Illustration Contest Rules and Guidelines

How do I enter a community contest here?

1. Register with DesignCrowd via www.designcrowd.com
2. Learn more about our paid contests via General Help / FAQs and about Community Contests FAQ
3. Find our current community contests via here: http://www.designcrowd.com/community/
4. Make sure your submissions are according to our Minimum Design Standards
5. Submit your artwork via the 'submit button' on the individual community contest page
6. Don't forget to vote and leave helpful comments!

What contests can I enter?
You can enter any contests you feel suitable according to your skillset. Each project will be tagged as Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. What do the different skills levels mean?
Community admins can preset a level of difficulty for a contest (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced). The level determines the minimum skill level and submission quality participants are expected to meet. Contests can also be tagged as "Open", where there are no restrictions on participants. Who launches the contests?
Community admins, users like yourself, launch contests as well as the DesignCrowd team. See this FAQ for more details. What contest categories run on the community site?
Categories include Photography, Photoshop, Illustration, Logo, Web and Graphic Design.
Does my submission stay mine after I enter them?
Yes. DesignCrowd doesn't take away any of your rights to your art, you simply give us permission to use it. You can read what you allow DesignCrowd to do with your submissions in the Terms of Use. Can I make comments on other participant's submissions?
Yes, you may upload comments on community contest submissions. Comments should be positive and/or constructive in nature. We encourage a constructive criticism, however we would not tolerate any inappropriate behaviour/comments. If you receive an inappropriate comment email support'@'designcrowd.com about the matter. Any comments which are considered inappropriate will be removed and your account may be suspended. Can I enter any contest category I like?
Yes. The community site can help you develop new skills and mentor others. However, you should carefully read the contest description, requirements and rules before entering to ensure your submission meets the standards for that contest. If you're new to the site you should start by entering Open or Beginner level contests. Who can I turn to if I need help?
You can contact DesignCrowd's support team at support@designcrowd.com for any questions you have. You can join the DesignCrowd forum and ask questions there. Please use the Report function on any images or comments that you feel need to be brought to the attention of Admins or Moderators.

I got eliminated, what should I do? During the submission period, moderators will review your entry and eliminate entries that are duplicates or do not meet the criteria of the brief. Check the contest page and your account for feedback on your submission. If the contest is still open for entry, you can replace your eliminated entry with a new one and it will have a chance at being reinstated into the contest if there is enough time for an Admin or Moderator to review it before the contest closes for voting. Don't worry, we all get DQ'd at some point; don't forget to read the rules of the contest carefully!

Voting

What to consider when voting
There are three general aspects to a photo you want to consider:

• Technical execution
• Artistry
• Appeal

Ratings Guidelines

• 1 star - Very bad - Low quality idea and/or execution. Didn't meet the minimum requirements of the brief.
• 2 stars - Poor - The idea is unoriginal and/or execution is below average in quality. Not much effort afforded. Novice work and/or poor ideas, little thought went into composition or originality of idea. The idea is there, but more time or practice could benefit the artist.
• 3 stars - Good - Interesting idea / concept with fair to good execution. Most of the basics are done well (although not great or brilliant). Great idea. Good execution. Perhaps a bit unrefined in a few places. Shows promise.
• 4 stars - Very good - Great entry all around. Original idea with a show of great skill, solid composition, and a thoughtful approach. A strong entry.
• 5 stars - Outstanding - Exceptional idea and execution. High quality. The entries in this range are likley to be technically well produced and be the most distinctive and memorable entries of the whole contest theme. A standout entry.

Technical Guidelines, Definitions, Copyright

What is illustration?
For DesignCrowd's purposes, "Illustration" encompasses all forms of two dimensional art that use neither photographic nor 3D rendered elements. This commonly includes all types of "real" media (pencil, pen, paint, charcoal) as well as digital media (Painter, Photoshop, Gimp, MS Paint), in a range of styles including painterly, line art, manga, vector, and more.

Entry requirements

Originality - You must be the original artist of your entry, first and foremost. We'll trust you on that, but it needs saying- do not enter anyone else's artwork as your own; not only will your entry be disqualified, you could be banned from participating in any contest on the site, in any category.

