As a creative, one of the first steps to entering a Hatchwise contest should be to read over the Design Brief thoroughly. Yes, it can be tempting to simply scan over the other contest submissions and then start entering the contest, but that should not be done, and here’s why.
The other creatives may not have read the brief. Only using the other entries as a guide for your contest submissions is not a good idea. What if the other contest entries are not what the client is looking for? What if someone made a mistake and missed some important detail or request in the Design Brief?
The client knows best. The bottom line is that the client knows what they want and they are letting you know what that is in the Design Brief. That is why you want to read over their request and find out what they are looking for with their new design.
Don’t rely only on the feedback. It may be tempting to only look at the feedback on the other contest entries, but there are two problems with that. One, you don’t want to be copying the other creative’s original concepts, and two, you may end up taking something away from the contest brief that no one else did.
Make sure that you check for images. Sometimes the client chooses to upload images to the contest brief as a reference, and you want to take a look at those. Often, the clients may not be able to put into words what they are looking for. However, as the saying goes, “A good design can speak a thousand words”. You may learn more about what the client is looking for with their design by looking at the images that they uploaded than you may from anything else.
Check for updates. Remember that while the contest is active the client can edit the Design Brief at any time. So you may want to check it occasionally for updates, if you enter the contest multiple times.
The Design Brief is there to let you know what the client is looking for with their contest. By thoroughly reading the Brief and learning more about what the client needs, you will be increasing your chances of submitting an entry that they love, and may perhaps end up awarding as their contest winner.
