Overview
The Cover Design Contest Platform is a full-stack application built to streamline the submission, management, and judging of art contests. Designed with flexibility in mind, the system handles different contest types (cover designs and bookmarks) across multiple age categories, providing both an intuitive administrative interface and a seamless judging experience.
Challenge
Managing art contests traditionally involves manual handling of physical submissions and paper-based scoring systems that are:
- Time-consuming to process and organize
- Difficult to track and manage consistently
- Prone to scoring inconsistencies across multiple judges
- Challenging to organize by age categories and contest types
The client needed a solution to digitize this process while maintaining the integrity of judging and providing accurate management of all submissions.
Process & Design
Research & Planning
I began by mapping the existing workflow and identifying key stakeholders:
- Contest administrators who manage submissions
- Judges who score the entries
- Participants whose work is being evaluated
After analyzing these needs, I developed a database schema that would provide the necessary structure while remaining flexible enough to accommodate different contest types.
Database Design
I designed a relational database with PostgreSQL (via Supabase) that includes:
- Contests table for tracking different types of competitions
- Age categories to organize participants appropriately
- Entries table that captures participant information and submission images
- Judges table integrated with authentication system
- Scores table with appropriate criteria metrics
The database includes proper security measures with row-level security policies to ensure judges and administrators have appropriate access levels.
User Interface Design
I created two distinct interfaces:
- Admin Interface: Focused on efficient entry management and judge coordination, with intuitive forms for adding new entries and tracking judge participation.
- Judge Interface: Designed for distraction-free evaluation with intuitive scoring controls, image zoom capabilities, and keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation between entries.
Technical Implementation
Technology Stack
- Frontend: React with Tailwind CSS for responsive, modern interfaces
- Backend: Supabase for PostgreSQL database, authentication, and storage
- Components: Custom UI components with shadcn/ui for consistency
- Security: Row-level security policies for data protection
Key Features
- Multi-contest Support: Platform handles both cover and bookmark contests
- Age Category Management: Entries organized by participant age groups
- Image Handling: Front and back image upload with zoom functionality
- Judge Management: Invitation system and judge activity tracking
- Standardized Scoring: Consistent evaluation across creativity, execution, and impact
- Keyboard Navigation: Efficient entry navigation for judges
- Responsive Design: Works across desktop and tablet devices
Interface Showcase
Challenges & Solutions
Image Handling
Challenge: Handling high-resolution artwork images efficiently while providing zoom functionality.
Solution: Implemented progressive loading with state management for smooth transitions between images. Added zoom controls with keyboard shortcuts for intuitive navigation.
Fair Judging Process
Challenge: Ensuring consistent scoring across multiple judges and preventing bias.
Solution: Designed a standardized scoring system with clear criteria (creativity, execution, impact) on a 0-10 scale. Implemented database constraints to prevent duplicate scoring from the same judge.
Security & Access Control
Challenge: Maintaining appropriate access levels between administrators and judges.
Solution: Implemented granular row-level security policies in Supabase to ensure judges could only submit their own scores while viewing all entries, and administrators had full control over contest management.
Results & Impact
The Cover Design Contest Platform successfully transformed a manual process into an efficient digital workflow:
- Time Efficiency: Reduced contest administration time by approximately 70%
- Improved Organization: Eliminated issues with misplaced or misclassified entries
- Enhanced Judging Experience: Judges reported higher satisfaction with the process
- Scalability: System easily adapted to accommodate multiple contest types
- Data Insights: Provided valuable analytics on scoring patterns and participation
Conclusion
The Cover Design Contest Platform demonstrates how thoughtful database design and intuitive user interfaces can transform a traditionally manual process into an efficient digital experience. The system successfully balances the needs of administrators and judges while maintaining the integrity of the contest evaluation process.
By leveraging modern technologies like React, Tailwind CSS, and Supabase, the platform provides a scalable solution that can evolve to meet future contest requirements while delivering immediate value through improved efficiency and organization.
Back to Projects Link to Github Repo