With no doubt i’m one of the best web designers from my school, so the vice principal came to me and asked me if i want to go to a web design contest to represent the school. She stated:“i know that you do designing just for money…”

I’m like… umm…sure, as long as its fun and i get the credit why not?

She printed the info about the contest, and when i read all of it i was stunned to realize that the web page represents only 30% of the number of points, the other 70% being represented by a on-sight exam thingy which has absolutely nothing to do with web designing.

I simply and calmly said HELL NO, send that guy from year 2. It’s not enough that i loose a day working my ass off on the web page, i also have to go there and take an exam which consists in working with MS access, MS word, MS excel and MS powerpoint. What the hell does the office suite has to do with web designing?

In my opinion the website should have represented 70% of the points and 30% should have been represented by on-sight designing(to make sure the guy actually made the design he presented earlier)

Here’s some info about the web page:

Create a web page that should present how todays teens spend their spare time, their relationship with the school and friends, how teenagers solve their problems.

Me: okay…now really, what do they want from the contestants? To design or to write some mumbo-jumbo about teenagers?

There isn’t no size limit, but the web page should load fast on a slower internet connection also

The contestants can use any type of scripting and tools – multimedia/flash/javascript

When naming the files and folders please note that the testing will be made on different operation systems and at some there’s a difference between small and big characters.

Me: this almost sounds like they are searching for retarded people to join the contest, lol. If i would have joined it i would have coded the page using python just to give them head aches, ain’t i a bitch?

Crediting system(how you earn points):

- clean look on different screen resolutions and browsers
- XHTML valid coding
- creative ideas
- user friendly design, eased accessibility
- well structured menu
- SEO friendly coding
- usability(usage of relative linking, so the pages can be easily accessed from any computer)

Me: this is stupid, no one actually remembers a page’s full name on first sight.

– modular structure so it can be further developed with ease

Me: what if the contestant makes the page using basic html coding?

– fast load time, small images
- it should contain true information, and to follow positive facts

Me: see what i told you? what the heck does the content have to do with web design?

One thing is for sure: those who decided to make the competitions have no idea how to run a web design contest and what to implement in it, and how to set appropriate requirements. This is a type of contest you should never join, because most probably the judges will expect sky high performances, thinking that a web designer is also a coder and a content writer.

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