The Hatchwise Blog - News, Important Information and General Gossip

Server down time

George - Hatchwise Staff — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:13:10 +0000

Hi all,

As many of you have no doubt noticed, we had some trouble with the server over the weekend, and the site was down for several chunks of time. Today we had to pull it off line to fix a few problems, and it ended up being unavailable for four hours this afternoon.

The good news is that I think we fixed the problems, and it shouldn’t be happening again any time soon.

I apologize sincerely to anyone that this caused trouble for. If you feel that a contest you were running was effected by the outage just email us at support@hatchwise.com with the name of your contest and we’ll be happy to extend it for you to make up for the lost time.

Thanks to everyone that was so patient with us.

George

Hatchwise

Win a free copy of an awesome book about design: “DESIGN” by Tom Peters

George - Hatchwise Staff — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:39:22 +0000

A while back Hatchwise creative Violet contacted me (George) and said she had an extra copy of a really good book about design (“DESIGN” by Tom Peters) and that she would like to give it away to one of the designers here on Hatchwise. I thought it was an awesome idea and we decided to make it a little competition. I left the whole idea of what the competition would be up to Violet and below is what she came up with:

Freelancin’

by Violet

A couple years ago I had set out to become a freelancin’ freewheelin’ designer. I mean really, what else could I do with an Art degree?

So I set out into the vast World Wide Web, with my skimpy portfolio, advertising my services as a graphic designer. I started at craigslist: the only replies were spam and scam offers. Next, myspace. I sent messages to every musician who lived in a 100 mile radius, offering custom cd designs. I got a few who were interested, one who I worked with a little bit, but in the end, nothing developed. All I had to show for it were two uncompleted designs, a free sushi dinner. I felt defeated, but still searched. Then elance. I had hopes for it, made my portfolio, placed bids, but having to compete for a job with a sub-par portfolio, needless to say nothing came of it. I figure, “Maybe I should create designs to beef up what I had?” I spent days thinking up fictitious businesses that I could make designs for. Forget about it. After all that, put aside the notion of freelancing and just focused on my 9-5 job.

A few months ago, I don’t know what I was thinking, but figured to type “logo contest” in Google. Right now I feel like they are the two best words I ever searched. Hatchwise popped up first. I went through the site, signed up and stumbled around it for a few days. My first several submissions were, I admit, really crappy. Then one week, when my husband was out of town I said to myself, “Put all you can now, or nothing.” So I lived on Hatchwise for the next seven days, submitting to every contest I could, spending time brainstorming, planning designs and working them til’ my head was about to explode.

Four days later I won my first contest! It was the kind of boost I had wanted and needed. A couple days later, another. For this one the Contest Holder wanted my personal email, he was so happy with his logo. We start talking through email and phone conversations about the logo uses, website and such, next thing I know I’m freelancin’. I wasn’t even trying at all! Life’s weird, huh? Another thing that’s funny: one day we were talking about branding and Tom Peters’ book called DESIGN. I hadn’t read it, but wanted to, so the client sent me some scanned pages. For the next few days we kept bringing up the book. What so neat about the book was that it discussed the changing of businesses, the beauty of functional objects and the selling of experience. Harley-Davidson doesn’t sell motorcycles. They sell “the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns, and have people be afraid of him.” LOVE IT! I ordered the book for me…so did the client. Now I have two copies and looking to pay it forward.

I’m writing this postto know “Why Hatchwise?” What made you join and how has it affected your life. I would really love to know. As an incentive I’m giving away a copy of Tom Peters’ DESIGN to the designer who lets his/her voice shine. You don’t have to be the best at English, or worry too much about grammar or spelling (lord knows this post is a mess). Let me hear your honest words, I’ll choose a winner and the book is yours.

Sincerely, from your fellow HW creative,

Violet

——-

To enter, simply tell post a comment below and tell Violet why YOU chose Hatchwise and the role it has played in your life! Entries are welcome until June 7th, after which Violet will pick a winner and get in touch with you. We all look forward to learning more about you!

Hatchwise featured in article about logo design in April issue of Inc Magazine

George - Hatchwise Staff — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:35:31 +0000

There was much excitement around the office today when upon checking the mail, we got our copy of the April issue of Inc Magazine, and found out that Hatchwise had been included in an article about logo design.

The article chronicles small business owner Steve Whitesell’s journey to develop a new brand for his company, and in the process he tries out a number of different design services, including Hatchwise. Guess which one was his favorite?

In Steve’s words:

“From Hatchwise, I received the most entries — 219. They were also the highest caliber. By the fifth day, I found four or five designers I really liked and started working intensely with them. When I posted a comment for one designer, all the others could see it, and it felt like they were learning about my preferences as a group. I also liked that Hatchwise let me rank the logos as I went along.”

Steve ran the logo design contest to come up with a new logo for his company, Radian. You can check out the archived contest here.

Most of the credit for the success of Steve’s contest (as well as every other successful contest hosted on Hatchwise) obviously needs to go to our talented, inspired community of designers, without all of you, there obviously is no Hatchwise. Thank you for your participation.

