For one thing, children and teenagers require 9 to 10 sleeping hours each night. This is in comparison to the recommended seven to eight hours required by fully grown adults. Younger people have to wake up very early to get ready for school, usually around 6:00 AM. To get enough shut-eye, they would have to be asleep by 9:00pm at the latest. For anyone who has kids (including teens) or remembers being a kid, this is almost out of the question.

The second reason that young people absolutely must get enough nocturnal rest has to do with brain functions. Their young minds are constantly at work, processing new information, absorbing the many complexities of this world, and forming thoughts and questions. Their brains cannot perform these functions without enough dream-time. They simply won’t learn as quickly or as deeply as they would with enough REM brain activity.

Studies have shown that a large majority of teens and children do not get enough deep rest. There are so many digital, online, cell-phone based distractions that rest must compete with. Parents are finding it harder than ever to convince kids the wonderful benefits (and downright necessity) of proper sleeping habits.

One study performed by leading doctors in the field of cognitive learning showed startling results. These researchers and doctors set up an experiment involving a combination of third graders and fifth graders. They were each given instructions of when they were to be asleep.

Some children were instructed to go to bed earlier and some were told to stay up later for three nights in a row. To ensure the children followed instructions, they wore a watch-like device when they went to bed. This gadget measures sleeping activity in the wearer.

The children who went to bed early, did so by half an hour or so. The group that stayed up later, did so by also by a half hour. Worried that a half hour on either side of the clock would not make a huge difference, the doctors assumed the study would not prove anything. They were very wrong, much to their delight.

After the final night of slightly less sleep-time for the second group, researchers studied the children at school. The research showed that the children who got a half hour less sleep-time for three nights in a row performed like a child two years younger. In those three nights, with a total of an hour and a half loss of shut-eye, the children lost two years in cognitive maturity and capabilities. Thus showing profoundly the importance of sleep for learning.

Parents sometimes need someone to help their child with a subject that seems difficult for them to learn. They can find these tutors through the local schools, newspaper advertisements, online websites like TutorTree and other parents. Hiring someone who is recommended through a school is a wonderful way to be assured you are getting quality teaching.

Many tutors today have websites that can be scanned for information. These websites provide hourly rates, experience, project rates, qualifications and references for students and parents. The higher quality the website, the more confident a parent can be in the services of the teacher. Tutors must be able to work with the Internet and computers to a high extent.

There are small schools that offer tutoring services for students who are close to failing in their regular schooling. These classrooms work something like evening college for adults. The students are able to attend small classrooms or private sessions where they will be tutored in the subject or subjects they are having trouble with. They can attend classes during the evening or even on the weekend if it suits their needs.

Parents have the availability of the Internet at their disposal for some free tutoring of a child in need. There are homework websites that teachers encourage students to use, no matter what their grade or capability. Since most students today must use the Internet for some of their classes and use computers in nearly every class, it is vital that they know how to use these tools to do research, learn and pass their classes.

Some schools, from elementary grades all the way up through graduate school, offer tutoring services to the students on a student-helping-student basis. Very often, professors, instructors and teachers realize that someone in their class has an affinity for what they are teaching. They will often ask the student if they are willing to use their talent and skill to help others in the classroom.

Students must keep in mind that if they are being tutored by a peer, they must take into account the fact that it is another student who might make mistakes. Their ability to work the subject well may or may not reflect in their ability to teach it to someone else. If a student does not seem to be learning well from a particular tutor, instructor or classroom, moving them to a different atmosphere might also help.

Remember one important tip to understanding how to find a tutor. You must hire someone that you respect and trust to give you the truth and the correct and accurate facts on the subject. If you are unable to respect the teacher or tutor, you will not be able to trust that what they are telling you is correct. You do not want to be second-guessing all of your decisions because you were not tutored in the subject well enough

One of my tips for running a design contest on 99Designs was to find and invite designers that you like to your contest.  That being said, there is not a simple way to just browse designers and their portfolios.  It would be helpful for them to list all of the designers and be able to filter by the type of designs in their portfolio (web design, logo design, etc.),  how many contests they have won, etc.  However, their is not such a tool.

