“Raindrops keep falling on my head…”
That was the title song to the popular 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film is ranked #151 in the Top 250 movie list of IMDB.com by its members.

But raindrops are more than just lyrics in a song; raindrops are also crucial to the process of rainwater harvesting.

The IRHA (International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance) organization exists to educate and help the public to be aware of the benefits of harvesting rainwater by treating it as a sustainable resource.

In the words of the contest sponsor:

“The aim of this competition is to make the public, too often insufficiently informed, aware of the various advantages that rainwater harvesting offers by providing sustainable access to water.

“It is in this context that the IRHA invites photographers, professional and amateur, to present their vision on the benefits that this celestial resource can have for both humans and nature.”

Contest theme
The full title of this competition is “The Best Photographs on the advantages of the use of rainwater, Raindrops Geneva Award 2011.”

According to the contest rules your photograph may include the following ideas:

* Water is life, the essential element that supports human, animal and ….plant life
* Rain
* Sacred or ritualized use of water or the celebration of rain in spiritual ….ceremonies
* Thirst, scarcity and drought
* Water distribution, including the politics of water distribution, water as ….a commodity.
* The role of harvested rainwater for satisfying needs where ….water cannot be piped.
* Rainwater harvesting, the best tool for adaptation to the climate changes (storms, floods, ….drought)
* Rainwater collection, simple technologies at work, water purification

General submission guidelines

* Winners of the contest must provide a minimum 2000 pixel image in ….300dpi.
* Files must be submitted in either JPG or TIF (unsharpened)
* Photographs may be submitted in portrait or landscape mode
* Entries may be in black and white or color
* Photoshop or image touch-ups are limited to standard darkroom techniques
* Over processing or use of digital effects on images will be grounds for ….disqualification
* No images shot in a studio will be eligible for this contest

Upload your submissions to raindropsaward [at] irha-h2o.org (replace [at] with @)

Prizes

* First Place: 1000 Swiss Francs ($1,034)
* Second Place: 600 Swiss Francs ($620)
* Third Place: 400 Swiss Francs ($413)

Links and other contest information
All submissions must be accompanied by a fact sheet. See the official rules for more details.
This contest has no entry fees. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2011. Follow these links for more contest information:

Official contest site
Contest rules and guidelines
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Graphic design school and you
If you are thinking about entering the Raindrops Geneva Award contest you probably have a good eye for images and composition.

But you can always improve your talents by taking classes at a graphic design school to learn more about photographic techniques, lighting methodology, and digital equipment.

Speak with a graphic design college representative and find out what sort of classes and educational opportunities are available to you.

Look, laugh and listen
In this article we’ll show more of the graphic design mistakes that slipped through the cracks during the production phase. Were these errors made under tight deadlines or too much pressure? These are the times when visual gaffes happen.

Some slip-ups are understandable while others could have been entirely preventable. Whatever the case, we hope that the mistakes of others can help all of us to be more careful when producing our images.

Have a good laugh and file these “lessons” away until you need them…especially when you only have a few hours left till deadline. Our thanks go to the members of photodisasteters.com for finding all of these gems or should we say lumps of coal?

Sweat the little stuff
Sometimes it’s the little stuff that gets past the gatekeepers during production. The errors aren’t big ones but they do point out that someone didn’t take the time to be more precise in the editing of the images.

In this case, an ad for the Audi A5 dashboard looks elegant and sporty except for one little detail.
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If you look closely between the 5 and 6 on the tachometer (left dial) you’ll see that the image has the rpm markers missing.

Yes, it’s just a little detail but car fans will immediately notice the omission.

This would be OK for the general public but to a car fan it’s a definite no-no.
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Was it really worth it?
Large businesses and companies spend a great deal of ad money to get the word out on their products; the ads cost a princely sum to produce.

Scarlett Johansson has represented Moët beverages for several years and this photo is one of the many she posed for in the Moët magazine ads.

But if you consider that Moët probably spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to have this ad produced, you may have said to yourself, “I could have done that…and probably a lot cheaper too.”
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This ad is about as “cut and paste” as you can get and we don’t mean that in a good way.

The balloons were shot separately in a studio (note the double highlights on many of them), while Ms. Johansson was photographed on a couch during another photo session.

The background (out of focus) was used as the backdrop for this image. Drop out the green screen behind the balloons and Ms. Johansson, do a few layers and voila, you have a composite image.

There’s nothing wrong, inherently with the concept, but considering the cost of this ad we think that Moët received the short end of the stick when the contract was signed with this ad agency.

