I don't know which of all the icontests you take part in you're talking about, but I've realized people's tastes in icons are nothing like mine. I'm not talking about winning, because I'm not that great and right now I don't even have Photoshop, but the icons I vote for at clamp_icontest and ccs_awards rarely win. I guess I just go for a simple look, and people apparently like their icons crowded/moving/unreadable/all of the above. *shrugs*