When faced with dozens or even hundreds of entries to your design contest, it can seem a little daunting needing to evaluate them all. Sure, some will be easy to eliminate for all kinds of reasons, but many will be equally interesting or suitable from a business standpoint, and it's on you to determine which are best in class.

Never fear though – while it may be beneficial to have at least a rudimentary understanding of design fundamentals, by no means do you need to be an expert designer to evaluate what good design looks like. If you find yourself unsure on where to start, look at your contest entries and assess them from the following three standpoints.

Visuals

This one's actually not hard at all, because it comes down to just one question: Which design excites you? Even without an expansive design education, people will generally be able to say with certainty when they do or don't like a design. A lot of design theory is actually based on how most people respond (consciously or subconsciously) to certain visual structures, so your gut instinct will often lead you to the highest-quality entry, even if you have no idea what line weights, visual hierarchy and kerning are.

When deciding what excites you be mindful of quality over quantity; just because a design has heaps of intricate detail which took hours to create doesn't mean it is more successful than another option creating a message with just one simple shape.

Think about which design grabs your attention immediately, and which elements you are drawn to – elements such as contrast, great typography, and well-chosen visuals can make or break a design and ensure the right message is conveyed. Your favorite design should immediately grab you, not just after you've stared at it for a while and considered it carefully. Most of your customers won't think twice about these things, so if a design isn't instantly interesting, it will fail you no matter how great the detail of the work.

If you're still unsure, don't hesitate to look up the work of some top-tier design agencies, or even just logos of companies you admire or thrive to be compared to. Seeing what kinds of design elements they choose can often help you figure out which direction you'd like your visuals to go in as well.

Structure

Once you've picked all the designs that make you happy from a visual standpoint, you need to evaluate their structure, or visual hierarchy. Don't worry, this too doesn't have to be as scary as it sounds.

A strong visual hierarchy is merely the function by which information is ordered in the design, and determines where the eye is drawn first. This is important especially in areas like web and app design, where you need to make sure navigation is instinctive, and customers are drawn to where you want them – such as sales or sign-up buttons.

But visual hierarchy is crucial to every single design or illustration, as it dictates the harmony within an image and conveys key information. Look at the example logos above – both designs use strong typography and shapes to create a modern, bold look, so arguably they might both be suitable for a company seeking to represent themselves as such. But the left logo's coloring means emphasis is placed on "old", while size and placement in the right example draw the eye to "vintage". This subtle difference can have a huge impact on how your brand is perceived.

A simple test for effective visual hierarchy is to blow up a design entry on your screen, close your eyes for several seconds and then look at it, taking careful note of the path in which you become aware of the design. What do you see first? What do you completely miss until you have time to focus?

If you still love the overall concept, ask yourself if any hierarchy problems might be solved with better coloring or minor tweaks, but if you consistently get pulled in the wrong direction, choose a different option.

Style

When determining if the style of a design is what you're after, you need to evaluate it against three criteria: its utilization of design trends, its function and context, and the value it adds to your specific brand.

A style that is right on the cutting edge of visual trends is great, but make sure it isn't just one among many. A great designer will know how to take key elements of the latest craze but retain a unique twist to keep things interesting. Avoid visual clichés like the plague. If something is ubiquitous enough to be considered a cliché it will never do what you need it to do most – stand out and draw attention.

The style of your design also influences how well it will do in different contexts. If you're after a design for an Apple Watch app for example, you'll have to pick something that both adheres to Apple's very specific guidelines and works visually on a tiny screen – those highly detailed vectors won't do you any good no matter how pretty they are. The same goes for any other context – if the design can't do what it's supposed to, where it's supposed to, it's not successful.

The final question is around value to your brand. It's one thing to be right on trend and totally functional across all modes of communication. But your design also needs to represent you, and certain style trends may go against a key part of your brand identity.

Look at our example again. The logo on the left is gorgeous, minimalist, well balanced and right on trend. It would probably do well for another interior designer. But this particular client is called "Old Vintage Interior Design", and nothing in the style of the logo says either "old" or "vintage". The second design retains minimalist and modern qualities by doing away with a logomark and focusing purely on strong typography, while the more cursive writing creates a style that also conveys a bit of vintage flair.

Choosing between dozens of great options is never an easy task, but you shouldn't be intimidated by it. Look out for these elements and if you make sure you to choose carefully, you'll be certain to end up with something you love.

Want More?

Getting great design shouldn't be stressful. For more tips to get you exactly what you need, check out these articles:

Tips On How To Choose Between Several Favorite Designs For Your Business

Logo Development: 4 Things To Consider When Creating A Company Logo

Business Color Palettes - How to Create a Color Palette that Reflects Your Business

Written by Divya Abe on Monday, December 28, 2015

Divya Abe is an expert graphic designer ready to share her knowledge with the crowd. Besides spending quality time on the internet she enjoys anything to do with cats. Get in touch via Google+.