There are a few ways to find designers for your contest:

• From the logo designs contest page look at the “recent winning designers” box in the bottom right sidebar.  You can then click on the designers to view their profile and portfolios.
• Search through the 99Designs blog.  Once a month they list the top 10 designers.  They also spotlight various designers from time to time.  Pick one and view their profile and portfolios.

Once you have found a designer that you like you can invite them to your contest by viewing their profile and clicking on the “invite to contest” link next to their name.

Since I spent a lot of time trying to find the top 99Designs logo designer I thought that I would share my list with you.  Not everyone on this list participated in my contest although I invited them all.  Some designers have a contest minimum dollar threshold that I did not meet with my design contest.

Top 10 99Designs Logo Designers

• ulahts
• keegan
• jonathan frost
• rotred
• ::scott::
• shewa
• gunita
• caryng
• Luna_
• scottrogers80

And a bonus few more top 10 99designs logo designers

• fiqi
• directgraphx
• lukefoss*
• zalya
• foalart
• noble1
• danag.
• bluehat
• customlogographic
• samovilka
• logopride

Well I guess I should have called this post the top 21 99 designs logo designers.  I didn’t realize how many good logo designers that I had found while getting the TutorTree logo designed.

I was looking for  a specific type of logo look when I found these designers so they may not be exactly what you are looking for.  I hope that they offer a good start for your next 99Designs logo design contest.

One of the items we needed before launching TutorTree, was a new logo.  This logo would help drive the overall site branding experience, so we needed to get it designed well and also early in the process since so much of the branding was dependant on it.

My core skills center around technology and marketing and although I cannot design worth salt, I am very good a knowing how something should be designed and look.  I have project managed multiple outsourced  logo and site design projects before, but these were all with specific design shops and/or designers.  This would be my first experiment using 99designs.

Having been a technology consultant and working closely with designers, I was torn by the spec work type model that 99designs uses.  (Some designers think it is pure heresy).  For those unfamiliar with the concept: Basically  you submit a contest and multiple designers submit designs for you to review.  Only the designer that submits the winning design (chosen by you) will get paid.  And if you do not guarantee your contest, it is possible that no designer will get paid if you do not choose a winner.

Since TutorTree is working from a very strict budget I really did not have many options to get a nice logo designed, which is why we I went ahead with using 99designs.

My specific 99Designs Logo Design Experience:

Here are my high level pros, cons and tips for using 99designs to design your logo:

Pros

• Inexpensive (relatively)
• Large design variety
• Easy to use system
• Only pay if your are happy with the final product
• Quick (You can have you logo in 7-10 days)
• Their polling system is helping to solicit feedback

Cons

• Only communication to designers is via email
• Sometimes communications can get, “lost in translation.”
• You can get a huge amount of designs back.  Going over each one can make your head spin.
• Once the contest ends you cannot have the designer make changes
• It promotes spec work

Tips

• I would create a custom prize package and set a price that you feel comfortable paying
• The higher your prize, the more designs you will get
• Invite designers to your contest.  Look through the 99designs blog for featured designers.  Also look at recent winning contests to find specific designers that you like.  (this one is a must).
• Respond and give feedback as soon as possible.  This is the only way the designers can works towards designing the best logo for you.
• Remember that 99Designs takes a cut of all the money.  The amount you are offering is not what the designer actually gets so set your prize $$ accordingly.
• Make your design a “blind design.”  More designers tend to submit designs if they know another designer will not copy their idea.

Here is the official new logo (drum roll please……)

We wanted a logo that incorporated a tree due to our name.  We also wanted it to show growth and overall have a positive vibe.

The colors are muted but provide nice contrast.  I like the way the figure in the tree is reaching toward the sky and soaring towards their true potential.

And here was the one of the  runners-up:

Thank you for reading.  I hope my 99Designs Logo Design Experience will help you with your design.

Please check back soon for the official TutorTree launch!