Kleon Open

The platform

Rules & content policy.

Kleon Open is a competition for visual imagination. The rules below shape how the loop runs, what is and isn't welcome on the platform, and what creators can expect.

Core product rules

The shape of the loop.

  1. 01Nothing appears publicly until approved by a curator.
  2. 02Prompt and process sharing are optional.
  3. 03Creators keep ownership unless they explicitly license work.
  4. 04To receive a full ranking, competitors must complete 10 head-to-head judgments.
  5. 05A creator's own work never appears in their judging queue.
  6. 06Posted prizes, when offered, are paid in full.
  7. 07Kleon Open never reduces posted prize money through platform fees.
  8. 08The platform is age-friendly and broadly suitable for a public creative gallery.
  9. 09Shared links should not create direct "vote for me" mechanics.
  10. 10Public judging uses pairwise comparison, not simple likes.

Eligibility & judging

What it takes to be ranked.

  • One submission per creator per challenge.
  • Submissions remain pending until reviewed by a curator.
  • A creator's own work never appears in their judging queue.
  • To receive a full ranking, competitors must complete 10 head-to-head judgments.
  • A submission must have at least 5 comparisons in MVP to be ranked publicly.

Ownership & creator trust

Your work stays yours.

  • Creators retain ownership of their work unless they explicitly choose to license it.
  • Prompt and process sharing are optional, not required.
  • Submitted work is not included in AI dataset licensing by default.
  • When a competition lists a prize, that prize is paid in full. Kleon Open never reduces posted prize money through platform fees.

Content policy

Age-friendly. Public-gallery suitable.

Kleon Open is designed to remain broadly age-friendly and suitable for a public creative gallery. Submissions may be rejected, removed, or marked ineligible if they include any of the following.

  • Explicit sexual content
  • Nudity
  • Graphic gore
  • Hateful imagery
  • Harassment of any individual or group
  • Private information about another person
  • Unauthorized celebrity likenesses
  • Unauthorized copyrighted characters or logos
  • Stolen or misattributed work
  • Content otherwise inappropriate for a public creative competition

A note on judging

Why pairwise, not likes.

Likes reward visibility. Pairwise comparison rewards judgement. Two pieces side by side, asked the same question: which better answers the brief? It is slower, less casual, and a much fairer measurement of work that is meant to be looked at carefully.

Shared links on Kleon Open point to portfolios and gallery entries — not to ballots. There is no “vote for me” mechanic to forward to friends.