Julie - although it doesn't quite seem that way if you believe that designers left *because* of what Perceptions has said, I do believe that he has the best interest of both Contest Holders and Designers in mind with his belief that un-declared clip art should stay that way. A number of designers simply paste easily acquirable clip-art in their designs for what should be your unique and individual logo, nevermind copyright infringements. It's quite a bummer to pay for a design that a month from now you see in a competitors logo! It is also a deterrent for designers who do their best to design original and creative work :)

As far as I'm concerned, I'm glad that you liked my revisions as per the increasing star rating and I'm sorry we couldn't get it fully to your taste! Regardless, congratulations on finding a design that you like, and I do hope you'll hold another contest in the future.

Love & light back at ya,
maxbrown

well you declared a winner. . .so the time to tweak might be up . . .at least according to the contest?

if for some reason you don't find your desired logo, i'd like to still submit my work.

andreit - You are so right, I apologize for the misspelled name. I was just irritated and was typing faster than my brain could keep up.

Diana never get angry with people. Look what you did now. You misspelled 99designs

Since I appear to be singled out, I want to respond. I am fully aware that you are not allowed to use stock items in your designs, however, if I have the license, (which I do have and would gladly show it to anyone who wants to see it) to use something in my design then it should not be a problem, nor should it be anyone's concern other than 99Degrees and the CH.

To PERCEPTIONS: For future reference, you should get the facts before slamming someone publicly. I would have gladly answered any messages you sent concerning my designs and would have even provided proof, even though I don't have to answer to you, that I am legally allowed to use the items I did in my designs. I have not done anything wrong here so I will not discuss it further unless you or anyone else would like to message me privately.

sheppardmedia: I've tried in the past to confront "clip-artists" and copycats in private about their use of clip-art..... that does not get very far.

This is what I believe... before everybody registered with 99 Designs, they (should have) read all the guidelines and such (as Kristina pointed out below).

But, even if there were no guidelines, I feel it is not of good designer ethics to copy-cat a design and call it your own.

Though some contests holder may not care if their logo is clip-art or a stock image, I have a feeling that (MOST) of the people who come here are looking for something original and something they couldn't do themselves.

So to answer your comment- I DO feel it was not only the professional thing to do (point out the copy-cats) but it was also the right thing to do.

If you know of a mechanic who is telling customers they need all sorts of costly repairs, but you know for a fact that they don't, what do you do? Do you think going up to the mechanic and saying "please stop cheating people out of their money" is going to stop the mechanic from doing so? NO.

But if you go public with it and consumers become aware of what the mechanic is doing, then there is a better chance the mechanic will stop.... and then the customer can go elsewhere and pay hard-earned money for a legitimate service.

That is all I am gonna say. I'll stop commenting on this contest...

SANCTUARY MUCH, good luck, and may the best ORIGINAL design get his or hers' due credit!

:)

SORRY!!! SORRY MAXBROWN!! I didn't catch the the "@dabuzz" part the first time! I thought you were talking about my tree! SORRY!

the truth in most clip-art will be found out when a CH asks for the vector file and all the designer can supply them with is a non-layered eps file. Of course, by looking at those links perceptions backed his claim up with, those butterflies were vector clip-art. So yeah, those may be in layers... but seriously, you all know the point perceptions and many others in other contests are trying to make about clip-art.

Some people just try to deliver the CH's a design that is truly original- with no strings attached.

lol.. yes maxbrown... I did draw that tree.

@DaBuzz

Did you design that tree yourself? Looks familiar... if so though, bravo ;)

Well, I suppose many of us feel that it is unprofessional to use clip-art. 99 Designs also states that you need to tell the CH's when you are using clip-art.

See under designer guidelines:

"Make sure the work you are submitting is your own and that you are legally entitled to post it. If you are using any stock images in your design, make sure that you inform the contest holder that they will need to purchase licenses"

Also.... go to the 99 Designs FAQ:

QUESTION: Am I allowed to use clipart or stock images? ¶

ANSWER:
No — unless you own the copyright to the images you're thinking of using, or you clearly inform the contest holder that you are using images that they will have to license. For example, you cannot use iStockPhoto images in logo designs, ever!