Sweat the little stuff, again…
Sometimes it’s cost effective to use an old graphic for an event that happens annually. All you have to do is to change the year or date and you’re done.

Not so fast, bud. You have to be careful that you’ve changed all the important graphics in the image to make sure none of the old dates are still present. Can you spot the error in this image?
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The year “09” appears correct but if you look at its reflection you can see that it says “08” from the previous year’s ad.

You can see the enlarged ad here and the actual mistake here.

Graphic design school
Talent can help you attain a career in graphic design; graphic design schools help you to master the techniques of using various elements to produce professional graphics.

If you are a graphic designer, continued education classes are available at your graphic design college. These courses can bring you up to speed on the latest software and hardware applications.

If you are planning to attend a graphic design school, speak to your school counselor about the various career training options available to you in this fast-moving industry.

Next time…
Not everything that is a “mistake” is a mistake. In some cases graphic designers and art directors break the rules to make a point or draw attention to the subject at hand.

Stay tuned for examples in next week’s article on Graphic design mistakes and blunders.

Got art?
It’s time to clean out your desk because the old sketches or long forgotten brainstorm images you created for fun may be good candidates for an art competition.

You may be a professional in the graphics industry, an artist or just someone who likes to draw and create images, but whatever your station in life the More Glory Contest is seeking your best work.

The More Glory Contest sponsors state:

“Each of us has artwork laying around at home - like university, freelance or spare time stuff - that we are really proud of but may have never gotten the chance to present to anyone.

“Just choose your favorite / best / craziest / most innovative work that you have done so far and submit it. Done.”

What to submit
This is an open ended contest with no specific theme. The only request is to submit your best and brightest work.

You may send in any of your works in virtually any category of media such as:

* Photos
* Graphics
* Illustrations
* Installations
* Videos
* Animations
* Ads

Prizes
Every idea that Jovoto decides to license will receive £50 (80 USD) and a free flight for the winner to New York or Berlin and a night out with the crew of Jovoto.

General contest rules

* This is an open contest and anyone may participate
* If your piece was a joint creation please list the others as co-authors
* You need the rights to publish your work if they have been ….previously published elsewhere
* All participants need to have a registered account on Jovoto

Contest links and other information
There are no entry fees for this contest. The deadline for entries is March 10, 2011.

Follow these links for more contest information:
Official website
Registration site

Graphic design school and talent
If you are thinking about entering the More Glory contest, you probably have a good grasp of graphic design principles and layout.

But you can always improve your talents by taking a few classes at a graphic design school to learn more about the wonderful world of design.

Speak with a graphic design college representative and find out what sort of classes and educational opportunities are available to you.

Learn from the mistakes
Graphic design schools can teach you the proper design principles needed to become a proficient graphic designer, but sometimes mistakes are the defining things that help you to learn what works and what doesn’t.

In the next few articles we will show you the mistakes of others. The comforting part is they are not your mistakes.

The “funny” side is these errors were made by the professionals, which gives us all comfort that even the best of us can make mistakes.

In the following graphics we’ll provide a short commentary on what went wrong and what we can learn from these missteps.

We want to give a big thanks to all the members of the website psdisasters.com for providing all of the leads.

Size really does matter
A good rule of thumb when assembling composite images is to be aware of the proper size perspectives of different objects as they relate to one another. In the case of this Onkyo sound system ad, something has gone awry.
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There are lots of interesting elements in the background of this ad: musicians, singers and a miniature elephant.

It is understood that the various people and animals represent the clarity of the sound system, but the tiny elephant and other disproportional elements makes the ad look cheap.
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Physiology 101
If you took biology, anatomy or physiology classes in high school or college, you’ll remember a great many graphics and illustrations of the human body and how it works.

When it comes to human anatomy, the structure and “rightness” of what a typical body looks like is second nature to most of us. In this ad, the model strikes an elegant pose. But something is wrong…
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The dress the model is wearing is draped a certain way so that her legs appear to be disjointed from her body. Is it a bad camera angle or a Photoshop mistake? Only the art director knows.
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One, two, three, four…
Although graphic design is primarily about images, graphics and layout, the need to be accurate in numbers is also very important. In this poster for a fighting exhibition, the contenders look ready and willing to fight.

But does one competitor have an unfair advantage in the scheduled bout?
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If you look closely at the opponent on the left, he is striking a pose with his fists. But the odd thing about the pose is the number of knuckles showing through his boxing glove. It appears this man has six fingers!

