FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are a lot of moving parts to crowdsourcing creative work, below are some of the more common questions we have received. If your question is not answered here please don’t hesitate to contact our support team so we can help you out.

NEW TO HATCHWISE?

We have pricing for all budgets, higher priced packages come with a larger prize for the winning designer, which typically results in higher participation by more skilled creatives. View the pricing for all types of contests here.

Contests run for ten days, during which time you will receive entries and can request revisions. If you need work done more quickly our rush upgrade gets you results in 48 hours and usually results in more entries than a comparable 10 day contest. You can always extend your contest once it ends if you want to see more entries or want to request changes to an existing entry.​

Everybody here works very hard, even if you think a submitted entry is the most disgusting thing you have ever seen in your life there is still a good chance that someone took quite a bit of time on it so politely tell them why you don’t like it. There is never any reason to be rude. Life is short, let’s make it as pleasant as possible for everybody.

Even though our money back guarantee (when applicable) often means that you do not have to pick a winner if you don’t want to please don’t run a contest unless you are actively planning on selecting a winner. The prize amount versus the amount of work that is done per contest is very reasonable, and by selecting a winner and paying the prize for your contest you are showing your appreciation for all of the hard work that has been done for you.

Although only original artwork is allowed to be submitted to creative contests on Hatchwise, and we remove anything that is flagged as being unoriginal, because of the fact that all of the creatives that participate  are independent contractors and do not work directly for us Hatchwise is simply the middleman in your contest and makes no claims whatsoever as to the originality of any of the entries that are submitted.

You should do your own research and consult with a trademark attorney before using any creative material in trade or business.

This applies to any creative agency and not just the creatives here at Hatchwise. 

Each of the creatives retains the full rights to their contest entries unless you select it as the winner or purchase it as an additional entry.

Once you award a winner and they upload the final files they are transferring the full rights to the creative material over to you, as the client. You then own the full rights to the work and are welcome to use it however you wish. 

The only rights that Hatchwise and the submitting creative retain are the rights to display it in their/our portfolio and marketing material as examples of work done.

LAUNCHING A CONTEST

You can run any type of design or naming contest on Hatchwise, if we do not have a specific category for your design contest please use the Custom Graphic Design category.

We do not allow contests that contain any of the following: anything that may be: construed as obscene, pornographic, illegal or offensive in any way. 

 You get one (1) completed entry per contest. If you need different versions of the completed entry (black and white, different tag lines etc…) you can hire the winning creative to do it after the contest is over (you get their contact details with the completed entry).


If you need a entry designed for more than one company, or need more than one entry for the same company you would need to run more than one contest.

Creatives have the option when submitting their entry to your contest to allow you to buy their entry once you have awarded a first place winner. Additional designs cost $100 each if available after your contest ends.

All of the designs that you do not award or purchase remain the sole property of the submitting creative(s).

When you crowdsource a creative project you are your own project manager. Providing as much information as you can about what you are looking for is always best. Information such as the kind of style you are looking for, including examples of designs or names that you like or do not like, and explaining your target audience and company focus are all especially important when filling out the creative brief.

After your contest is active you can log into your account, go to the contest brief and scroll to the bottom of the page. There is a place there to upload image files.

The default for all contests is for them to be listed publicly on the Hatchwise site.

If you do not wish your contest to be viewable by users that are not logged in you can simply select the “private contest” option when starting your contest, this hides it from the public and does not effect participation.

RUNNING A CONTEST

 The majority of the creatives that submit entries to your contest (in fact, all but one) will not receive anything more for their work than the comments that you leave them for their entries. Please let each and every creative know what you think about their entries and rate each one.

It is also in your best interest to provide feedback to all of the entries you receive. Your feedbacks and ratings can be seen by all of the creatives participating in your contest and provide direction and inspiration for new entries to your contest and will ultimately lead you to the perfect entry.

 

 Yes! You can award a winner whenever you want.

