FAQs for MycroBurst Designers

You have a much better chance of winning a design contest if you read the creative brief and all comments from the project holder. Use the brief as your roadmap to a successful design.

All winning project are subject to a 10% processing fee which will be deducted from the project amount. The winning designer will get the project amount – 10% processing fees. (For example, if the project prize money is $299, the winning designer will get = $299 - $29.9 (10%) = $269.10 US Dollars)

Don’t wait - Make sure you submit your designs to contests right away. If the project is expedited, you will need to be quick - Winners will generally be picked within 1-3 business days.

Keep it simple, and communicate it clearly. If you have any questions or want clarification about a design brief, always communicate with the project holder. If you understand the project holder’s requirements and you will be able to submit better designs and have a better chance of winning.

…Congratulations! You are just one step away from claiming your prize money.

You will need to submit the finalized source files for the winning design – which may include small revisions that the project holder asks for. Make sure you submit your source files correctly, according to the winning project guidelines. Sending incorrect or unusable final design files may cause MycroBurst to charge you a fee for fixing your mistakes.

Once your designs are submitted to the project holder, your claim will be ready for transfer.

It is very easy to submit a design for any contest:

1. Sign up for a free account at MycroBurst.com
2. Go to the contest you want to enter and click the “Submit a Design” button
3. Enter a description of your entry
4. Choose the image you’d like to upload and enter into the project
5. Enter the details of any licensed images you may be using
6. Agree to the designer guidelines
7. Click “Submit My Entry!”

That’s it. Your design has now been submitted to the project.

We strongly urge designers NOT to use clipart. Project Holders are looking for custom designs that are totally unique and creative. Repeated use of the clip art will have a negative impact on your rating as a designer, and you will win fewer contests. Remember that project holders aren’t going to be happy if they are legally pursued and sanctioned over copyright issues/disputes arising from your work. And that’s an understatement you will be liable for any costs and damages they incur or suffer as a result!

We recommend that you DO NOT use stock photos or images, especially in logos. Since logos are typically trademarked, they can’t have an image that can been used by someone else. If the project holder wants to use the same image, it will be the obligation of project holder to purchase the image from the source.

If you have used stock images or photos in a web design, or a graphic design project, you must inform the project holder if the design is chosen as winning design. You will be obliged to provide all relevant details such as source of the image, URL, image ID, and image published to the project holder.

Important Note:
Please make sure if you do you use the image you use the image as per the terms and conditions listed by the source.

Below requirements are mandatory for the designer while sending out the final source files of the winning design.

.AI and/or .FH: Adobe Illustrator and FreeHand – PMS/CMYK
.EPS: Encapsulated Postscript - CMYK
.PDF: Portable Document File - CMYK
.PSD: Photoshop Document - RGB
.PNG: Portable Network Graphics - RGB
.JPG: Joint Photographic Experts Group - RGB
.GIF: Graphic Interchange Format - RGB
.TIF: Tagged Image File Format – CMYK

* Spot colors can also be added upon client’s request
* Please only use “Pantone Solid Coated Shades”
* “Embed/Convert to path” all of the fonts used in a logo including tag line

Stationery Final Formats
Commercial:
• .AI and/or .FH: Adobe Illustrator and FreeHand – PMS/CMYK
• .EPS: Encapsulated Postscript - CMYK
• .PDF: Portable Document File - CMYK

Desktop:
• .JPG: Joint Photographic Experts Group - RGB
• .PDF: Portable Document File - RGB

Brochure/Other graphic design Final Formats
Editable:
• .AI and/or .FH: Adobe Illustrator and FreeHand – CMYK

Printable:
• .TIF: Tagged Image File Format – CMYK – 300 DPI

Please Note: Each stationery item (letterhead, business card, envelope, etc) need to be sent as an individual file, with crop marks and bleeds for printing.

