Just want to take a moment that say GREAT JOB and THANK YOU to everyone who has participated in this contest to date. You'll notice I haven't given any 5-star ratings. Don't take that as a negative sign. I'm just like one of those teachers that never gave "A's" kind of things. Not to raise the teacher image, because it is not correct, but it was the best way I could think of to make the point. With me, a 4-star means I am really impressed, a 3-star means I like it a lot, a 2-star or less just means it's not my style, etc.

VERY IMPORTANT: Even though I can only pick one contest winner, I may want to stay in touch with some of you about possible future work, especially if any of you have are User Interface / User Experience design pros. I mean smoken' good and experienced with a portfolio to prove it. If -- and only if -- that applies to you, please send me a private message. Sorry to put that "only if" in there, but I just don't want to get spammed and/or waste anyone time, ya know?!

A mistake in the PDF. My bad, I apologize.

I used "Email" in front of the email address and "Website" in front of the website.
We don't need/want that. People know what they are, so we don't need to say.

Design thought / comment:

I am wondering about a way to sort of separate or set off slightly the buzz and the pal. So people get the idea that it's two words brought together. Capitalization is one way to do it. That's what PayPal does (see their site). They also use different shades of color, which is another way to do it. Also a slight space or something is a possible way to do it. you know what I mean. The 99designs.com logo does it another way. Just an idea for you guys. Thanks.

2008-2-28 at 16:51 (current time in Sweden):

1) I want to thank everyone for the great entries so far. Thanks!

2) I will provide design feedback once per day. So submissions that came in yesterday, got responded to today. Submissions that come in today, get responded to tomorrow. Etc.

That's it. Thanks!

NOTE: After this contest, I/we will be looking for web page and/or user interface design. Also, it goes without saying, make sure your design(s) will work well with a Web 2.0-style website. Our demographic is basically 18-30 year olds who like and use Web 2.0 sites, including social networking, dating, blogs, video/photo, etc.

REMINDER: We are looking for someone really good (and that we can afford) and ideally will establish an ongoing working relationship, as we will have increasing amounts of design work in the future. In other words, the value of winning this contest is higher than the prize money. The value is the prize money PLUS the value of ALL future business.

@oculonaut: I am thankful that you spoke up and gave me a chance to clarify. Please comment on anything else. Also, the first four entries have been submitted and I supplied comments, especially to the this entry: http://99designs.com/contests/5618/…ies/363572 . Might add some flavor to my contest brief PDF, which could be helpful if/when you submit an entry. I/we are looking for someone really good (and that we can afford) and ideally will establish an ongoing working relationship, as we will have increasing amounts of design work in the future. In other words, the value of winning this contest is higher than the prize money. The value is the prize money PLUS the value of ALL future business.

@oculonaut: I am thankful that you spoke up and gave me a chance to clarify. Please comment on anything else. Also, the first four entries have been submitted and I supplied comments, especially to the this entry: http://99designs.com/contests/5618/…ies/363572 . Might add some more flavor to my contest brief PDF, which could be helpful if/when you submit an entry. I/we are looking for someone really good (and that we can afford) and ideally will establish an ongoing working relationship, as we will have increasing amounts of design work in the future. In other words, the value of winning this contest is higher than the prize money. The value is the prize money the plus the value of all future business.

@oculonaut: I am thankful that you spoke up and gave me a chance to clarify. Please comment on anything else. Also, the first four entries have been submitted and I supplied comments, especially to the this entry: http://99designs.com/contests/5618/…ies/363572. Might add some more flavor to my contest brief PDF, which could be helpful if/when you submit an entry. I/we are looking for someone really good (and that we can afford) and ideally will establish an ongoing working relationship, as we will have increasing amounts of design work in the future. In other words, the value of winning this contest is higher than the prize money. The value is the prize money the plus the value of all future business.

PS: Any questions or comments, please post and I will reply. This is my first contest and, like the font clarification (above), there could be other questions or concerns. And if you have a question or comment, probably others have the same one, so please just ask. For example, if we need to tweak anything or there is anything you don't like, please comment and propose what would be better. Thanks again!

Since I am a total newbie here (be nice, we all have to start as newbies!) I do not know the norms and options. I'm hoping contest holders and designers can do whatever we both want and mutually agree to do (as long as it's legal). For example, if I decide I would like to work with a particular designer, but we need to spend more time and effort to explore and refine concepts, get it right, work on the corporate identity, get that right, etc. Can I select a designer as the contest winner (to respect other designer's time) and then me and the winning designer work directly to complete the design work? Seems like that might be a good way for everybody. Just asking. I mean because otherwise it seems like it could be a non-optimal situation for designers, who could be driven to spend excessive time on revisions and refinements and still not win the contest, and contest holders, who could be driven to accept entries that are "close, but not quite there." This is especially important for this contest, which includes a corporate identity package. I mean, do you guys really mock up a whole thing, logo, business card and other stuff and then make refinements and whatnot just to enter a contest? Maybe so, but I doubt it, unless you are really, really, really good and you "know" that if you do that you will win. But what if there are two or more of you that good?! Seems like that might be the case on 99designs, where I have seen some real nice work. I just don't know b/c I am a newbie. Any suggestions or discussion appreciated.

PS: So I updated the "fonts" language in the project brief. Also, the contest is for $350, not $300. I wish I could pay more, but I am a 1-person startup, pursing a dream, not working, living really lean. It is total bootstrap mode. People who are helping me now are not just doing it for the money. Most of them are giving back or helping for one or more of the various reasons that we like to help each other. Not everyone can afford, or wants, to do that, which is fine, but some do. They are thanked and will be thanked more as I am able. I am one of them, and I share and give back in the ways that I can. I believe in that system. Cheers, Chris

Thanks for the question / comment and apologies for the misunderstanding. My bad. I said "unless otherwise agreed," which I meant to mean the designer needs to disclose any fonts I have to buy, tell me from where, and how much. They must do this with their design submissions, perhaps by 99 designs private message system. I don't know the best way as this is my first contest here. If you make a good suggestion, I will follow it, including improving the language in the project description. The bottom line is that unless extra costs are disclosed, I do not be responsible for them, the designer will. That's all I was trying to say. I am fine with paying for great fonts, I just need to know in advance or else it's not coming out of my pocket. Please let me know if I can clarify further and thanks for looking at my contest. I'm excited to see some entries and will be available via private message, where I can even disclose my email and IM. I just value privacy and don't want a permanent copy of my contest or communications, other than those like this font clarification, going on the record. Dig? Cheers!