All entries to contests on Hatchwise are required to be original (the exception is marketing collateral and web designs, which can use preexisting elements such as stock photos and icons as long as they are disclosed as such). 

Because Hatchwise contests are open to anyone who wants to participate occasionally the odd bad egg will break the rules, when this happens the entry is usually quickly flagged and reported by one of the members of our extremely observant created community. Reported entries are removed by staff and the repeat offenders have their accounts terminated.

Always make sure to do your due diligence before selecting a winner and using it in anyway.

All entries can be viewed by all of the creatives on the Hatchwise site unless you select the “blind contest” upgrade when starting your contest, which makes it so creatives can only see their own entries.

Yes, you can easily extend your contest once it ends. There is a fee per day to extend.

ENDING A CONTEST

You can take up to ten days after your contest ends to award a winner, although if you need more time just contact support and let us know.

You can award a winner at any time once your contest is active, or you can wait until the submission period has ended to award one. To award a winner you will have to click on the entry and to the right, select the button that says “Award entry as contest winner”.

 

After you award your contest winner your contest will be reviewed by Hatchwise staff. This is the “verification step”.

Once your contest award has been approved the creative will be notified that they can prepare and upload the final files.

Once the contest is verified by staff (which can take up to 48 hours but usually happens within 12 or less) the contest winner has up to 48 hours to prepare and upload the final files – but this also usually happens much faster.

If you have awarded your contest they should be preparing and uploading your final files for you within 48 hours of the contest award being approved by Hatchwise staff (usually much quicker).

You will be notified via email when the files have been uploaded and can log into your account and go to “My ended contests”.

Next to the contest name, there is a link that says “Download files”.

If you don’t see that link your files have not been prepared and uploaded by the creative yet. 

When the contest winner uploads your final files we provide you with the their basic contact info so that you can stay in touch or hire them for future projects.

ENTERING A CONTEST

If your account is at a silver level or above you can contact a client by sending them a private message from in your account.

You can also ask questions or provide information on the contest discussion board or entry discussion boards.

If you can’t upload a entry either the contest submission period has ended or the contest has ended and a winner has been awarded. 

If your account is banned it is because you have been found guilty of submitting clipart or unoriginal work to a contest. 

We send payments for contests that have been won twice a month, once on the 1st and again on the 14th (if the payment lands on a weekend or a holiday it is made the following business day). 24 hours before the payments are sent to your PayPal account your account is credited for any contests that you have won. 

Verification is a normal part of the Hatchwise process and means the contest is in review. Verification usually takes less than 24 hours and then you are notified via email that you can upload the final files for the winning entry.

Once you have won a contest you are unable to change your username. If you haven’t won any contests please contact us and we can update your username for you. 

PayPal is currently the only payment option we currently have for our creatives.

You are only able to withdraw entries from a contest after the submission period is over (or a winner has been awarded). To withdraw your submission you will need to go to the contest, click on “My entries” and then click on the submission you wish to remove. To the bottom right there is a place that says “Remove entry”. Click there to remove your submission. 

No clipart, period. If it isn’t yours, don’t submit it. If you did not come up with 100% of the artwork from your own brain, than it isn’t yours.

The obvious exception to this is when the customer is providing a sketch or example that they want copied. Just ask yourself before you submit an entry “did I really make this?”

Stock images, stock photos and existing assets such as icons are allowed in web design and marketing collateral entries AS LONG as you fully disclose the source of the preexisting elements in a comment on the entry immediately after submitting the entry.

Pay really, really close attention to the email that you get when you win a contest.

You need to deliver the exact files that are requested in the email or you may end up not getting the prize credited to your account.

The files that you will need to deliver if you win are: The original, layered source file for the winning logo (Adobe Illustrator unless otherwise specified by the contest holder in the creative brief), with all fonts converted to shapes, as well as versions of the logo in the following formats: .jpg, .gif, .png, .tiff, eps and .pdf.

For naming contest you just need to upload the winning entry in a text file that has been placed in a zip file.