Kumoricon
Convention Events and Programming => Fan Creations => Fan Art => Topic started by: JeffT on May 17, 2007, 11:37:55 pm
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Update: The staff voting has completed and all the winners have been announced. Thank you to all who entered. The galleries are online for viewing.
Announcing the launch of three contests: The mascot 2008 contest, the program book cover 2007 contest, and the pocket programming book cover 2007 contest!
Artists, here's your chance to make your work a part of Kumoricon. The winner of the mascot contest will receive a free Artist Alley booth at Kumoricon 2008!
The mascot will be prominently used in Kumoricon art and publicity material for the 2008 convention year, including but not limited to the web site, promotional flyers and posters, advertisements, merchandise, and badges/membership cards. It should be an immediately attractive, original, anime-style character or characters reflecting the "cloudy" theme of Kumoricon, typically with an umbrella. We need two versions: one adult or teen, and one chibi.
The cover of the 2007 convention program book introduces attendees to the convention upon arrival; every attendee receives one. It is full color and letter size. Fully detailed, colorful backgrounds and foregrounds work best.
The cover of the 2007 pocket programming guide is a smaller, simpler design. It is grayscale, possibly with lower resolution than the main convention book. Lightly detailed and shaded or all-white backgrounds, with strong, contrasting shades, lines, and geometric patterns work best.
Rules and instructions for all contests:
- Entries must be received by Sunday, July 15, 2007, 11:59:59 PM, Pacific Daylight Time. [date extended by one day to allow entries to be turned in at meeting]
- Entries must be emailed to publicity@kumoricon.org, with the files included as attachments. If the files are too big to attach, you can use YouSendIt (http://www.yousendit.com/), or ask at publicity@kumoricon.org to arrange alternate delivery.
- Entries must be accompanied by
1. The full name of the entrant or entrants.
2. The name or nickname, if different, to display as the credit for the entry in the gallery, once voting is closed.
3. Entries must be sent from a working email address at which we can contact you.
- Entries should in some way represent themes of Kumoricon, such as the "cloudy" theme, ("kumori" means "cloudy"), the location, color schemes (blue is a prominent Kumoricon color), or other unique aspects of Kumoricon. Umbrellas are a tradition in the Kumoricon mascot and art.
- Winning entries become the property of Kumoricon. Therefore, by entering the contest, entrants commit to the possibility of their entries becoming the property of Kumoricon. If, after winning, the entrant is requested to or makes alternate or modified versions, or Kumoricon creates alternate versions, these are also the property of Kumoricon.
- Entrants give indefinite permission for Kumoricon to display all entries in contest galleries, and to use selected entries as ancillary art in program material for the 2007 and 2008 conventions, including those entries which do not win.
- Entries must be original work, and solely the work of the entrant or entrants. Entrants must be authorized and able to assign ownership of the entry to Kumoricon, and to grant Kumoricon permission for the described uses, per the above rules describing such.
- Up to two people may contribute jointly to an entry but both people must be identified in the submission.
- Entries may not have been previously used for publicity purposes by any organization. (It is acceptable, however, if the entry was previously or is currently displayed in a gallery; for example, a portfolio of that artist's work.)
- Entrants must not talk about or link to their entries, or discussion about their entries, or any entries in the contest, on the Kumoricon forums, private messages, mailing lists, or other Kumoricon communication systems, until we have announced that a winner has been determined. (Non-entrants are also obliged to obey this rule, as a rule of the forums.) This is to help ensure fairness in the voting.
- Content and theme: Entries must be appropriate for all ages. Content, design, and themes of the entries must be appropriate and suitable for their intended uses.
- Entries displayed for voting in the contest must be anonymous, and not have identifying marks. All displayed entries will be credited to their entrants after the close of voting. Entrants, if they wish, may submit a second version containing a signature or marks which will be used for future display in contest galleries.
- An entrant may enter more than once, but each design must be completely unique from others by the same entrant. (That is, if two different people had produced them, neither could be said to be copying from the other.)
- An entrant may send an updated version of an entry prior to the due date for entries, replacing the prior entry.
Rules and instructions for the mascot contest:
- Each entry must contain an adult or teen mascot and chibi mascot of the same character and style. Both must be received prior to the due date for entries.
