin...
  • I had a similar conversation with another person on Plurk.

    Sometimes the commenting on here is a bit flaky :/
    It never gives me an error message, but a few people have had problems. I wish I could figure out the quirks.
  • That's such a good analogy!!
  • Lee
    I think another good way to explain why this is wrong is when you consider if this was a writing contest for a new TV show.

    Network puts out a competition for a new show and asks for pilot scripts. If you win your show will be produced but you won't be paid, if the show becomes a television series you still don't get paid.

    If you are unsuccessful you can't use that script again somewhere else because the network then owns it.

    It's complete robbery.

    Sigh.
  • I had a long discussion with CrowdSPRING on Twitter about this - their website facilitates such contests. They couldn't understand what was so unethical about their work.

    (er, trying again: I got an error message)
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