We always knew a portfolio is important. You know, it’s like human need air to survive, designers also need portfolio not just to present their skills, but simply to be called designers. We knew that cool projects can win awards and lots of design studios pay 99% of marketing campaigns to such competitions.

Unfortunately, we never had time to participate in any competitions earlier. Clients, projects, deadlines — working routine was following us step by step not leaving a single place for creativity. But then, we’ve conducted complex market research and found out, that content marketing is the most powerful sales tool for designers and design studios. And that’s when we’ve started taking designs competitions seriously.

Rule 1: Think of the Design Competitions as of Work

We usually prefer submitting real projects to competitions. We did so on Awwwards, CSS Design Awards and we did so on RedDot. However, not all designers have strong projects in their portfolio to submit and win. Also, it often happens when you, as a designer, so as an artist, just want to create a visualization of your vision of the surrounding world. That’s when people start creating abstract works, that never existed in contracts and agreements.

It’s doesn’t matter what you choose — you should always take competitions seriously. Both of you’re submitting your life project and if you are making an award-winning work, you need to think of it as a complex and serious product, that will be seen by thousands of people. That’s why: be attentive to all the details. Competitions are like a pink-coloured ocean with sweet, but super hungry sharks. All sweet and nice, they will be criticizing you for any wrong pixel. So, you need to make sure your design is perfect.

Rule 2: Choose Right Context

Context is everything. You need to pick up the right project for the right competition. There will be no sense in submitting an art-related website with gradients and animation to RedDot. The same senseless decision will be to submit a simply perfect, but not that artistic mobile interface to Awwwards. It’s like Vogue and New York Times — you need to study the library, check who were the winners before you and what were they submitting and only then, make the right works for the right places.

Rule 3: Stay Active

Most likely, if you’re submitting to Awwwards and CSS Design Award-like portals, you need to be active. Surf the website, like and save posts, connect with other participants and evaluate. Remember to be polite and leave mostly good comments. Of course, there is no sense in putting top marks on all projects, but if you see that the project is awful, it’s better to leave these emotions with you.

Pay 15 minutes every day to check fresh submissions and keep your hand on the pulse of trends. Don’t forget to make posts on all social networks about your competitions submission. Let people know about your project and make them actively rate it!

Rule 4: Never Stop

Of course, it may sound banal, but your first submission most likely won’t turn into a great success. You need to see the full picture and understand, that competition is like a very beginning. Make more and more designs (not too much, 2nd or 3rd work already should take the prize, if this didn’t happen — re-think your approach and analyze a website once again).

There are 2 optimal ways to post works: you should either follow a common style direction to make an image of yourself on the portal and make all of your works significant, or you should try new and new style variations. Listen to your heart, if you believe you have your visual stylistics, follow it despite rates and marks. But if you are still looking for yourself, try new things and be banal, bright, passionate and smart — be anything you want to be and express yourself through your art. Some say, designers are not artists, but just people, who move pixels all over the screen. Competition is your space for art. So, be different. Be art. And win.