As I am sure many other designers here will have experienced, you have made an original design, submitted it, and it has been well rated. But everyone else can see that the contest holder likes what you have created, so subsequent entries from other designers begin 'borrowing' generously design elements from your design, sometimes going on to win the contest. This can be very frustrating and a little unfair and is the main problem I find with open contests which do have some benefits, just as much as hidden contests have both benefits and weaknesses.

As a way to solve this I propose 'half blind' contests, which would allow designers to see those designs which are NOT to their liking, and so assisting designers in avoiding falling for the same mistakes, and encourage them to try different approaches. But it will at the same time protect the ideas of designers who have created something the contest holder really likes, thus preventing mimicking of their concepts.