Of course there is talent!
I checked this out earlier. My problem is that I'm guilty of breaking my own personal rule of not participating in art/design contests in this forum already. I rationalized it because I'm just really excited about BTC and want to involve myself in the community as much as possible. But I'm closing in on not working spec anymore and even plan on writing a post in the service discussion forum about a better way to crowdsource. This is a spec competition that isn't even hosted on the forum, has very vague directions, and isn't clear about end dates. Way too risky to spend time on it even if I was totally ok with doing spec work. It could be a really awesome project to work on! I just don't have enough info about it to even consider it.
I think this community would benefit greatly by ditching the competition model and moving to a portfolio review/ split prize model.
Example: Instead of offering 2.0 for the "winning submission" offer .5 but require that people send portfolios and then choose 3 people to do the job. You pay all three for their work. Then, when you choose one you like the best, you can ask the 'winning designer' to edit their design 2-3 more times for an additional .5.
You essentially pay the same thing (2 BTC), but you have a less risky result, you've benefited more designers/artists, and you have an opportunity to work with one designer/artist in depth and have a possible future partnership. You also have worked with the creative community in good faith, and keep the other contacts in case you have a job that requires a style more suited to one of the other guys. It's less risky for the designer, so they will spend more time on their work. Results will improve, and designers can actually collaborate more easily without feeling like they are engaging in cutthroat competition.
