design challenge faq.

How do Design Challenges work?

Minted regularly launches design challenges based on a theme, like wedding or personal stationery. We create a unique prize structure for each challenge and invite prominent figures in the design world to help promote the challenge and the designers. You submit a design (or several – there is no limit to the number of designs you can submit), the community of designers and customers vote, and the top-rated designers are selected for sale on Minted. Find out about our current and upcoming challenges here. When we announce the winners, we feature the top 20 designs on the Winners Page and announce the Judges' picks and Editor's picks in emails to the community or on the Minted blog. Learn more about the contest structure and advantages of joining the community in our newbie kit.

Who should I contact if I am experiencing technical difficulties submitting a design?

First please read the rest of the FAQ and the submission instructions in the challenge PDF (which can be downloaded here), as your question may already be answered there. With technical difficulties or any other issue or question you may have, please email us at designers [at] minted.com. We check this email regularly during the week, as well as the weekend before a submission deadline.

Are international designers allowed to enter Minted's competitions?

Absolutely. We are extremely proud of our large and diverse community of international designers. Design away!

Does it increase my chances of winning if I enter a similar design in various iterations with different fonts or colors?

No, it definitely does not. Please enter just one (the best!) version of each design.

Can I use clip art in my designs?

Royalty-free clip art is permitted, but only as long as the source licenses the art for reproduction in items for sale. Many clip art books only allow for reproduction for 'personal use only.' Anything that you have to purchase online is not permitted. The reason for this is that Minted would then have to re-purchase that design if your entry was selected, likely at a much higher premium because of the scale of our reproduction.

Am I allowed to use istockphoto images?

The short answer is no. istockphoto’s license agreement, which can be viewed here prohibits any of their designs to be reproduced for consumption, which is exactly what Minted does. The specifically relevant clause is: "For example, you cannot superficially modify the Content, print it on a t-shirt, mug, poster, template or other item, and sell it to others for consumption, reproduction or re-sale." Even if you purchase the design under an extended license provision, we would still have to re-purchase it in order to be the owner and distributor of the design. Unfortunately, Minted can’t afford to do this and still be able to take care of you, our wonderful designers. And furthermore, the whole point of Minted is to gather the very best original designs!

If I used certain design elements in previously sold designs can I still use them again other challenges?

You may use design elements from previously sold designs as long as you are not using those elements in the same form as in the design you have already sold. For example, entering a wedding bell you used in a wedding save the date in one of Minted’s save the date challenges is not allowed. You are allowed to leave your original design up on your website, as long as it not the same design submitted to Minted. And your design must be original—we take copyright laws very seriously. Most importantly, any sale inquiries into any iteration of any design you enter into Minted’s competitions must be directed to Minted.com.

Can I use a font that’s not on the font list?

We encourage you to use only fonts on the list provided, however you may use other fonts for consideration. If your design is selected, we may have to replace your font with a font from our font library. You can find a full font list with sample text here.

How do I edit the design I just submitted?

To edit a design, simply go to your designer profile and click “Manage Your Submissions.” From there, you can search by “editable” designs, then click “edit” under the specific design you’d like to update. You can then upload a new version.

How long will voting last and when will you announce the winners?

Voting for any given challenge typically lasts through the duration of the subsequent challenge (2-4 weeks). The time it then takes to process the votes depends upon the challenge. It also takes time for Minted’s design team to go through each and every design and chose our Editor’s Picks. As a result, we do not have a set period of time before we announce winners, but please try to be patient with us! We do our absolute best to get you the results as quickly as possible.

How do you make your editor’s picks?

We look to reward creativity in our editor’s selections. The last thing we want is a monolithic site where every card looks the same. To that end, we look to reward risk takers even if we don’t think those designs will sell extremely well. That being said, we also pick designs that we know from our experience resonate with our consumer and will sell well or round-out our assortment’s offerings.

What is the difference between an editor's pick and a commission?

An editor’s pick is chosen from designs entered in our challenges. We often award commissions to designers who have been consistently producing great work for us when we announce challenge winners. A commissioned piece gets an up-front cash amount.

