There are some pretty impressive prizes out there for graphic design competitions. The loot can range from cash to computers, tablets, cell phones and the list goes on. After having invested some time into two competitions, I realized just that, I had a total of over 10 hours into the two projects, knowing the chance of winning was razor-thin at best. Any logical person would ask why, why would waste your time on something so unlikely to pay off?

Graphic Design Competitions Are Like Poker

What I soon realized was that a graphic design competition is not unlike a poker tournament. Instead of buying in with cash, you ante up with time, effort and creativity. Of course, as in a poker tournament, you never expect to win but you still lay cash on the table because you enjoy playing the game. Many graphic design competitions implement a community, where you can chat with other players designers and comment or even rate their submissions.

If You Do Well

Of course there always has to be a winner and  some who were close behind, most of the time, there are goodies for the top 5 to 10 highest rated entries. Even if you don’t walk away with the MacBook Pro or Ipad, you could still end up with some exposure, inspiration and an excellent opportunity to practice.

Graphic Design Competitions

Here are a few good leads for graphic design competitions to consider. Mini Cooper and Hugo Boss especially because they almost always have a competition of one kind or another going.