- Although typically the mascot is one person or character, it is allowed to be two characters or more, or to feature sidekicks. We recommend only doing this if the characters are shown interacting in an interesting or unique way (as opposed to just showing two characters side-by-side). In this case, all characters should be drawn in both adult and chibi form.
- Entries should be as high a resolution as possible. Dimensions can be in the thousands of pixels. Target at least 300dpi at typical sizes (the mascot filling most of a printed 8.5" by 11" page). We will downscale as necessary, but if the resolution is too low, there's nothing we can do.
- For best results, send your entry in a non-lossy-compressed format, such as PNG, PSD, or AI. If you use JPEG, use as high quality as possible, and we may request an original version if you win the contest. We will allow any entry in a file type that we can open (we have access to a wide range of software), and which looks acceptable, but if we can't open a file, then we can't use the entry.
- Entries can be either RGB or CMYK color space. We will be displaying them both on-screen and in print. RGB works better for blues. If you use CMYK, please be sure to use the "U.S. Sheetfed Coated V2" profile, which will likely be used by our printer. If you aren't sure, use RGB.
- For best results, entries should be against a transparent background. We will use any entry that we can fix, but it will look the best if you prepare it how you would like it.
- Partial transparency is allowed, if it enhances the art. It will be kept in places where the technology allows (for example, in the web site design). If you use this, be sure to submit in a format that supports it.
Rules and instructions for the convention book cover contest:
- Entries must be at an aspect ratio of 8.5" width by 11" height. Entries must be at least 300dpi. Entries in a different aspect ratio will be cropped or stretched as needed. Entries in a severely wrong ratio may be disqualified, at our discretion.
- Entries should be full color. Entries can be either RGB or CMYK color space, but it is intended primarily for printing. If you use CMYK, please be sure to use the "U.S. Sheetfed Coated V2" profile, which will likely be used by our printer.
- If text is used, it should be on a separate layer, and non-rasterized (unless the letters are drawn) so we can change it if necessary. You can submit a flattened copy to enter the contest, but you should be able to supply the source layers if you win, and if it is needed.
- Entrants may enter the same or similar design for the convention book cover contest and the pocket programming guide contest, but entrants are responsible for modifying the design to be most appropriate at the different aspect ratios required for each book cover, and Kumoricon Executive Staff may, at its option, select only one to use, in its discretion, in the interest of ensuring that each contest has the most appropriate entries. Keep in mind that the best entries for each book will be different in style. In the event that Kumoricon allows both to be voted on, and both win, Kumoricon may, at its option, select the second-place winner in the voting for one of the book covers, in its discretion.
Rules and instructions for the pocket programming guide cover contest:
- Entries must be at an aspect ratio of about 16:10. This is a landscape orientation. (The exact paper configuration of the pocket guide has not been determined yet, but we are considering at least three size possibilities that are within 6% of this ratio.) Entries must be at least 300dpi given a resolution of 8.5" by 5.5". (We may use a smaller paper size but the ratio will be about the same.) Entries in a different aspect ratio will be cropped or stretched as needed. Entries in a severely wrong ratio may be disqualified, at our discretion.
- Entries must not be color. Full grayscale is allowed.
- The rule for text on a separate layer in the convention book cover contest also applies to the pocket guide contest (see above).
- The rule for entering the same or similar design for both cover contests applies (see above).
Rules for the administration of the contest:
- We will confirm to entrants that their entries have been received. We will send confirmations as we receive entries. Entrants are responsible for entering soon enough so that if there is a problem with the entry, it can be re-sent by the due date for entries. We reserve the right to accept late entries in individual cases if there is a problem due to our error, but entrants are ultimately responsible for ensuring that their entries are received in time.
- Voting is open to staff who have officially registered (submitted signed form and paid dues) by the start of voting. Staff registering after this point may still vote if we enter their data before the close of voting.
