The internet is full of design contests and challenges that are held by different organizations. So, the question is; why should I submit my work to a contest, and how will these contests help me in improving my career and skills?

Here we are not looking to the prize you can get if you win; instead we are talking about entering contests as a method to fuel your creativity and to help improve your skills after you have completed your studies, tests, and assignments.  In this article, we will touch on the different benefits of submitting your design work or digital art to different contests.

Self motivation

When you submit your design or digital art to a contest you are actually put yourself in front of a challenge.  This challenge will stimulate your experiences and energy in order to create artwork that has a chance to win and beat out other designers’ work in the contest.

Some contests will accept those design works or projects that you previously completed for clients or agencies. When you plan to submit your work in such a contest, you are not just doing the work for client satisfaction but also for your own challenge to submit this work to the contest.

This becomes a continuous influence to create unique and one of a kind designs that can win first prize.  In addition to the above these contests put you in a state of mind where you always need a fresh flow of new ideas and techniques. This can motivate you to study new tools and tips in order to achieve these new ideas.

Self Confidence

Some design projects can really kill your creativity, especially when the requirements are below your skill level and you work on it due to your employer’s need or their business’ need to gain clients or to build a new business.

On the other hand, working on regular projects for a long time can also affect your creativity skills since constant creativity requires diversity of tasks and projects that allow you to think of new ideas and solutions.

I doubt that there is a designer that did not face at least one of the above tasks; that is why contests can help you retain your self confidence when it comes to your creativity skills by providing new challenges from time to time.

When you got the chance to win in a contest you will find that extra little shove in becoming more confident in your creativity and ideas.  This happens when your ideas get the acknowledgement of the contest judges, who for the most part are generally more experienced designers or design tycoons.

Build Your Own Vision

When you prepare an idea or project for a contest you put it in your mind to make the overall design unique and different from the other submitted works or ordinary works in the industry. This is where you tend to develop your own styles and your vision starts to grow to form special design lines and styles.

When you try different design styles and techniques you can apply it in your projects and instead of sticking with a couple of design styles that may be more common between designers, you will end up bringing your own style to the contest which lets you be distinguished from the other designers.

You will also find yourself being able to direct projects to other creative ideas that best fit for the contest.

Proof of Skills

When you win in different contests and start gaining prizes and winner logos, you can publish these prizes and logos to your website.  This gives proof of your abilities and skills to your clients.

When clients know that they are dealing with an award winning designer, they tend to put confidence in you and rely on your opinions and consultations instead of just telling you what to do.

Most clients are not an expert in design, so when they know you as a skillful designer that they can rely on, they will be able to take your advice with trust.

On the other hand, when you mention your awards in your resume, you will find that you get more attraction from companies and employers who tend to put your resume at the top of their list.

This does not grantee getting the job but at least it can be helpful in recommending you for the position.

Career Improvement

All the above skills are sharing the same aim; how to use these tips to help in building a better career life for you.  When you have the self motivation, confidence, your own vision and proof of your skills; you can get more projects and you can complete these projects as an award winning designer with complete client satisfaction.

Many contests have been known to publish a book or a website with the winners’ artwork; this will aid in giving you the visibility and client attraction which is more powerful than providing your resume to a business through a phone call or email.

Building your own career as a professional creative designer from the first step can help you achieve your aim in the design industry faster; it can help by making you different and more distinguished from the other designers. This unified profile and identity will attract more clients and improve your business in an indirect way.

Conclusion

Building your career and identity takes longer then a day or two; in fact it is a long term plan and you have to consider the various methods in being able to reach this plan. By submitting your design and artwork into contests, you will find that it can give you the visibility and help you need to attract more clients and better business. There is many places and groups on the internet that provide design contests; but Graphic Competitions is a good site that provides you with updates about the more recent contests available.