$5 Quick Contest to find designers for repeated monthly projects

[spunk999]

Hello - I have a ton of travel related images that I will need to have optimized and stylized over the next year. I am looking for 3-5 designers that I can work with on small projects that I will have throughout the year to take raw camera shots and optimize them, as well as add some style and watermark domains to the images. I am very open to style and creative ways of "marking" images to a domain, so be creative.

In a sense, this contest is an interview. I have one image here:

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/3617/lincolncenterav0.jpg

Play with this image, and watermark "NewYorkWebsite.com" (not my domain, just to use as an example), as well as somehow reflect the following caption within the finished product:

"Lincoln Center is one of the world’s leading performing arts centers."

However you watermark and caption the image, the style should work with a variety of images that will be at a variety of angles and zooms.

Please show off your skills either here or over PM, and also, let me know what you would charge to process 50 images in a similar fashion (if you prefer to PM me your rates, that is fine).

Contest will remain open until Sunday, January 18th. I will select 3-5 designers based on the quality of work and competitiveness of long term rates. The winners will get my business in 2009 and $5 to get a cheeseburger or something.

Good luck!

[hanidesigns]

Here is my entry.Hope u like it.Thanks...
http://imagehosted.info/images/drfryflajlx8rekc1c.jpg

[Enmar]

http://i41.tinypic.com/2l884k6.png

Could be bordered or altered as needed.

[sikka2010]

http://sikka2010.googlepages.com/testsample1.jpg

[sikka2010]

http://sikka2010.googlepages.com/testsample2.jpg

[spunk999]

Thanks for the great start, everyone! So far, I like Enmar's entry the best because no matter whether the image is light or dark, there will not be any issues with the caption being readable ... looking forward to seeing more entries! Got one entry over PM too ... that one had a nice style of watermarking the domain :) ... Still overall, so far, Enmar holds the top design ...

[jscg]

My Try:

http://shareseller.net/img/e32be2c2190c2ed30c088fbde90de6e7/contest.jpg

[spunk999]

@jscg - nice, you are in the top two!

[jscg]

Revision 2:

http://shareseller.net/img/e44edc770686380d3ccc0c0bba38222b/contest2.jpg

[sarsh11]

My quick entry:

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/382/lincoldcentreeditedoq3.png

:)

[spunk999]

Nice work sarsh11 - you are in the Top 3 ...

[surenther]

MY try
http://i41.tinypic.com/317hbvr.jpg

[spunk999]

@surenther - nice, you are in the top 4 ...

[surenther]

Next different idea
http://i44.tinypic.com/259y7tl.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/333ikvq.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/2ufeno8.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2qicuqg.jpg

[bbrez1]

Sent you a PM :)

[surenther]

http://i41.tinypic.com/2927jpy.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/120ow2o.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/dbp4ix.jpg

[spunk999]

@surenther - I like how you are being a little more creative by adding angles to the captions and all that - look forward to seeing more creativity ... everyone, don't be afraid to break away from boxy design! :D

[sikka2010]

NO feedback on my previous entries too :(

http://sikka2010.googlepages.com/nywebsite1.jpg

[spunk999]

@sikka2010 - sorry for missing feedback on your previous entry - the very first one I did not think would work because say the picture is of a building that has a lot of white in it, the caption may not show up the same way they do on this example, but the most recent example looks like it would work ... I like how you played with it a little more - I am liking the entries that are more creative in how the captions are presented and how the watermarks are made. Yours looks good, I have up to 5 slots, so you are in the top 5 now.

[alex.ohc]

i like this kind of work.. pls wait for my entry :)

[alex.ohc]

I ve submitted 2 images by PM.
Now waiting for feedbacks

[sikka2010]

http://sikka2010.googlepages.com/lincolncenterav0copy.jpg

[ktutorials]

These are my tries for this contest ... hope i too enter the topper's list... :)



http://img02.picoodle.com/img/img02/3/1/17/f_linm_0b169e1.jpg

http://img19.picoodle.com/img/img19/3/1/17/f_line3m_a77555a.jpg

http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/3/1/17/f_dddm_dec7736.png

[EzyTrader]

I might as well have a go

Both text holders are 50% opacity

http://ezytrader.com/images/contest.jpg

[spunk999]

Thanks for all the submissions here and via PM - will post more feedback by morning - thanks!! :p

[hanidesigns]

http://imagehosted.info/images/x8ahxy4ry76zxrz93v8a.jpg

[Sagarika123]

I am in too.Pl wait for my enty too.