- Voting will be done online. Voting will be performed using the Schulze method, which is a type of Condorcet method. In this method, voters rank their choices in order rather than selecting just one. There are many systems of ranked voting which compute the winner differently. The method used here, the Schulze method, has been selected because among all known ranked voting systems, it most encourages voters to rank their choices in their true order of preference, rather than using "strategic voting". For example, if voters were to only select one choice, then voters would be discouraged from picking their true favorite if they didn't perceive it to be popular, because it would be "wasting" a vote. However, with the Schulze method, it is in each voter's best interest to list their true entire preference order. Ultimately, this system makes it most likely that the true preference of the voters, as a group, is selected as the winner. Voters don't need to rank every candidate on their ballots, but it is in their best interest to do so. (Voting for just one does not increase the weight or "strength" of that vote.) You can learn more about Schulze voting here: http://wiki.electorama.com/wiki/Schulze_method (http://wiki.electorama.com/wiki/Schulze_method).
- The start and end dates of voting will be announced closer to the end of the contest, or after the end of the contest. The start date will be set to be as soon as possible after the end of the contest, with the end date roughly one week after.
- The mascot contest winner will be announced at the Closing Ceremonies of Kumoricon 2007.
- The cover contest winners will each be announced between the close of voting and the time at which each of those publications becomes available.
- Entries which do not meet the criteria in the rules may be disqualified, and entrants not participating in the contest according to the rules may have their entries disqualified. If this is discovered after a winner is announced, the award may be revoked.
- Kumoricon reserves the right to pre-screen entries before voting begins. This helps the voting process if there are large numbers of entries.
- If an insufficient number of entries is received, an unsuitable entry is chosen in the voting, or if, for any reason, the voting cannot be completed, for reasons including, but not limited to, technical problems with the voting, loss or corruption of ballot data, or insufficient number of votes received, then Kumoricon Executive Staff reserves the right to extend the due date for entries, change the start or end dates of voting, annul the voting, run a new election, or choose an entry as the winner, at its option. If, for any reason, the selected winner is not the winner determined by the voting, Kumoricon will release a statement identifying such fact.
- Kumoricon reserves the right to add or modify rules, or make special allowances or changes to the contest, at its discretion, to resolve any unforeseen circumstances or problems which may arise, in the interest of ensuring fairness and seeing that the contest is completed according to the intent and spirit of the rules.
Mascot contest prize:
- The winner of the mascot contest will receive a free Artist Alley table for Kumoricon 2008. Please note, that this is the year after the up-and-coming convention. It is the year for the convention for which your mascot will be used. It is for the year after because the winner is only announced at the 2007 convention. (This prize applies only to the mascot contest; not the cover contests.)
Galleries of past contest entries are now online (http://www.kumoricon.org/?page_id=17), for browsing and inspiration.
Good luck!
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The contest due date has been extended by one day to Sunday, July 15, 2007, 11:59:59 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.
This is so that entries can be turned in at the July 15 general meeting.
As noted at the last meeting, I don't plan on extending the due date near the deadline, out of fairness to the entrants. (This cannot be absolute; for example, we could always extend it if we get few too entries.) But we won't just extend it on a whim as the deadline approaches. :) The deadline was chosen to allow enough time for voting and then for printing, plus a safety margin.
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Reminder: These contests all end in just over a week. We've had a small number of entries so far so I highly encourage people to enter. We're not going to extend the contest deadline unless there's a very justifiable reason to do so (we're already on a tight schedule to get everything into the printed books), so it's important that everyone get their entries in on time.
Thank you!
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As of now, I've sent confirmations to all entries that I've received. If you've submitted an entry and haven't heard back, then it was lost in transit, or I missed it, and you need to get in touch with me!
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The contests are now closed for entries. Thank you to all who entered. Staff voting will begin within a few days. Details will be posted.
I have individually replied to each entry, confirming its receipt. If you have entered but not received a confirmation, please contact me immediately.
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Mmm.. Just wondering if there will be an announcment on the front page when general votings open.
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In the rules I think and in the Q&A thread it was said that only staff members would be voting, but I'd certainly also like to see everyone's entries! ^ - ^~
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i think they put them in the book somewhere ... or from what saw from flipping through a copy of last years book :D
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In the rules I think and in the Q&A thread it was said that only staff members would be voting, but I'd certainly also like to see everyone's entries! ^ - ^~
Oh wow really. Thats different then every other year. Might actually be more fair that way. I wanna see all the other entries too!!! :D Yeah I think they'll be in the book. I always look through mine and definetly my con-schedule the night before when I get up there.
