Dash of Inspiration: February Design Challenge

A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen February Design Challenge

Congratulations to our January Winners and to all who participated! Wonderful cards were created and each of you should be proud of where your imagination led you last month. Today we kick off our new challenge for February. This one is very different and hopefully you’ll find it lots of fun!

This challenge should INSPIRE the illustrator and painter to let your imagination take you somewhere you’ve never been before; and the digital artists should push the boundaries of creating digital compositions using a variety of elements, letting your imagination create that which photography alone may not be able to capture. When all else fails, LEARN SOMETHING NEW!

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And our 1st Place WINNER is: Barbara Scheiber PID 1359144

Challenge 1st Winner for February 2015

With 2nd Place begin awarded to: Christie Black PID1361518

Challenge 2nd Place for February 2015

There were SO MANY great cards – thank you ALL for participating!

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READY, SET? Let’s GO! FEBRUARY Design Challenge – Theme: CURIOSITY Requirements: Your design must include the following elements. You may have as many other elements as you wish, but the finished visual must have these three elements. Look at my example below.

• a Door (any size, any type)
• a Sentient Being (no planetary or species restrictions, and yes I consider animals sentient beings)
• Water (a drop or an ocean from any source)

……………………………………………………………… Entry Deadline: February 23rd, 2015 ………………………………………………………………. How to Enter:

• Post the PID (card number) and the URL (public storefront link, please DO NOT post a link to your Manage Cards area) as a post in the challenge blog. We’ll forward your entry to the jury.

………………………………………………………………. Category:  ANY – Tip suggestions: Humor categories might work well for many occasions/holidays, also Get Well, Hi/Hello, Thinking of You – get the idea? Just remember to tie your image to the verse and to the category. ………………………………………………………………. Rules:

• Submission must meet GCU’s Submission Guidelines and be Approved through the usual Review Cycle – Fast Track your submission with this in the Notes to Reviewer: February Design Challenge Submission here is the link to the blog post: (include THIS blog post URL)
• Only ONE card per artist per challenge.
• Submissions must be NEW, no existing designs.
• Your entry must meet the Challenge Requirements and Theme or it will not be included in the challenge.
• Stock Card Creations entries will not be accepted.

…………………………………………………………………… Judging: Entries will be judged by the GCU Challenge Jury with results posting on the Community Blog the week of February 28th. The jury will judge the entries on the following criteria:

• How well the card meets the Challenge Requirements and Theme.
• How well the card speaks to the Category the artist chooses for the card submission.
• Creativity, Execution and Marketability.

…………………………………………………………………… Winners: 1st Place:

• The winning designer’s card and store will be featured on the GCU Public Blog – the blog which customers view and follow.
• As well as featured on the GCU Public Facebook Page – nearly 13,000 followers, now THAT’S exposure!
• The winning card will be Design of the Day following the announcement of the winners (within 48-hours). EXCEPTION: Horizontal (landscape) cards can not be DOD due to GCU Home Page space restrictions.
• The winning card will be added to the Greeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board – currently over 800 followers.
• The winning card, should the artist choose, may be referenced in a new series by the winning artist and he/she may Fast Track all cards in the new series (being sure to give the Challenge URL and winning card PID in your Notes to Reviewer for each card in this series).

2^nd Place:

• Your submission will be Design of the Day the following week of announcing the Challenge winners (within 7-days). EXCEPTION: Horizontal (landscape) cards can not be DOD due to GCU Home Page space restrictions.
• Your card will be added to theGreeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board.

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Tips:

Check out these tips, tricks, freebies, and tutorials which would all be helpful in this month’s Challenge.

• Blending of Elements

• Balance of Elements

• Background Removal

• Understanding Terms of Use

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Let the creativity flow and good luck!

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This image was created using the Theme and Requirements of the February 2015 Challenge. Sentient beings, a door and the water is the ocean view. Have fun with your creation!

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Participants for this challenge in addition to the above 1st and 2nd place were:

Julia Bryant