WordPress Theme Design Contests — What Are You Really Getting Involved In?

By: Chris Murphy

I recently stumbled upon a WordPress theme design contest being hosted by colorlabsproject.com and was pleasantly surprised at the prizes that were being offered -- quite generous for a theme design contest; and the fact that are few really compelling ones going on right now makes it a perfect motivator for me to submit something. In fact I think I would have registered for the contest immediately, but I decided to read some of the rules and regs (mostly because I'm a Canadian citizen and there are often stricter rules surrounding international participation).

To be clear: this post is not announcing a new contest.

While I’m an ardent supporter of promoting the WordPress platform any way I can, the contest documentation sent up red flags after the first and second read through:

1. The rules for entry had been modified once (noted by the site owners) ;
2. The foundation of the contest is rooted in the participant submitting a “concept” but later defines a concept as being a production comp.
3. There’s a fairly ambiguous panel of judges as implied by, “Designs are assessed by a special team from ColorLabs Project…”  — who are these people?
4. Lastly, this: “You understand that by participating in this contest, your theme concept is possibly used by ColorLabs Project and may be made available for purchase on our site. Winners will be awarded a cash prize for their work. Any other theme concept will only be made available for purchase after a once-off fee agreed by both parties. Sales generated off the theme will be kept by the company.”

Get Your Story Straight:

First off, if you’re going to launch a contest, make damn sure that the language surrounding the rules and regulations, as well as the terms and conditions are as clear as you can possibly be. I say this as a a Creative Director and planner who has been involved in advertising campaigns that were build around some hefty prizes. Nothing makes a contest go south faster than poorly written contest literature. Once you post those rules, you had better ensure they are final. I can’t speak for the legal ramifications of changing contest details mid-way through, but I can say there’s a significat level of trust that is lost in having to do so.

Concept vs. Concept Art

Second, a Concept is quite different from Concept Art. Be sure what you’re asking participants for. A Concept, e.g. an idea — is typically something you solicit in written form. Concept Art is visual. In a design contest like this (and considering the last condition in the T&C), asking for a visual concept without providing appropriate conditions to protect the artist’s work is borderline unethical. There is nothing to prevent the contest hosts from turning around and re-creating the concept art into production-ready source files. Participants should be well aware of this possibility.

Industry Peers/Professionals or Your Grandmother?

Third, who the heck are the judges? While there is nothing wrong with not disclosing the judging panel to the general public — to me, there’s a level of trust that a contest host can provide through disclosure. Quite frankly, are the members of the judging panel qualified to act as judges given the criteria? This is pretty grey-area from my experience.

Exactly How Are You Planning To Use My Work?

Lastly, the final condition on the T&C is loosely worded, and relinquishes — as I understand it — a considerable amount of the artist’s rights to the contest host. While on the surface, there is nothing essentially wrong with this practice, but it leaves me questioning the ethics of amassing a royalties-free library of design for resale. On one hand, it may be quite alright to capitalize on the award-winning themes as well as the runners-up, but what of the rest? Are the remaining “unqualified” designs to be saved for later resale or are they to be destroyed? What about compensation for artist? The language surrounding this particular conditions is a little vague.

In any case, I’m not a lawyer — just someone who really wanted to participate in a contest, but unfortunately this one comes off as a scam poorly disguised as a contest. What’s next: timeshares in the Bahamas?

Seriously though, if you are considering participation in any contest of this kind — take the time to educate yourself on your rights as an artist/designer and pay particular attention to the organizers of the contest. At the end of the day you’ll need to judge for yourself whether or not a contest is legitimate and what your work is worth.

• Posted: January 19, 2009
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