What is Freshly Branded?

Rather than going to a traditional design or marketing firm that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, Freshly Branded offers these services at a fraction of the cost (as low as $99) by allowing creative people from all over the world to compete. Held in a contest type format, the creative will submit their work for review to the business, and after the contest has ended will choose the best one. Freshly Branded simply acts as a sort of intermediary to connect the business with the creative and makes sure interaction between the business and the creative goes smoothly.

What are Projects?

Projects are an open call to work on a particular creative need by a business. The Project creator, usually a small business, will provide a brief detailing what they need from the creative community. Typical projects include logo design, slogans, business and product names, etc.

How does a Project work?

The project creators write a brief describing what they want. They choose an award amount and finalize payment which is then held in escrow by Freshly Branded. The project is then posted on our site and creatives from all over the world will submit their concepts. After the project time has ended (typically 2 weeks) the project creator picks a winner. Freshly Branded will then attain the appropriate necessary files from the project winner and transfer the files. Once the files have been delivered the payment is sent from our escrow account to the winning creative, all rights to the winning project are transferred from the creative to the business. How much does it cost to post a project?

The award MINIMUM, or the amount going to the project winner, is set at $50 US. We also have a secondary award minimum of $5 US. We guarantee at least 10 submissions at this price. While we set a minimum we do encourage the project creator to offer a higher award amount. This will ensure both a higher number of submissions to the project as well as a higher quality of submissions.

To offer the service, Freshly Branded takes a flat $39 US fee plus 10% of the awarded amount. We also offer a couple of other services for a flat fee.

It is free for the creative community to submit their concepts to projects.

How do I sign up for an account?

Whether you are a business or creative the signup process is the same. Simply click on the login/register link located in the top right corner of any page. We will ask you a few questions but that's it, the whole process takes less than a minute! If you have problems signing up, please email questions@freshlybranded.com

Can I have more than one account?

We discourage you to do so. It can be confusing to other users as well as the Freshly Branded support team.

How do I change my password?

You can change your password by going to your accounts page and clicking on account settings from the menu on the left. If you have forgotten your password please email us with your username and email at questions@freshlybranded.com

How do I create a project?

First, sign up for an account on Freshly Branded so that you can post a project. Once you have an account you can click on the "Post a Project" link at the top of the site or by clicking on the projects link from the menu in your accounts page. When you post your project, you'll need to provide information about the requirements of your project (the brief), and you'll need to specify how much money you'd like to award as a prize. This award amount is the prize that will go to the winning creative you'll choose at the end of the contest.

How long do contests run for?

By default your contest will run for 14 days. This gives the creative community enough time to work on the project as well as the project creator to provide appropriate feedback if necessary. In many cases the project will get the majority of submissions posted during the last few days.

For projects that need to be completed faster, we do offer the ability to shorten the timeframe to 48 hours for an additional fee.

What is feedback in a contest?

Feedback is crucial to a successful contest; it ensures that all participating creatives get an idea of what you think of their submissions and can make variations if need be. It can also be a tool for the creative to properly explain why they submitted the concept that they did.

What is a brief?

It's a document that specifies exactly what the project creator wants. Creatives rely on the brief to create quality, on-target concepts.

How do I write a good brief?

We have a standard template that will ask you a few questions. The more detail you can provide in the brief the better the results will be.

Can I change the details of my contest at a later date?

You can edit your contest up until the contest has ended. Currently we do not allow you to modify the award

How can I have more than one winner?

Technically you can only have 1 winner however we do offer the ability to set the secondary award amount to encourage creatives to participate in your project. Additionally we have a tip jar to allow you to give to artists you feel deserve extra.

How do I choose the right award amount?

While we do have a minimum award amount, we encourage the award given to be much higher in some cases. The best way is to choose the right amount is to consider what you think would be fair compensation. For some larger or more complex projects, like website mockups, a great deal of time goes into creating these for submission. The smaller the award amount the less time the creative will be willing to put into it.

Another good way is to look at the award offered on other similar projects and the number and quality of submission they get. Also, if the similar project is offering $300 for a logo, it might be a good idea $301 or more. The more you offer the more the creative will be willing to work on your project over another.

How do I pay out the prize money?

Technically, we will handle the payout to the chosen creative. During the process of creating the project we will ask you to pay at that time. We then hold the award in escrow until the project is completed. Freshly Branded will then transfer the funds to the chosen creative via paypal.

What options do I have to pay for my project?

We accept all major credit cards. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

How do I give feedback?

From the project page you can click on the comments button. This will take you to another page. A text box will be provided.

What is a tip jar?

The tip jar is a way for you to give extra money to creatives that have provided you extraordinary service.

Can I end a contest early?

No, since many of the creatives work on your project based on the timeline you originally gave, it would not be fair to them if they have done work but have not yet submitted it to the project. It is also in the best interest to the project creator to wait until the end to see all of the submissions.

However, if there are circumstances that necessitate the need to end a contest early, Contact Us at questions@freshlybranded.com

How do I become a Freshly Branded Creative?

Just register, it's free and takes just seconds.

What are the rules of participating in contests?

Please view the Terms of Service.

What are the payment options available to me for the prize money transfer?

PayPal is the only payment option we currently provide. If you intend to submit an entry to a project please make sure that you have a paypal account set up. If not, you can go to www.paypal.com and set one up, it is free. If for some reason you cannot signup for a paypal account or paypal is not offered in your country, you should not submit to a project at this time.

Do I have to pay to submit to a project?

No, it is always free.

What format should I submit?

Depending on the type of project it may be an image or text. We will ask you to either upload an image or write in a text box (for business names, etc). For images based projects, please upload a png or jpg file. NOTE: This is only for the submission that will appear on the project page. PLEASE refer to the project brief as to the file type needed by the project creator. Many design projects will require original psd or pdf files to be transferred to the business. If you do not follow the file requirements set you may not get paid.

Am I allowed to use stock images?

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. Caution: Freshly Branded staff as well as members of the community look for this. If it is suspected that you are using content that you do not own the rights to you may be banned from Freshly Branded.

What do I do if the contest holder doesn't pay me?

All payments are handled through our escrow service so every new contest is already paid for. We will then post your winnings to your account as soon as the contest holder receives the appropriate files. You can then request payment from your accounts page. Please note that a minimum of $20 US in your account is required for payment.

How do I report a contest?

Please email us at report@freshlybranded.com

How do I report a designer?

Please email us at report@freshlybranded.com

Can the project creator ask me for my files?

It would be wise not to and you should not comply. We have systems in place to ensure that the project creator gets their correct files and that you get paid.

How long do I have to declare a winner?

To be fair to the creative community we set a limit of one week (7 days) to declare a winner for your project. After that, Freshly Branded may assign a winner for you unless you can provide clear reason to postpone judgment.

What is the secondary and top 10 award?