I have a darn good suggestion.

My suggestion is this: If a user is not part of the design team currently.. the "Start New Topic" button in the contests forum should say "Join The Design Team!". I didn't know when I found this site that an application was required to submit contest entries, and ended up wasting 2 and a half hours of my life designing a logo I can't submit.

It's a big bummer.

If you want to read my whole story (which i highly suggest), I wrote it in my introduction topic. You can find that HERE

Thanks
-Adam

P.S. Hi Illumina! I recognize you from SP.

Hi Adam,

To be honest with you, I think your outlook on the situation is a bit close-minded. Don't think of it as a waste of your time, think of it as practice. Designing shouldn't be a chore.

Moreover, if you join the design team, you will spend many hours (possibly more than 2) creating designs that may or may not be accepted by a client. We all have to go through this experience, so you'd better get used to this feeling because you will run into it a lot

I agree that such a button would be useful, though I think that most mods here would probably suggest that the "read this before posting" stickies on design team only forums fulfill the purpose of such a button.

In any case, I hope this expreience hasn't turned you away from the site in any way, it certainly shouldn't have if you really are serious about this. For now you are welcome to explore the community aspects of the site, take part in the community contests, and get to know the people here. Good luck to you in the future!

Regards

just wanted to say, i never had any confusion. there are sticky posts all over the place, not to mention a whole bit on the front page (before the forum).

Hi Adam,

To be honest with you, I think your outlook on the situation is a bit close-minded. Don't think of it as a waste of your time, think of it as practice. Designing shouldn't be a chore.

Moreover, if you join the design team, you will spend many hours (possibly more than 2) creating designs that may or may not be accepted by a client. We all have to go through this experience, so you'd better get used to this feeling because you will run into it a lot

I agree that such a button would be useful, though I think that most mods here would probably suggest that the "read this before posting" stickies on design team only forums fulfill the purpose of such a button.

In any case, I hope this expreience hasn't turned you away from the site in any way, it certainly shouldn't have if you really are serious about this. For now you are welcome to explore the community aspects of the site, take part in the community contests, and get to know the people here. Good luck to you in the future!

Regards

Thanks for the reply. This has in no way turned me away from this site. As soon as I get my portfolio online, I'm goint to submit my application. I've been way too busy lately to work on it. And yeah, I'm very well aware that much time will be spent making designs that will never go anywhere. I've been doing graphic design contests for a while now (on another forum). The thing that bothered me so much with this one is that nobody ever even got to see it. At least with a losing design they see what you've done.

I didn't even pay attention the stickies. I'm a member on SO MANY forums now.. I've just trained my eyes to skip over them. I just don't notice them anymore... no joke.

Anyway.. I really like how this site is set up. It's very structured, the contests pay a LOT better than the other forums I've been using (about 300% more). I'll definately be sticking around here.

Adam,

I apologize for your experience. We are working hard here to make Design Contest much more user friendly, and will definitely take your story into consideration. I am not sure how easy it would be to switch the buttons for different members, but it is definitely something I can look into.

Welcome to the community, and I look forward to seeing you around!

Thanks,
~ John

Adam,

I apologize for your experience. We are working hard here to make Design Contest much more user friendly, and will definitely take your story into consideration. I am not sure how easy it would be to switch the buttons for different members, but it is definitely something I can look into.

Welcome to the community, and I look forward to seeing you around!

Thanks,
~ John

It wouldn't be hard to change.

Thanks for the reply.
-Adam