My contest for a new logo at 99Designs ended last week. There was a flurry of designs at the last minute and I ended up with 45 designs total. I have narrowed it down to three designs that are possibilities. It is at this point where I find a flaw with the whole concept.
Once the contest ends, I have about two weeks to pick a winner. That’s great, because I need the time. What is not so great is that I also want to make some tweaks to the three finalists’ designs. Once the contest ends, they can no longer submit new designs or make changes to existing designs. I had to resort to asking them to send me changes outside of the 99Designs system and that is not ideal for either party.
First, I wanted to use the vote feature where you can have your friends, associates, or customers vote on which design they like the best. When the minor changes I want made are completed, there is no way to upload them to the 99Designs site to use the voting feature. It would be great if 99Designs would allow the finalists to make minor changes to the designs and allow this tweaking to happen during the two week decision period.
Secondly, the designer now has the risk of piracy once a design is out of the 99Designs system. One designer solved it by adding a watermark. That worked well to protect him and me.
I am looking forward to making a decision. I just wish I could share the real final designs with others and use the voting system.