You can read the web version of the article on Inc.com (sadly, sans logos). Below are a few snapshots of the actual magazine article, pretty blurry but they get the idea across:

Click for full size

Writing and Naming Projects are now on Hatchwise

George - Hatchwise Staff — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:16:33 +0000

Hello and Greetings from Hatchwise,
Here at Hatchwise we believe that once you “hatch” as a business your journey has just begun, and ever since we launched Hatchwise we have constantly been growing, innovating, and improving our services as our community has faithfully provided us with feedback.

A month or two ago we launched Brandstorming Sessions, a cool new way to come up with a brand for your company or product, and today we are excited to be launching Writing Projects and Naming Projects.

Naming Projects – for those without a name

So you need a slogan, tagline, company name, product name or available domain name but can’t for the life of you think of one? We can help!The process is simple: tell the creatives the details of what you are looking to name, select a prize amount (as low as $60!) and watch the suggestions pour in! If what you are looking for is an incredibly cool available domain name for your new website, the Creatives will make sure that their suggestions are available to register!

Start a Naming Project

Check out the prices
Learn more about How It Works

Creatives: Check out open Naming Projects

Writing Projects - a cool way to find a writer

We’ve come up with a cool new way for you to connect with a writer the next time you need a book, short story, script, lyrics, poetry, resume, article, seo content or some website content written.

How does it work?
It’s simple: just post a project detailing what type of writing you are looking for, and creatives will begin writing and posting a portion of the project (generally around 250 words per entry) for you to review. You then look over the entries and select your favorite, at which point the winning creative writes and delivers the entire project.

A simple, easy to use system guides you through the process from beginning to end, and our community of creatives is a lot of fun to work with!

Start a Writing Project
Check out the prices
Learn more about How It Works

Creatives: Check out open Writing Projects

A Special Guarantee

Because Writing & Naming Projects are a brand new product, and we realize that no one likes to be a Guinea pig when cash is involved, we have this special promise to the first ten writing/naming projects to be started: if you receive less than 10 entries to your Writing Project, or less than 25 entries to your Naming Project, you will have the option of receiving a 100% refund of all monies paid (prize/fees/upgrades).

This is not an option once you receive more than the number of entries stated above.

To take advantage of this offer the project must have run the full ten days and you need to have commented/rated every entry.

Any suggestions or feedback on this new product are more than welcome!

PayPal reversing payments to and from India

George - Hatchwise Staff — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:37:46 +0000

PayPal has notified us that they are currently blocking payments to and from India. This resulted in several of the designers that got paid on the first not receiving their funds.

Once PayPal returns the denied funds to us (they have not yet done so) we will credit the amount back to the appropriate accounts on Hatchwise, payment will be attempted again as soon as PayPal lifts this ban, which is hopefully temporary.

Sorry for the trouble!

Design Court Cases Not Showing Up…

George - Hatchwise Staff — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:14:35 +0000

Just learned today that apparently design court cases haven’t been showing up for the last few weeks. Did some quick digging around and found a small glitch in the database. All is fixed and should now be working smoothly.

If you recently reported a design but didn’t actually see it show up in design court then it DID NOT actually get reported.

If you still want to report the design please email support@hatchwise.com with the subject line “Design Court Entry Needs To Be Reset”, and make sure to include the entry number you had tried to report. Once we get your email we’ll reset the design so you can re-report it.
Sorry for the trouble folks.

A designers insight: why design contests work.

George - Hatchwise Staff — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:15:18 +0000

This article was written by Connie Taylor, a designer who participates on Hatchwise under the username “borzoid“. Connie approached me a week or so ago about writing a post on the subject, which I thought was an awesome idea, and the completed article has some great tips and ideas. Enjoy.

- George

Design contests (and the sites that host them) have offered a new and exciting way for business owners and designers to network. The benefits to the contest holder are more than obvious. They get a myriad of designs and designers to choose from for an end cost that is generally lower than many graphic design companies require.

But what about the benefits contests offer to the designer? Sure there can be the occasional win, but contests can give a budding designer so much more. They can teach you how to design.

I began entering contests about 5 years ago. Without them I would never have learned what it takes to not only win contests but to successfully draw related freelance work. I have learned how to identify what the contest holder may want through the terminology they use and the type of business they own. I have learned what font styles suit different design needs, and I have learned through the process of emulation a great many things that can be achieved in my graphics software. To date I have won many contests and about 25% of those wins have brought me additional freelance work. Even contests that I’ve lost have brought me income when contest holders change their mind after a contest closes.

Contests teach the designer that logo design is much more than just opening up Photoshop and drawing a few shapes next to some text. You have to:

1. understand what “style” the client wants

2. understand the methods of achieving that style

3. be willing to learn new methods and points of view to achieve the perfect end result

Looking back at some of my early submissions I know I should never have submitted some of those designs but for me the journey of learning logo design would never have been successful if I hadn’t entered the contests. Here are a few ways that entering contests can help you become a better logo designer.

Practice Makes Perfect.

Entering contests, even if you are only doing it for the money forces you to practice and perfect your craft. I never consider the prize amount when entering a contest; for me each contest is a chance to craft something that hasn’t been done before and possibly even learn something in the process. The more contests you enter, the better you get at manipulating whatever graphics software you use. The better you get at that the more time you have for learning the other facets of logo design. Sometime when I have time on my hands, I play with gradients, effects and shapes and of course save every one of them for possible future use.

