SCION is a modern-thinking brand on the forefront of youth culture and innovation, known for engaging its consumers in an interactive quest for creative ideas. One of SCION’s trademarks is its support of organizations that also seek to connect with children and young adults in expressive, artistic ways.

In its mission to advocate community outreach and foster creativity in the younger generation, SCION now joins forces with Cut&Paste in the FRESHLY SQUEEZED WEB DESIGN CHALLENGE (”Contest”). The website design competition will benefit J.U.i.C.E., a non-profit weekly after-school program that allows the underprivileged youth of Los Angeles to express themselves artistically through dance, music, visual arts, and MC skills workshops.

As J.U.i.C.E. focuses its resources on programming and operations, they need your help: SCION’s new online competition, the FRESHLY SQUEEZED WEB DESIGN CHALLENGE summons all web designers, illustrators, graffiti connoisseurs, coding geniuses, hip-hop enthusiasts, and creatives all around to help J.U.i.C.E. refine their online presence with a brand new homepage design. Web designs submitted for the competition should embody J.U.i.C.E.’s urban aesthetic and youthful spirit, while adding to the site’s functionality as a user-friendly vehicle for communication.

So, help city kids, put $5K in your pocket, and get your work seen. Submit your designs for a new and improved Web site for J.U.i.C.E., a nonprofit hip-hop arts program for LA’s urban youth, and you’ll be entered to win five grand, courtesy of SCION. All entries must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on April 10, 2009. Visit the site to learn more.

Eurographics, the largest computer graphics conference in Europe, and the 2nd largest worldwide - with thousands of attendees from all over the world, from academia and the computer graphics and game industry - for the first time this year, is holding the Graphics Meets Games Competition. They want to see a cool new graphics effect, that could be used in a computer game, and the creation of a small, self-contained real-time 3D demo game that showcases that effect. If the player can interact with the effect or it interacts with the environment (i.e it is more than eye candy), maybe in some kind of physically based way (think for instance low-gravity, or magical physics, zero-friction liquids, balls that multiply on collision etc.), then it is even better. Deadline is 28 August. For more details (and there are plenty), visit the site.

Ok, you slugged it through design school where you learned about typefaces like serif, sans serif, ornamental…the works. While you know the difference between Bauhaus and Arial, you still don’t know how to design a typeface. Designing Type can rescue you, especially if you need to design a typeface in a hurry for a client who demands something to go with his product line…

Author Karen Cheng, associate professor at the University of Washington’s Visual Communication Design Program in Seattle, teaches type design and typography. The lessons that she includes in her book are so simple that you can understand the type designer’s process almost overnight. Cheng states, “There is no single, ‘correct’ process for creating a typeface. The methodologies of individual designers are as unique and varied as the designs themselves.” Read the rest of this entry »

I know that some of you out there make extra money with print jobs like business card orders, ad layouts, brochures, etc. If you manage a client’s Website, then the print jobs make sense. You can control branding and print color consistency so that printed matter doesn’t stray far from your Website design. However, print jobs can also be a pain, because they’re not very profitable for the amount of work involved in design development, the printing process, and the print approval.

Web-to-Print systems have simplified the printing process, because you can create a design for the client online and the customer can approve the design online as well. While this process has simplified the design and approval cycle, it still isn’t profitable. You either need to pay exorbitant fees for compatible software or your designs are limited to certain formats, a problem that can restrict orders. Changes are in the air, however… Read the rest of this entry »

The upcoming Independent Games Festival will be held 6-9 March 2007 in San Francisco, California. There are three categories for entries, and each one has its specific deadline.

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) Main Competition, a resounding success in 2006, has received a few minor tweaks (slight category name changes, a demo is mandatory to enter the Audience Award if a finalist), but continues with the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize, and multiple $2,500 awards for innovative design, audio, technical, art, and best web game. They’re really looking forward to your entries, and the deadline this year is September 8, 2006 at 11:59pm PDT. Read the rest of this entry »

The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television is proud to present the thirteenth edition of the UK’s longest-running and biggest animation festival. The Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) is host to screentalks, workshops and special events led by some of the industry’s top names. The Festival’s high point is the annual BAF Awards, which celebrate the very best in new animation from around the world.

Film submission is open in a variety of categories, including: student; professional; TV series for adult; etc. The judges reserve the right to move your film to a different competition category if necessary, but will inform you if we decide to select your film to screen in a category other than that to which you entered it. If your film contains non-English dialogue (which is essential to the understanding of the film), it must be subtitled in English. We cannot accept unsubtitled films, even if accompanied by a translation on paper. Only films completed after 9th July 2005 will be considered for the competition. DEADLINE: Friday 28th July 2006. See site for details.