Thanks Groanicus, files sent and money received.

Thanks Goranicus, files sent and money received.

Ditto.

Correction:
"something akin to teaching a pig to sing."

You know Groanicus, all it took was simple acknowledgment on your part which would have been totally accepted by myself and on behalf of the contributing artists who may have taken exception to your remarks. But you couldn't resist still peppering your latest response with words like "embittered" and the cheap shot at the end implying my not feeling appreciated. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For one, I chose not to enter your contest in the first place, so what do I have to feel embittered about? Not entering a $100 design contest? I think not.

And I make a great self-employed living designing for commercial accounts, having been the recipient of nine global awards over the years. Not being appreciated doesn't quite justify how I feel. I do suspect that because you haven't been as recognized in your work as you think you should, you devalue the time, talent and expertise of others, a practice probably not just limited to artists.

I understand you may never "get it." I realize that to continue responding in an intelligent manner is something akin to teaching a pig to sin. (All it does is piss off the pig and frustrate the teacher.) Not that I'm calling you a pig mind you, but the metaphor applies nonetheless.

That said, I really hoped we might be able to come to an amicable agreement of sorts, without innuendos and cleverly(?) disguised smite. I now realize that isn't possible, so it's time to just say farewell, wish you the best and move on.

As a last attempt, I offer one analogy you may relate to: Your asking for something professional, created to represent your professional enterprise at a price only an amateur should be willing to provide is akin to asking a tradesman for a $5,000 Mahogany conference table, professionally handcrafted and built for $500 (all clearly acceptable up to this point) but then criticizing the finished table's appearance or workmanship quality because it doesn't meet the expectations you have of a $5,000 conference table.

To be sure, you can set whatever guidelines you want including compensation BUT it DOESN'T give you fair license to criticize any submissions that didn't measure up to your expectations. The participants agreed to your parameters by creating and submitting their designs, some doing their absolute best based upon their talent and experience, or lack thereof.

If you wanted better design submissions you should have offered compensation commensurate the level of professionalism you expected or at least had the discretion to offer "constructive" criticism. The old adage "Beggars can't be too choosy." certainly would apply in this case.

That's it plain and simple. You need not apologize to me since my intent was only directed to your relative insensitivity.

"It's one thing to work for nothing but to grovel with gratitude and at a pittance, is unforgivable."

Have a good day.

@ozhef: I'm not bitter at all, hardly spent any time on this contest - for $100 its hardly even worth spending much time on the design at all actually.

As djb28 said I was just bringing up an observation that I found quite interesting in my brief amount of time (and I can see it staying brief) at Sitepoint Contests.

I like the design that jbraymundo did, was definatly one of the better ones here. And my remark wasn't a knock at the contest holder - I applaude him for giving good feedback, something which is quite uncommon at Sitepoint Contests.

I don't have a problem with business people seeking to take advantage of those aspiring artists building their portfolio by working disproportionate hours to come up with a possible winning design.

And I don't even have a problem with adding extra refinements to present someone who's idea of collaborative design is "show me what you've got so I can decide if it's what I'm looking for or not." This is, after all, how Sitepoint works and many artists, for whatever reasons, agree to the concept.

My problem is when those same business people not only start a contest with a ludicrously low monetary award requiring a "Professional" design but then make the statement as you did, regarding such lack of submission quality that you could have easily done many of them "as well yourself in under ten minutes."

Ethical, honest and knowledgeable business people offer fair value for fair value. They don't try to get something for nothing. If it's truly "professional" design you want, maybe you should have offered a contest with more incentive. If that wasn't possible on your part, then at the very least you shouldn't complain about the quality of the submissions, especially making the rude remark you did.

Have you noticed? The contests with the higher monetary awards generally reap the higher quality responses. And because of this they might have a narrower field from which to choose but overall more professional results within that field. I noticed, all in all, despite 52 responses you still weren't that impressed with your winning entry, quoting you: "It does not mean it was the best design, but it does mean it was the one that suited me best."

So, I guess it all worked after all. You picked the one submission suited best for you but by no means was it the best design. I'd say you got every penny of your $100...oops, I mean $125 contest. May it serve you long and well.

As to your somewhat snide remark about my lack of activity and wishing me happy trolling: I just opened my account a few days ago as a trial, hence the lack of activity. I've submitted to several contests already, some paying as meager as yours, so it's not just about the money but more about your overall, lopsided requirements for such a paltry sum. And then to insult the artists who did give of their time and talents but didn't quite meet up to your uh, "high" expectations.

My credentials notwithstanding (which are extensive by the way,) I, at least have the basic respect and common decency to be gracious toward all contributors, especially when offering such a beggars salary.

I invite open discussion to this matter from any and all who wish to comment. Perhaps we can raise the bar for the predators out there or just the unwitting, thereby saving our creativity from being continually reduced to just a commodity.

oops, sorry for my late post. I don't know it was over.
congrats!

Thanks, sorry for my english.

I was wondering it to. Its not bitter. Its called following directions of the contest holder and doing what is asked.

it would appear solidmedia is a touch bitter. get over it mate.

Interesting the amount of times the contest holder writes a brief like so:

"Graphic can be linked in with text, but should not include handyman tools or person"

Then chooses a design(from a designer who obviously didn't even read the brief) that is totally opposite to what was requested.