How often do you pay out?

We pay commissions on a quarterly basis. As per our Terms and Conditions, commission payments will be sent within 90 days of the end of the quarter, but we usually pay earlier in the middle of each quarter (February, May, August, November). For a contest prize payment, we pay designers their rewards within 90 days of receiving their final artwork files.

Is it fair that your employees can enter and win competitions?

We believe that Minted employees and contractors should enter the challenges to exercise their creativity and help represent the design community and the designer's perspective by 'walking a mile' in our design community's shoes. In fact, some members of our design community have applied for jobs at Minted and have become members of our staff after having discovered us by entering Minted challenges. Though they are able to enter the challenges and receive recognition for placing in the top 20, unfortunately for Minted full-time employees, they are not eligible for the cash prizes for placing in the top 20. This ensures that no funny business ever occurs. Like all of our designers, they do receive the 6% commission on net sales of their design and they may receive an editor's pick award.

Are there any job opportunities presently at Minted?

There are always job opportunities for designers at our headquarters around the hectic holidays, from October through December. This San Francisco-based role will be shift based, with varying times of day and week including evening and weekend shifts. We encourage you to apply even if you cannot handle evening or weekend shifts, as we may be able to accommodate you; however, we do have a preference for candidates who can handle some evening and weekend shifts. Experience with Illustrator, In-Design, and Photoshop is necessary. To apply, please submit your resume, cover letter, and availability to jobs [at] minted.com. Please include Seasonal Holiday Design Associate in the subject line.

Once my design has been chosen, how can I help it sell?

The easiest way to publicize your designs is to install a shopping badge on your blog or website. You can select which designs to display and your customers will even receive a discount coupon displayed in your badge. You can get your shopping badges in your Design Studio. You can also take advantage of our Facebook “Share This” and Facebook Connect functionality. This PDF shows you how to use Facebook Share and this PDF shows you to use Facebook Connect.

I was asked for a design and given very little notice -- why?

We do our best to give designers ample time to turnaround files for winning designs that we request. Occasionally though, a customer falls in love with a design that had been submitted for a previous challenge and wants the design immediately. We reach out to the designer whose design was selected and give them the option of sending over the files very quickly or turning down the order. If the designer agrees, they send in their files, and we award them a belated Editor's Pick. This is entirely the designer's call—a designer can choose to respond quickly with the files, in which case we fulfill the customer's order and issue a prize payment within 90 days. Alternatively, if a designer cannot meet the deadline, we tell the customer that the design is not available and we direct them towards another option.

Why isn't my badge working?

If you are having trouble getting the badge to display properly, make sure you are entering the code in the right place on your site. If you are not sure how to do this, please send us an email at designers[at]minted.com, check your host's help pages, or contact the hosting site directly.

Can I put my Minted designs on my website?

Yes! You can create a design badge to add to your personal web site or blog (outside of Minted). Design badges are only available for designs that are for sale on our site. Badges are a standard 180px size, and would ideally be placed in a sidebar area of your site or blog.

What is a badge?

A badge is an image and/or link that you place on your website or blog to connect your visitors and fans to your design on Minted. It's a free and simple marketing tool that will help give your design exposure and direct potential customers toward purchasing your design.

What is the design badge contest?

Each month we will randomly choose a designer who has embedded the badge to win a $100 Minted certificate. Any designer who has placed the badge, HTML code intact, on their site is automatically qualified. By code intact, we mean the designer has not made any changes to the HTML beyond what is generated with our tool. We use the code to keep track of where the badge has been placed, so that you don’t need to contact us to let us know.

ELIGIBILITY

Keep in mind that this contest is only open to those who a) have at least one design for sale on Minted and b) have placed this badge on their blog or website. This means your chances of winning are pretty good, with your odds determined by the number of badges that have been placed at the time of the drawing. This contest is ongoing, so once your first design is available for sale, you will be automatically eligible after you place the shopping badge on your site.