In reality, this is just an example where a little Photoshop magic could have helped. The extra “knuckle” showing is actually his palm appearing through an opening in the glove.

The other fighter also shows the opening, but it doesn’t appear like a finger as in the case of the fighter, Bonnar.
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Graphic design school and principles of design
Layout, perspective, color and design are some of the important elements you’ll learn at graphic design college. These graphic design principles will help you to create and produce images of professional quality.

The attention to detail, making sure all the graphics are presented properly, and ensuring that your piece is free of mistakes is up to you.

Next time…
In part two of “Photoshop mistakes and blunders” we’ll show you more examples of how little details can make the difference between a great design and an unintentionally funny one.

Independent living
People who have disabilities must face the daily challenges of how to live in a world which is not necessarily geared to their specific circumstances and needs.

The Papworth Trust Photography Competition: Independence is a contest where photographers can address the overall theme of being independent.

The contest sponsor states:

“Papworth Trust is passionate about supporting disabled people to have more equality, greater choice and increased independence…Independence means different things to everyone, but interpretations could include:

* Not relying on someone or something
* Running your own life without interference”

General Contest Rules
You may submit either photographic prints or images in digital format. Send photographs to:

Papworth Trust Photography Competition,
Bernard Sunley Centre
Papworth Everard
Cambridge CB23 3RG

* Minimum size for prints is 5-by-5 inches
* Maximum size is 10-by-10 inches

Please note that prints will not be returned to contest participants. Make sure you send in a copy or have the original negative of your photograph with your entry form.

For those who wish to submit their images digitally:

* Digital photos may be in black and white or color
* All digital images must be in JPEG file format
* The maximum file size for entries is 3MB
* Resolution for digital images should be 300dpi
* Winners will be asked to submit hi-res versions of their images

Prizes
The top winner of this contest will receive a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD 115E and be featured on the cover of the Papworth Trust’s 2011 Annual Review.

Other winners will receive various items that have been donated by local businesses and firms.

Contest Links and other information
Anyone may enter who is 16 years or older. If you are 16 years of age you will need the consent of a parent or guardian in order to participate in this competition.

You may enter up to 3 photographs and may implement minor changes to your images to enhance them (i.e. contrast, clarity, color). However, excessive manipulation of your images will be grounds for disqualification.

This competition ends on February 25, 2011 and has no entry fees associated with it.

The following links provide more contest information:

Official contest site
Contest rules (Word document)
Contest entry form (Word document)

Persistence pays off
There is an old adage that proclaims, “If at once you don’t succeed, try, try again.” The process of applying for scholarships and grants is similar to these words of advice. It takes persistence and patience.

In “5 things you should know about scholarships, Part I” we covered the topics of scholarship assistance services and applying to local institutions for education funds.

In the conclusion of this series we’ll go over strategies that may help individuals who are already employed and why it is so important to be extremely conscientious when filling out forms.

3. Ask your employer for assistance
If you are already a part of the workforce but would like to take continuing education courses, your company may have a program that can help offset graphic design college expenses.

The company sees this as an investment in your future while you gain further knowledge and expertise in your field of design. This becomes a win-win situation for the employer and employee.

There are hundreds of Fortune 500 companies that have education assistance programs for their employees. Check with your supervisor or human resources representative to find out if your firm supports such a program.

4. Something is better than nothing
A parent related this story about their son. He wanted to attend a certain university but knew he nor his parents had the sufficient funds to make his dream come true.

He decided his solution was to apply for scholarships and grants for his education. He sent out over 100 applications to schools, companies and organizations. The result of this was a fully paid college education.

Not everyone is as industrious as this student, but the moral of the story is any amount of financial assistance is better than nothing. And if you apply yourself you may have a significant amount of your educational costs defrayed.

5. Be very thorough
What if a prestigious law firm was looking to hire a front desk receptionist to greet clients and someone appeared at the interview with torn jeans, a dirty jacket, and worn out shoes?

Would the law firm hire this individual? Although the individual may be highly talented with strong people skills our guess is he probably would not get the job.

First impressions set the course for job interviews. This can also be said of scholarship applications. If your scholarship form is messy, incomplete or fails to include necessary documents, this can put your application in the discard pile.

Graphic design school and scholarships
If you are contemplating a career in graphic design or are already working in the industry, scholarship money for your graphic design school education can be of great benefit.

Scholarship funds range from $100 to $10,000 or more, so be sure to apply to as many as you are able for better chances of landing a few of them.