Seeing What Wins.

Whether you win or lose a contest is not always as important as what you can learn from it. What do clients consider a particular style to look like? I’ve seen many contests where the CH asked for ‘web2.0′ or ‘corporate’ styles but highest ranking and winning designs did not “fit” with my knowledge of the style asked for. Note to self: web2.0 doesn’t always have to have gradients, rounded fonts or reflections.

Every entry in a contest, how it is ranked and if it wins can tell you what clients are looking for and in the end – knowing the client is going to earn you more wins than fancy effects.

Learning From The Masters. In looking at “all” of the entries my curiosity was often piqued: How did they achieve that affect …… what color of metallic gold actually looks good on a white background …… wow that is a cool font. Don’t be afraid to contact other entrants to ask about fonts, colors and such (just be polite and not use them in the same contest). And take time to recreate effects (not entire logos) and make your own effects in the process. There are thousands of tutorials on the web for logo design. I have often seen entries that came verbatim directly from a tutorial. But in all honest I have learned much more from trying to emulate effects I’ve seen in other contest entries than I ever learned from a tutorial. Entering and watching contests can help you expand your graphics knowledge immensely, and, if you take the message of “what wins” to heart – may win a few contests yourself.

The Biggest Lesson I’ve Learned.

In the hundreds of contests I’ve entered, observing what ranks highest and what wins, I have to say the single most important thing I’ve learned is to Keep It Simple. While some contest holders want a lot of effects, most of them want something clean, crisp and easy to use in print and in small sizes. Always keep that in mind when working on designs.

I hope this helps to guide potential designers to look at their contests in a new way and hope that what you see brings you knowledge, skill and contest winnings.

Introducing: Brandstorming Sessions

George - Hatchwise Staff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:37:47 +0000

Hello and Greetings from Hatchwise,
One of the reasons I love being a part of Hatchwise is because out of all the different projects and companies that I have been involved with, Hatchwise is the one that I am able to recommend to people that I like.

You know what I mean, you work somewhere, you sell something, but when your Dad needs to buy whatever it is that you’re selling, you say “oh yeah, we sell that, but if you want the real deal, go check out this other company, don’t buy it through us, they’re a much better choice”. With Hatchwise I am always confident that the services we provide are the best. Period.

And the new product that we’re unveiling today is no exception. It’s something I’ll be using. It’s something I would tell my Grandma to use. It’s a wonderful, beautiful thing. Keep reading below to find out more.

Sincerely,

George Ryan

Hatchwise

Introducing: Brandstorming Sessions

You know those times when you are starting a new company, and you just can’t for the life of you think of a name for your new business, or website or product? Or have you tried looking for hours on end for an unregistered domain name that you can use to build your new business on, and you have completely run out of ideas?

Well we have just launched the perfect solution for you: Brandstorming Sessions.

When you run a Brandstorming Session on Hatchwise, you tell our community of 3500+ designers what it is that your new project is all about, and give them some direction as to what kind of a brand you are looking to build. You can provide as much or as little information as you wish.

From there the designers take over. They will brainstorm up some awesome brand names for you, complete with logos, and you get to choose from many, many completely original brands, all custom made just for you.

Sound cool? It gets better. If you are want your brand to be built around an available domain name, you simply select the appropriate options when starting a Brandstorming Session and the designers will make sure that each brand comes with a matching, available domain name (that you’ll have to register yourself. if you select the brand as the winner.)

There are a couple of special rules for Brandstorming Sessions:
1. There is a minimum prize of $200.
2. The prize does need to be prepaid, and you do have to select a winner.
3. Brandstorming Session are blind. Which means that all designs and suggestions are hidden from everyone but the contest holder until the contest holder selects a winner, so that the contest holder is able to pick a name without worrying about anyone “stealing” it.

Sounds cool, doesn’t it! Plus, the first few people to start a Brandstorming Session are going to get their Session featured on our main page and directly in front of the designers FREE to achieve the maximum exposure for them.

To start a Brandstorming Session simply log into your account.

Keep up to date with Hatchwise using Facebook and Twitter!

George - Hatchwise Staff — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:24:55 +0000

Now you can get the latest, coolest news from Hatchwise, as well as access to cool links and resources that we come across during the week, when you connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Connect with us on Facebook.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

George - Hatchwise Staff — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:28:15 +0000

Hello from the freezing state of New York! Seriously, it’s cold here, really cold. It was -7 degrees out the other day. Here at Hatchwise we’re actually hoping that Santa leaves coal in our stockings so that we can burn it and cut down on the heating bill.

Seriously, though, we’ve had a GREAT year. We’ve seen our community triple in size, had hundreds of awesome design contests held on the site, changed our name, moved to a faster server, and done many other really cool things, all of which are not possible (or indeed necessary) without your help and support.

We want to wish everyone a very special Christmas, or if you do not celebrate Christmas then a very special Friday.

May the New Year bring you much success, we’re sure excited about where it’s going to take us!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!