[EzyTrader]

spunk must be still sleeping lol

[spunk999]

Hello everyone - I apologize for the delayed feedback. This contest is closed to new contestants. Since I did not have a chance to offer feedback before the contest closed, I am offering feedback now and will call the winners tomorrow at this same time. Here is the feedback on all the designs submitted so far:

hanidesigns - (first) kind of plain, but a good first shot - it is hard to post the very first entry on a contest, so in that sense it was a great initial opening, however I was looking for something a little more dramatic (second) better, but very similar to a previous entry

Enmar - nice, clean, like the font of the watermark, very easy to read - borders may be nice to explore in the future

sikka2010 - (first and second) thank you, however I do not like the font being just laid into the image because we do not know what will be underneath it and some color issues could arise making the captions difficult to read (third) I like how you took risks with this design, but I think the caption is too hard to read. Watermark is interesting concept to be at an angle like that, however I did particularly like the one in this sample (fourth entry) I really like the interesting shape that the caption is in - it is really cool looking, but it looks like it needs to be cleaned up a little, which that can be done later, however on this one, I did not like the watermark

jscg - very clean with the caption, I like how the font looks statesman-like (is that a word? I don't know, but hopefully you know what I mean. I do not like the text effect on the water mark of the first version. I like the watermark halfway on the second version, but then I do not like the color of the caption bar on that one.

sarsh11 - nice, clean, the word "performing" is hard to read because of the opacity level, but I will assume we can adjust that (you don't have to post an update, I know you can fix that) - I really like how you took creative liberties with the watermark, it looks really nice!

surenther - (first entry) nice and clean also, like the drop shadow on the caption bar. watermark looks a little plain, but then most of the entries had that same problem :) (second entry) - I love how you took a risk with the angled caption bar, but I didn't like it - I would love to see an angled caption bar that does work though, but this one didn't do it (third entry) don't like it ... too plain (fourth entry) this could work, but it looks a lot like some of the other entries (fifth entry) don't like it for the same reasons I did not like the one from sikka2010 (sixth entry) interesting, but I think the caption gets lost (seventh entry) this is a better angled on the the first angled caption, but I still don't like this one. But I LOVE the idea of an angled caption. (eighth entry) no

ktutorials - (first) I did not like the bubble format, but I do like the font of your watermark (second) again, don't like the bubbled caption, but the angled watermark looks very nice (third) I love it - I think make the angle a little less dramatic and some "photo corners" would finish this off, this is one of the best, very creative, I love how you made it look like a picture in a photo album, very nice!

EzyTrader - interesting shapes, captions are hard to read, but I love the watermark

Following are comments on designs submitted via PM:

d***3 - I didn't like the font of the watermark, it looked too common, the caption effect was okay, but it looks like it will need something a little more innovative to win against some of the other entries

a***c - WOW! I love it! I love how you took the creative liberty to run the image through a filter, but yet still maintained the integrity of the picture - Wow! The captions will work and the watermark is so-so, but what you did with the image optimization put you at the top of the list.

S***3 - thank you, but I didn't like really the bubble effect on the caption and the price per image to recreate the effect for all my pictures is waaaaaaaaaaay over my budget - I did however LOVE the choice of your font for the watermark!

So, before choosing 3-5 winners, I would need to know how much would be charged to recreate the effect on 15-20 images at a time throughout the upcoming year. However just based on design alone, if I have to choose 3-5 winners right now, it would be a***c, ktutorials (based on the third entry), and the other slots would be a close call between sarsh11, jscg, surenther, sikka2010 and Enmar.

I will announce the final winners in 24 hours and if your name is listed here, you can post a revision for consideration, but for new entries, the contest is CLOSED!

[ktutorials]

Hi..

Thanks a lot for waiting for my entry.. I made the round corners as mentioned....

http://img18.picoodle.com/img/img18/3/1/21/f_transm_f81c66a.png

If u need any more changes let me know..

Thakns a lot for choosing my name in the list.. :)

[alex.ohc]

is that "a***c" me?? :)

[NightVisioN]

I'd like to join,too. i'll post mine in an hour from now.

[NightVisioN]

http://up49.siz.co.il/up1/e45edjyoowmg.jpg