NanoArt is a new art form where micro or nanosculptures created by artists or scientists through chemical or/and physical processes are visualized with powerful research tools like Scanning Electron Microscopes. The monochromatic electron microscope scans are processed further using different artistic techniques to create pieces of art that can be showcased for the general public.

Because this is a new art form, nanoart21.org founded by artists/scientist Cris Orfescu (www.crisorfescu.com) will provide 3 high resolution monochromatic electron scans for competitors to choose from. The participating artists will have to alter this image in any artistic way to finish the artistic-scientific process and create a NanoArt work. The artists or scientists are encouraged to participate with their own image as long as this visualizes micro or nano structures.

The worldwide competition NanoArt 2007 is open to all artists 18 years and older. Online voting will open 1 January 2008 through 31 March 2008. This seems to be a fascinating project, and the first 10 winners will be exhibited on nanoart21.org site for one full year and will be invited to exhibit at the second edition of The International Festival of NanoArt. The first edition of the festival was hosted in May 2007 by Kotka Photographic Center, in Finland. Deadline is 31 December, 2007. Visit the site to snag the images and to learn more about this contest.

Every month, CSS OFF designs a web page in Photoshop and hosts a competition to see who can turn it into the best web page. The designs that are released will present specific markup challenges, along with design and coding considerations for everyone from web newbies to experienced developers.

The point of CSS Off is to make you think critically about web design, and then execute it on a dime. You’ve got 24 hours to take our design and slice it up. Be thoughtful, be creative. Above all, use flexible markup, lean CSS, good design and your best judgment.

CSS OFF just finalized their second competition, and I don’t have a clue when their third competition will take place. I have, however, placed a link to their page under the “nonstop design competitions” at the bottom of the middle column. Go visit the site and see if this contest is right for you…

Both students and professionals in the field of design may enter this competition, which - for the first time - has no age limit.

The challenge is to design a seat or a table in which innovative design/styling contributions are made, bearing in mind the thechnical specifications in the briefing you can download from the Web site along with complete rules and regulations. First prize is 4.000 eur. Deadline is 13 September 2007. Sign up online at www.andreuworld.com.

International designers’ Network is celebrating their 15th anniversary, and they pondered long and hard on how they could bring the whole wide and varied world of design and designers even closer together. From there, they launched a regular column “15 degrees” in IdN magazine, derived from the famous six degree of separation that is supposed to join everyone in the world with everyone else. And besides, they are holding a series of competitions which has now already come to the 3rd episode - “Universe.”

Express visually (by graphics, drawings, illustrations, photography, typography…) what the word, “Universe,” means to you. Winning entries of “Universe” will not only be published in IdN magazine in the form of an article, but will also be printed on Graniph’s t-shirt for sale all over the world.

Deadline is 1 December. Visit the site to learn more.

Radically reconfigured for the 21st century in 2006, the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) is a multimedia festival that explores the theme of sustainability and the environment within a large global conversation that embraces a range of political, economic, social, and aesthetic issues, including labour, war, health, disease, intellectual property, software, remix culture, economics, archives, HIV/AIDS, women’s rights, and human rights.

Only work that can be exhibited online can be considered for this exhibit. Media artists working in offline formats should submit work to FLEFF under other calls. Deadline is 1 November 2007. There are specific instructions with this contest, so visit the site to learn all the details.

At Right: 2006 Contest Winner Mehmet Ozgur.

The 14th Annual Popular Photography Photo Contest gives photographers the opportunity to have their works recognized in the January 2008 issue of Popular Photography & Imaging, the largest photo magazine in the world, as well as on PopPhoto.com. The winning photographers will also win prizes from Panasonic and Circuit City.

The competition is open to work produced from September 2006-September 2007. All submitted work should be of reproduction quality. Deadline is 14 September 2007. Visit the site for more information.

At Right: Winner Catalina Estrada’s piece.

MAiLmeART.com was created by Darren Di Lieto, the founder and editor of LCSV4, after toying with the idea of doing a collaborative project that everyone involved in gets something out of. MAiLmeART is a little project designed to test your skills, make you some money and give you the chance to have a bit of fun.

Once a month a guest judge will pick a favorite submission and a random number. The random number will correspond to one of the prizes; the creator of the chosen submission will win the random prize (I’m adding this site to the “nonstop design competition” list in the middle column at bottom).

In 18-24 months MAiLmeART will be holding an exhibition in London (venue to be confirmed). The show will include your submissions, which will be on sale at the exhibition. The creators of items that sell at the show will receive 70% of the price their creations sell for, less the landlord’s cut. The project will carry on and continue after the show with possibly another show the year after and the year after that. Hopefully the first show will be the first of many. To find out what you need to do to submit your work, visit the site.

Via: psfk

New Thinking on Urban Transportation: entrants are asked to imagine ways of moving goods and people safely and efficiently while reducing the impact on the environment. The goal is healthful, pleasurable urban transit that reduces automobile traffic in favor of less-polluting modes.

This is one in a series of competitions sponsored by RE:VISION. Register by 1 August, and final entry date is 15 Aug 2007. Visit the site to learn more.

backup is a media-festival for young filmmakers, artists and designers who define and reflect the boundaries of film and its diverse segments in a creative preoccupation of different ways of production and expression.

Prizes for the best entries will be awarded by an independent jury of filmmakers, TV executives, producers, designers and media theorists. To qualify for entry into the competition, all works must be submitted in a common video format, must have been completed after the 1st of January 2006 and must be no longer than 15 min. in length.

Deadline is 25 August 2007. Visit the site to to learn more.

Via: Shortsville

At Right: Dymaxion Bathroom (1940) by Buckminster Fuller.

Each year a distinguished jury will award a single $100,000 prize to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems in the shortest possible time while enhancing the Earth’s ecological integrity.

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge seeks submissions of design science solutions within a broad range of human endeavor that exemplify the trimtab principle. Trimtabs demonstrate how small amounts of energy and resources precisely applied at the right time and place can produce maximum advantageous change.

Entries for The Buckminster Fuller Challenge will be accepted via the Web-based platform or by post beginning 4 September and ending 30 October 2007. To receive an entry form announcement and to learn more about this competition, go to the site and sign up on the mailing list. This is an international contest for individuals or teams comprised of individuals who are over age 18.

Via: The Way We Live