Recently in Announcements Category
The AbleStock.com Design Brief at graphics.com
With the supplied images, create a design based on the (hypothetical) monthly design brief. Each month three winners will receive three months access to Ablestock.com.
Stockxpert Monthly Image Contests
Open to all contributors, upload your photos, illustrations, or 3D renderings that communicate the monthly theme. First place winner will receive 80 GB iPod. Second place winner will receive a 30 GB iPod. Third place winner will receive a copy of CorelDRAW X3 Graphics Suite.
Jupiterimages' Volkswagon Eos Giveaway
Tell JI your story that illustrates the theme "Life Is Tough" for a chance to win a brand new Volkswagon Eos.
Dynamic Graphics Magazine's Re:Design Contest
Submit examples of your own before and after projects for a chance to appear in Dynamic Graphics' December/January 2008 issue. One grand prize winner will receive a one-year subscription of multimedia resolution images to JupiterImages Unlimited.
Good luck!
The STEP Design 100 competition and annual is highly regarded within the graphic design industry. Thousands of entries are received and judged by a panel of five designers, and the top 100 are featured in the over-sized March/April issue.
Now that STEP is part of the graphics.com network, however, we wanted to offer the larger graphics community an opportunity to participate in the selection process.
After the usual hurdles and hiccups, graphics.com's redesign is finally complete, and I'd first like to thank everyone who was involved in this project. So, thanks to all the editors, designers, and developers who worked very hard to make this happen.
The challenge with this particular redesign had to do with the dual role of the site. Graphics.com is its own site with its own audience within the graphics.com network. At the same time, it's the flagship site for the whole graphics.com network. So, we had to figure out a way for the site to retain its own identity and feature its own content, while making sure it functions as a gateway to the other graphics.com network communities.
I'd like to share with you a few of the changes we've made to help achieve this goal.
In December 2005 design blog BeADesignGroup.com announced "STEP Off", a collaboration with STEP inside design to create in public the cover for the March/April 2006 STEP Design 100 annual.
This year STEP offers another exciting opportunity for public participation in the STEP Design 100:
2007 STEP Design 100 Readers Choice Award
I know many of you seek reliable, high-quality stock photos, so I'd like to direct you to a place on the graphics.com network where you can snag freebies.
Dynamic Graphics magazine offers its subscribers two free high-resolution stock photos in each issue. The current issue, however, offers seven. You can download them at http://www.dynamicgraphics.com/downloads and keep checking back for more. One-time registration is required.
All images are subject to Jupiterimages' terms and conditions.
Enjoy!
To a designer it may be sacreligeous, but the first lesson learned from Adrian Shaughnessy's new book "How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul" is to never judge a book by its cover. While the outside design reminds me of those wide-ruled little blue test-taking notebooks used by colleges and universities, the inside pages are filled with helpful tips, logical insight, and amusing stories.
Here's a list of current contests and competitions running on the graphics.com network and Jupiterimages:
STEP Best of Web
Enter your Web designs in STEP’s Best of Web Design Competition sponsored by Jupiterimages Unlimited. As a winner you will be interviewed and prominently featured in the September/October 2006 issue. Grand Prize winner will receive a one-year subscription of multimedia resolution images to Jupiterimages Unlimited (a $2,500 value). Categories include Information, Advertising, Entertainment, Self-Promotion, Business, and Personal Portfolio sites. Entry deadline: April 3.
Design Makeovers Contest
Give your troubled logo, newsletter, website, or other design fresh appeal by entering Dynamic Graphics' annual Design Makeovers contest. Send in a design project needing improvement (we offer several options for design categories)—there is no entry fee. If the DG staff chooses your entry, our designers will work their magic and present a customized redesign of your project. Results will be published in the June/July Makeovers issue, the most sought-after issue of the year. Entry deadline: February 15.
Find This Image
Find the stock photo on Jupiterimages and you may win a brand new iMac G5. There will be 6 bi-monthly contests in 2006. First contest ends February 22.
On-Going Graphics.com Contests
Photos.com challenge - Incorporate selected Photos.com images into a design. Each month three winners receive a three-month subscription to Photos.com
Photography Contest - Monthly photography contest. One winner will receive a six-month AbleStock.com subscription.
Be A Design Group needs your help! Founding members of one of the most respected and active design blogs have been tasked with designing STEP inside design's March/April 2006 STEP 100 Design Annual cover.
And they can't do it without you. That's right. The four teams of BADG designers want your feedback, criticism, and encouragement every step of the way—from initial concept to final design.
To my knowledge nothing like this has been done before, so it's a great opportunity to become a small part of graphic design history, be personally involved with the cover design of a top design publication, and witness the unpredictable results of a completely democratized design process.
Have fun and we look forward to your final designs!
Business card design seems to be a somewhat hot topic in the GDF forums, so I thought I'd bring to your attention an upcoming book from Rockport Publishers titled, "The Best of The Best of Business Card Design".
I'm pleased to introduce a new column on the graphics.com network called Design Firm Management.
Design Firm Management is a twice-monthly column dedicated to the essentials of running a design business. Industry veteran Shel Perkins provides real-world advice on such topics as business planning, team building, workflow and project management.
In his inaugural column, Perkins tackles insurance needs for designers with a quick guide to what's available and where to find it.