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Staff voting is now open! If you are staff, you can vote by logging in to your staff account on the web site. A reminder is also being emailed to the staff mailing list.
Voting closes at Thursday, August 2, 11:59:59 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.
Once staff voting is complete, the entries will be posted publicly in a gallery.
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Ohhh I can't wait to see everyone else's work!
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Oh god! I'm so nervous! o_o;;;;;;;;
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I must agree with the two before me ::{nervousness}::
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hah, now I can stop obsessively checking the boards for information! ^ - ^;;;;;
atleast until the 2nd.
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hey i have a question. i was browsing deviantart doing a search for "kumoricon" and i found a bunch of people's posted contest entries. do the rules not state that entrants are not allowed to post their entries before they have been voted on? wouldn't that disqualify a bunch of people? here is a quote from the post with the rules, which, if the rules were changed, should have been changed to reflect what was told to one individual.
Entrants must not talk about or link to their entries, or discussion about their entries, or any entries in the contest, on the Kumoricon forums, private messages, mailing lists, or other Kumoricon communication systems, until we have announced that a winner has been determined. (Non-entrants are also obliged to obey this rule, as a rule of the forums.) This is to help ensure fairness in the voting.
and another question, one that's more important. one of the entrants is from the east coast and, according to her blog on da, says she will not even be able to attend kumoricon. is this even allowed? in my opinion it is against the spirit of a convention to accept a mascot from someone who is not even going to the effort to come to the convention. it would also be sort of silly to have an empty table just sitting there with a sign or something saying "sorry lol".
thank you for your time.
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hey i have a question. i was browsing deviantart doing a search for "kumoricon" and i found a bunch of people's posted contest entries. do the rules not state that entrants are not allowed to post their entries before they have been voted on? wouldn't that disqualify a bunch of people?
and another question, one that's more important. one of the entrants is from the east coast and, according to her blog on da, says she will not even be able to attend kumoricon. is this even allowed? in my opinion it is against the spirit of a convention to accept a mascot from someone who is not even going to the effort to come to the convention.
thank you for your time.
Neither are violations of the rules.
You cannot link to, or discuss, the entries on Kumoricon forums, but it is ok for them to have been published previously. They cannot have been used previously for publicity purposes by another organization (among other things, it can't have been another con's mascot), but simply publishing it is ok. The reason for structuring the rules like this is so that people can enter mascots they have already drawn (or partially drawn), and so that having them entered, and have lost, in another con's contest would not automatically disqualify it to be entered for Kumoricon's contest. Of course, entries that portray our theme have a better chance of winning, but it's generic enough you could modify something you've already drawn to match it to our theme. Another consideration is that it would be very difficult to enforce the rules if we didn't allow prior publishing. Would showing it to your friends be not allowed? We can't possibly search the Internet to check for every entry which might have been placed online somewhere.
We did not disallow non-attendees to enter, for the simple reason that the contests are run before the con. We can't track people down and make sure they attend, after entering and the contests have ended. I realize there could arise a situation where the contest is flooded with people outside of our "community", but this hasn't been a problem and until it is, I'd rather afford people the leniency in either being interested in our small con even if they are not attending, or planning on attending, but for unforeseen circumstances, be unable to. Keep in mind that we do have a handful of nationwide fans and it'd be a great thing if Kumoricon came to be known as a destination for those who travel far to go to cons.
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Hunh, so does that mean it's okay ONLY if they have been uploaded prior to the contest....? Like, what if someone uploads theirs to their deviantart site right now, and is like "HAI! This is my Kumoricon 2008 entry!!!!!!!" Does that go against the rules?
(Personally, I'm suddenly kinda glad I never got around to getting a DA site.)
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Hunh, so does that mean it's okay ONLY if they have been uploaded prior to the contest....? Like, what if someone uploads theirs to their deviantart site right now, and is like "HAI! This is my Kumoricon 2008 entry!!!!!!!" Does that go against the rules?
If you announced it like such on the Kumoricon forums, then that definitely would be against the rules. Also, as a rule of the forums, nobody can discuss specific entries on the forums or mailing lists until voting is done, not just the entrants, but it's also a rule of the contest, so entrants are subject to disqualification if they break the rules (not just whatever happens if you break a forum rule).
