Guys I think you should have some more leniency. I'm not saying what Coinographic did is right, but they seem like a reasonably legitimate company compared to others in the past. Yes, they need to prioritize the money for designers and they seem to have vastly overstretched themselves (there was no need to expand into anything except bitcoin until your stock was sold) but with the negative feedback/red mark on their profile you have effectively made it impossible for them to sell any more.
It's a chicken and egg scenario, yes the designers deserve to be paid, but that is never going to happen when nobody else buys from them. The coins are still getting delivered to buyers or did until they stopped getting ordered two days ago. They are also two fairly distinct issues to the business. As for Coinographic, you should pay what you owe, there was no need to jump on altcoins either & you should keep communication open.
As for the value of the prize, if the prize was offered in Bitcoin, that's how you take it. It has been extremely volatile and nobody knows where it is heading - that is the gamble you took. Forget about any of this "it should be paid in fiat equivalent". Coinographic, this should encourage you to pay while bitcoin is relatively cheap!
The other side of the argument is:
1. They obviously have been hiding the fact that they could not pay out the contest in a timely manner due to their claiming "this week" to certain users that it would be paid and then not paying and claiming they do not have the fund to pay the contest. This is a blatant lie and unacceptable.
2. You are right the contest is to be paid out in physical coins and BTC. The problem with this is that they stated the contest would end by a certain date and obviously most design entrants were expecting to be paid within a few days if a week of the end of the contest. Now almost 2 months later the price of bitcoin has halved. Pick which side of the coin you want but both sides have their point and I acknowledge them both.
3. My negative feedback is going to stay until it has been proven that they did make good on their design contest payouts. If anyone knows me on this forum it is one to call a spade a spade. Did coinographic intend to scam? I don't think so, but did they intend on lying? I can't see how I would otherwise be convinced they did not lie to entrants about payment. Maybe the better word is mislead...then they lied. Leaving the feedback on this forum is not making it impossible for them to sell. They have a website and the rest of the internet to make sales (including ebay).
4. Ultimately I originally thought coinographic was legitimate but after the continued instances of them being unfair and dishonest on the litecoin and bitcoin forums, I have to question their character. They totally botched their initial coin auction for their 25 LTC 2 oz silver coins on litecointalk.org. I won several of the coins and then had my bids invalidated by changing the rules of the auction after the auction ended.
Supposedly this design contest was not handled properly in its execution. Not to mention the blantant lie of claiming "this week" you will be paid to the design contest winners.
Their communication skills are horrible if not non-existent on several matters. Being unresponsive for weeks, allowing your computer to be not backed up with important customer information and claiming that personal issues disallowed you to be able to setup a proper backup is jaw dropping, now having a design contest finish and not paying out what was promised in a timely manner then lying when payment will happen, then coming out and saying "we have cash flow problems".
Perhaps I am being harsh but I hold coinographic to the same standard I hold myself to and that is being honest, upfront, and communicative to members of the community. If they can't integrate themselves into the community in those aspects efficiently, they should not be allowed to have a non negative trust rating as their actions ultimately determined their character.