Designers' are required to submit 100% original artwork in logo, illustration and icon design contests. Clipart, stock imagery or, in the case of logo contests, licensed fonts are not allowed in those design contest categories.
We've outlined the steps below for you to ensure a design from one of those contest categories is 100% original:
• First, ask the designer. Designers must declare any non-original work used, or risk account suspension.
• You can also try a reverse image search engine such as TinEye. This will look for similar images on the web.
• Uploading an image of the design to Google’s image search will also search the web for other images that are similar.
• If your search shows something that is too similar to the design you want, communicate this concern to the designer you're working with.
If your design contest falls into one of the design categories not listed in bold above that means stock imagery is allowed and the designer should declare stock has been used. Check out "What is stock imagery?" to learn more about how stock imagery is used and can be purchased.