If you just uploaded it to your DeviantAart gallery during the contest "silently", then that wouldn't be a violation.
If you announced it like such off of the Kumoricon forums, mailing lists, private messages, or other communication systems owned by Kumoricon, then that alone also wouldn't be a violation of the rules. Only staff can vote, so there's not a risk of influencing a large body of people who can vote in any place except on Kumoricon communication systems. And besides, it would be unfair and impossible to enforce to forbid discussion privately, or in places we don't control--which is why we don't.
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Good to know. I was wanting to put mine up on a blog I have, but wasn't sure if that was acceptable or not and didn't want to be wrong. ^ - ^
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So we'll get to see all of them around August 3rd? *jumps up and down*
I have another question. Say you do post it online like on DevArt or Myspace but other kumoricon forum people do see it and they talk about it on the forums. Does that dissqulify you or get them in trouble?
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oh yes i can't wait to see everyones entiries they are all going to look sooooo good (:
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I have another question. Say you do post it online like on DevArt or Myspace but other kumoricon forum people do see it and they talk about it on the forums. Does that dissqulify you or get them in trouble?
It's against the forum rules to do that and we'll be watching and removing any posts if there are any problems. But obviously, an entrant can and will be held responsible only for their own actions.
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I have another question. Say you do post it online like on DevArt or Myspace but other kumoricon forum people do see it and they talk about it on the forums. Does that dissqulify you or get them in trouble?
It's against the forum rules to do that and we'll be watching and removing any posts if there are any problems. But obviously, an entrant can and will be held responsible only for their own actions.
thanks
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voting is done right?
so when will the winner be announced? :-\
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voting is done right?
so when will the winner be announced? :-\
Voting is done.
Winners will be announced as stated in the rules. If you are the winner, you might get contacted earlier if we need you to fix a problem with yours (changing text, need higher resolution, etc.).
The entries will be posted in an online gallery for viewing...without indicating which have won...in the next few days.
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Ok, it's been more than just a few days. ;) Any new updates, mayhaps? Even just clips? A sniff, perhaps? I'd like to see all the entries.
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Ok, it's been more than just a few days. ;) Any new updates, mayhaps? Even just clips? A sniff, perhaps? I'd like to see all the entries.
Sorry, I've been preparing the galleries, they'll be up in an hour or two.
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It's upppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found it under the gallery option on the website!!!
*dances around*
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It's upppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found it under the gallery option on the website!!!
*dances around*
You found it about 15 minutes after I posted it. I was going to make an announcement, but you beat me to it. >.<
(Server slowness last night, and finishing up other things, delayed it until today.)
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I'm sorry! ^ _ ^~ It's been REALLY slow at work, so I've been REALLY bored. Thus, I tend to check things frequently. (possibly too frequently.)
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I'm sorry! ^ _ ^~ It's been REALLY slow at work, so I've been REALLY bored. Thus, I tend to check things frequently. (possibly too frequently.)
No, that's good, I'm glad people are exploring the web site. ^_^
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Hurrah~ good luck and congrats everyone! I am excited to find out who won the mascot. ^__^
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Yay they're up~ good luck everyone!
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one of these should win ^_^ Amy S,Raiphin,misha and Bacon,Emily Codino
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I'm sorry! ^ _ ^~ It's been REALLY slow at work, so I've been REALLY bored. Thus, I tend to check things frequently. (possibly too frequently.)
No, that's good, I'm glad people are exploring the web site. ^_^
Yeah, give him big kudos. He put a lot of effort into making our site as good as it is. He can probably link you to what it looked like before so you can see just what that means, if you haven't been around long enough to remember.
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Yeah, give him big kudos. He put a lot of effort into making our site as good as it is. He can probably link you to what it looked like before so you can see just what that means, if you haven't been around long enough to remember.
I do have an archive of the 2006 site from before we took it down, and I will preserve the 2007 site as of the end of Kumoricon 2007 so it can be placed in an archive before we start making changes for 2008 content. I'm not sure we have copies of content before that except in scattered form, but you can find some well-preserved pages at www.archive.org. I'll put the 2006 and 2007 archives online sometime after Kumoricon 2007 (don't have time until then).