Web related final files
• .PSD
• Images
• Any other file used

Compression Utility
• For Windows: Win zip
• For Mac: Stuff it

Please add a file named “Information.txt” along with each set of final files for logo, stationery and brochure and include the following information:

Colors:
• PANTONE xxx C
• PANTONE xxx C

Or

• Blue: C=100, M=80, Y=0, K=0
• Orange: C=0, M=40, Y=100, K=0

Fonts:
• Imperator Bronze
• Imperator Small Caps

For more information on how to create the correct final files, read this article: http://blog.mycroburst.com/vector-vs-raster-showdown/

A project holder may specify whether or not they would like a bleed to be included or not in their stationery project. If they don’t specify, no bleeds are typically best for project holders. If your design has a bleed, this can be costly for project holders when they have their designs printed. Be sure to design any stationery projects, which include letterhead and envelopes, without a bleed. For more detailed information, click here.

It is common that a concept of the two designs can be similar to a certain extent and it should be probable between entries in the same project. However, if you think that your design has been unfairly copied by another designer, please report it to us at report@mycroburst.com with links to the designs and information about how they are similar.

Not if you don’t want to. Most designers will usually do some alterations or minimal revisions for free, but will charge for involved revisions at a reasonable price. But, this isn’t a requirement — it’s up to you.

They can, but you don’t have to agree. Don’t send any files to the project holder until the project has been won and you have received a finalization alert.

The prize money is paid to Mycroburst before the design project is launched. The prize money for guaranteed projects cannot be withdrawn, and Mycroburst will only refunds non-guaranteed projects if they receive less than 30 entries, which does not happen frequently.

When a project is refunded, your designs and any comments will be hidden from everyone — yourself, other users, and the project holder — and they will not be displayed again until Mycroburst unlocks the project. This is to protect designers from being plagiarized after a project holder has withdrawn the project.

If a winning designer is paid, and a refund is later issued back to the Project Holder, for any reason, MycroBurst reserves the right to either (a) ask the designer to refund the their winnings from that contest, or (b) withhold future awards until the refund amount is paid in full.

Once the source files are submitted and the project holder confirms that the correct files were received, MycroBurst will release your payment. Winning designers will be paid according to the MycroBurst payment schedule.

MycroBurst pays via PayPal.com and Western Union.

If you cannot set up a PayPal account for any reason then you will need to contact MycroBurst Support at support@MycroBurst.com after your first win to set up Western Union payment.

MycroBurst pays via PayPal.com and Western Union:

PayPal.com – Before you participate in a project, please set up a Paypal account. You will be paid through your PayPal ID that was previously set up.
Western Union Wire Transfer – Be sure to submit your information with MycroBurst. Western Union charges an additional 5.5% fee for this payment service. Once MycroBurst issues your payment it will take about 5 to 10 days to receive payment. Anyone using Western Union will be able to choose from a wiretransfer or pick-up from a local Western Union office.

Traditional Western Union (pick-up from your local Western Union) – Western Union will charge an additional fee. The fee will vary depending on your country. Once MycroBurst issues your payment, it will take an additional 3 business days to arrive in your local Western Union office.

MycroBurst.com will pay the project prize to the winning designers on the following schedule:

Projects finalized between the 1st and 15th of the month	Payment sent on the 20th of the month
Project finalized between the 16th and the 30th/31st of the month	Project finalized between the 16th and the 30th/31st of the month Payment sent on the 5th of the next month

"PLEASE NOTE AS PER OUR STANDARD PROCESS AFTER RECEIVING FINAL FILES FROM THE DESIGNER IT TAKES ATLEAST 2-3 BUSINESS DAYS FOR OUR QUALITY CHECK/SOURCE FILES DEPARTMENT TO SEND THE FILES TO THE PROJECT HOLDER.

MOREOVER, AFTER RECEIVING THE FINAL FILES THE CONTEST HOLDER CAN INVOKE ANY DESIGN ISSUES/TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT/OR ANY APPLICABLE DISAGREEMENT WITHIN 48 HOURS.

THE ABOVE PAYMENT SCHEDULE WILL ONLY BE APPLICABLE ONCE THE FINAL FILES ARE SENT TO THE PROJECT HOLDER.”

* The above schedule dates are only applicable to business days