@talktalkkorea Question to transparency of selecting the winners
Dear TalkTalkKorea Contest Team,
First of all, I would like to thank you and all participants for your hard work and creativity in this year’s contest. It has been inspiring to see so many beautiful entries and ideas from around the world.
However, I noticed that some designs appeared quite similar to existing works. I reached out earlier, and I truly appreciate your kind response assuring me that my concerns would be reviewed seriously during the voting process.
That said, I still observed a few entries that seemed to overlap with some published works, for instance, a design that is too close to a Japanese Mini Hanbok artist (Onseamiro Madang on Facebook) with even the red stamp on the model, and a 3D model of Jumong that closely resembles material available online (free 3D printing models).
Additionally, I noticed that some submissions appeared to exceed the stated video length limit or were categorized in sections that may not fully match their content. I mention this only out of respect for fairness and the contest’s guidelines, as most participants invested significant time and effort to create original work from scratch. I also noticed some inconsistency during the voting process. While certain entries were displayed only as static images, for others it showed their “making-of” videos. This created an imbalance, as videos naturally attract more attention and allow voters to better understand the creative effort behind the work. Some participants even mentioned online that they struggled to gather votes, despite having submitted proper “making-of” videos under the five-minute guideline. To ensure fairness, it would be ideal if all entries were presented in the same format and under equal conditions during the voting phase.
I would like to suggest, if possible, that future contests include a clearer validation or feedback phase, where entries can be checked for originality and eligibility, perhaps even with an open comment period for participants to respectfully raise potential issues. Such transparency could help strengthen trust in the judging process and uphold the contest’s creative integrity. Imagine, in other contests and competitions, the guidelines are strict and people get disqualified by not meeting them to give everyone the same chance and fairness.
Please understand that my intention is not to criticize individual participants or the organizing team, but to seek clarification and share constructive feedback. I have deep respect for everyone who took part, and I sincerely appreciate the time, effort, and passion your team dedicates to making TalkTalkKorea such a meaningful cultural event each year.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my message. I truly hope this feedback can help enhance future contests.
Wow, that’s quite impressive detective work for someone who joined the community just two days ago!
I completely agree and fully supporting this movement, fairness and transparency are important, though once again, it’s interesting to see how these discussions always focus on others and never mention the first-place winner. I’d be happy to help gather those if transparency is truly the goal. But, I am not sure what is your point with this: "That said, I still observed a few entries that seemed to overlap with some published works"... "and a 3D model of Jumong that closely resembles material available online (free 3D printing models)"
I am assuming you are saying that is not allowed to apply with a digital 3d model? Let me clarify it again, my entry isn’t a 3D digital model, it’s a physical, handcrafted diorama. The Jumong figure was just one part, I legally bought the stl (it was not free, but irrelevant...), supported and sliced by me, printed it on my own printer (that I configured) from resin that I also bought, cleaned it, sanded it and painted it... and designed, painted, and built the entire scene by hand.
But again, everything is shown in my making-of video, I didn't pretend that I made the digital model... I have nothing to hide, and I’m always open to any fair review, I just hope everyone is held to the same standard.
And I’m always happy to answer questions. If something isn’t clear, I can save everyone the trouble of “investigations”...
I even have 50+ hours of extra footage for anyone genuinely curious. I have no issue being disqualified if my work doesn’t meet the rules, as long as the same standard applies to everyone.
It’s just a bit curious that someone joins the community and immediately posts about “fairness", yet overlooks the same missing points that others did. The pattern feels more than just a coincidence at this point.