No photographs, rendering, tracing, gridding.

Digitally edited scans or photos of your own artwork is permitted (i.e.: using photoshop to color ink line art, post-processing paintings, etc.).

Filters: Using applications/plugins to render, filter, or generate aspects of your art can be helpful. But we highly discourage using these tools to create the art for you.

Brushes and textures: Native application brushes and textures, as well as copyright-free brushes found on the net, are almost always acceptable. What brushes and textures are NOT allowed?

• Photographic in nature (e.g. resembling or sourced from real clouds, bricks, tree bark, etc.)
• Entire objects (e.g. plants, vehicles, characters, etc.)
• Illustrations within themselves (e.g. art nouveau bordering, line art elements, rendered objects, etc.)
• Any brushes you have created are acceptable, providing they are not based on photographs or the artwork of others. It is preferred, but not required, to use your own original brushes.

Mediums - Any medium is acceptable as long as it conforms to the individual contest guidelines, i.e. if the contest calls for line art, you may enter line art created in a digital image editing program such as Photoshop, PaintShopPro, Illustrator, etc. or on paper or canvas; however, you must scan or photograph your entry yourself.

Text - WWW addresses on your image are not allowed. Watermarks on your image are not allowed. Artist signatures are allowed if they don't distract from the work, promote the artist, or act as watermarks. Besides links to references and works-in-progress, please keep additional supportive text in your comments down to a couple sentences and let your work be judged by the quality of your image.

What cannot be used in a submission? Simply put, you must be the artist of all of the artwork you submit. No tracing, no filtering a photo, no submitting someone else's painting, no chopping multiple drawings together and calling it your own. You must be the original artist of all of your work. Brushes and Textures included. Always read the brief!

Is tracing permissable? Tracing is recreating exact parts (details, outlines, lines, etc) of an existing work of art into your own. Whether physical (paper tracing over artwork) or digital (scanning artwork and drawing over it in a computer program), this practice is forbidden. Off-Topic Entries
Your entry doesn't meet the intention and worded requirements of the contest rules. What are the size requirements for an entry?
Image entries should be a minimum of 400 pixels in width is recommended (unless otherwise requested by the contest rules), in order to be big enough to see the image. A maximum of 1200x1000 pixels is also advised.

Files should not be bigger than necessary, so use the JPEG-format to its fullest. Less than 200KB usually works for a 625 pixel image, and less than 400KB for a 1000 pixel image, but these are only recommendations. For larger images try to stay under 1 MB.

Copyright / Sources

Where can I find sources for my entries
The Creative Commons Search is a fantastic way to search for sources that you may adapt, modify, or build upon for recreational purposes. It searches across multiple websites including Google, Yahoo, Flickr, and Wikimedia Commons.

Sources / Attribution
You must include a link to all major photo references used so that everyone can see just how different from your finished image they are, and if you do not use photo references, your preliminary sketches must be available on demand. If you do not use preliminary sketches, you must provide a .psd or screenshots that clearly show your progress if we request it. We regret the necessity of these measures, but unscrupulous individuals have made them unavoidable to ensure a fair shake for all of our competitors.

Points/Results

Where will my community contest results be displayed?
The community leaderboard will display the overall points or rankings for community contest participants. You will also be able to toggle between rankings for specific categories and overall rankings to see a list of top creatives from each category. How do points work? When I win a contest, what can I do with the points?
We're introducing Community Points as a way of tracking your activity and success on the Community Site. You'll be able to earn points for various activities on the site, including participating, voting and winning Contests. We're still developing our systems and processes around tracking your activity, so at present, points will be limited to Contest wins and participation awards.

Your points don't carry a monetary value and can't be concerted into cash. Your points will, however, affect your standing on the Community Leaderboard. More points, more glory! Where are my points displayed?
Your points will be publicly visible on a Community Leaderboard and will be one way of demonstrating skill and competence in a particular creative field (alongside your feedback scores and career earnings).

In the future we'll also be introducing badges (which will be visible in your profile) linked to your community activity. What is the highest points you can receive?
There is no limit to the points which may be set by a Community Admin, however, most First place prizes range from 500-1000 points.