View Full Version : Local Art Competition
FuzzYspo0N
13-01-2009, 09:30 AM
I dont think anyone should be excluded so here we go!
R3000 in prizes to be won.
Quote from 2go
Hey all artists!
In conjunction with Pixofile, we're hosting a competition with a total of R3,000 in prizes to be won. We're looking for two hot and trendy designs (one skin and one splash screen) for our innovative mobile instant messenger, 2go. Check out our website for more information.
read the full post here :
http://pixofile.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=669&start=0
Feel free to ask questions over on pixofile and dont be shy theres awesome prizes to be won!
Cyberninja
13-01-2009, 10:41 AM
Awesome. I'm gonna enter this comp. Thanks for the link Fuzzy. :)
onona
13-01-2009, 01:37 PM
You know, I really don't want to sound like an *******, but I really hate these types of "competitions". It's really just a company getting cheap labour. If they wanted to hire a professional artist to do this, it would cost them thousands. Instead, they disguise it as a "contest", and for a hell of a lot less money, they get a whole lot of people to submit a variety of designs for them to pick and choose from.
I know you Pixofile folks mean well, but please try to avoid this kind of exploitation in future. The whole "well you'll get a lot of exposure as an artist" justification is bull****. Companies are far too quick to undermine the value of artists and manipulate them with this argument - if you're good at what you do, you deserve to get compensated properly for your work.
Here endeth the rant.
FuzzYspo0N
13-01-2009, 02:04 PM
as a matter of interest onona, they do have hired help to do their artwork, and they do probably plan to pay the good entrants more, to make more skins. Also, we asked them for the community sake (and this goes against what you said) but we did it because which young person who makes some art their spare time wouldnt like R2000 if they win the skin? or R1000 for a splash screen? its really not a full length feature advert they asked for its a small image.
i say its a good deal, and the generic "exploitation" rant doesnt apply because WE approached THEM. If the artists dont want to enter they dont have to... but for the chance to get R2000 for a small piece of art like that, is worth it. Plus, as we are trying to grow a community from nothing its great to have viable companies stepping in and getting involved. Sorry if this offends your view on things but we find it great and we really appreciate the boost it will give the community...and we appreciate the views from the people such as yourself
On another note, i saw cyberninja signed up woot.
sambarino
13-01-2009, 02:08 PM
i'll prolly enter as well, i'll learn alot trying to make my entry so even if i lose i win :)
onona
13-01-2009, 02:35 PM
which young person who makes some art their spare time wouldnt like R2000 if they win the skin? or R1000 for a splash screen? its really not a full length feature advert they asked for its a small image.
These amounts would only be accepted by someone who doesn't know what their skill is actually worth. I wouldn't even switch on my computer for R3000, let alone actually do any work. People need to wake up and realise how valuable their skills are, whether it's done in their free time or not.
i say its a good deal, and the generic "exploitation" rant doesnt apply because WE approached THEM.
I'm not sure how this makes any difference. They're still benefiting in the same way.
If the artists dont want to enter they dont have to... but for the chance to get R2000 for a small piece of art like that, is worth it. Plus, as we are trying to grow a community from nothing its great to have viable companies stepping in and getting involved. Sorry if this offends your view on things but we find it great and we really appreciate the boost it will give the community...and we appreciate the views from the people such as yourself
It's not so much that it offends my views. It's more that it makes me sad that people don't value their own skills and time enough to ensure that they're properly compensated for their time and talent. And it's unfortunate that your attitude is simply enabling this, because you don't seem to know the value of your own skills if you're defending it. I wouldn't participate in something like this, so I can't take offense to it. What I am saying, is you should seriously consider whether you want to do this.
You guys shouldn't be shy to approach companies for actual sponsorship of prizes in future, as opposed to this kind of thing.
Elyaradine
13-01-2009, 02:43 PM
@onona: Noted. As always, I value your opinion.
I just think it's important to consider this from a community point of view. More members, more traffic, more interest? That sounds great to me. Sure, the competition may not cater to everyone's tastes, and pro's may feel that it's not worth their time. That's fine, we still love them, and their competitions will come. Doesn't mean we can't test the waters a bit, gauge how the response is, and move on from there.
Sure, 2go has a lot to gain from this. But really, so does Pixofile as a community. And considering that the canvas size for the entries is minute, and thus requires a relatively short amount of time to complete, it's a quick and easy way to give interface design a go. If you win, awesome! If you don't, you've learnt something. And if you haven't learnt something (because you're, say, super awesome already), then you haven't wasted much time either.
As we grow in membership, skill and funding, we'll have more freedom to be selective with the things we run, as well as give bigger and better rewards and awards. We have to start somewhere. And I do think this is a great start.
And if you have some other way of throwing prizes at people who're just doing what they love doing anyway, I'm all ears.
[edit]
You guys shouldn't be shy to approach companies for actual sponsorship of prizes in future, as opposed to this kind of thing.
What makes me hesitant is the fact that we're still really small. If I'm asking for sponsorship, then I expect to have something to show for it. Like, "Yay, you'll be exposing your brand to a whole lot of people!" And that's not exactly the case here.
[edit2] Of course, I'd love to be wrong here. :D
FuzzYspo0N
13-01-2009, 02:49 PM
a young kid with no experience, no industry knowledge, no work to show except signatures and nothing except ruffled hair could earn the same as you? it makes no sense to me...
onona
13-01-2009, 02:59 PM
a young kid with no experience, no industry knowledge, no work to show except signatures and nothing except ruffled hair could earn the same as you? it makes no sense to me...
You're missing the point, which is that even R3000 is far too little for a job like this. Regardless of an artist's experience, a job like this still has a certain minimum value. I cannot fathom why you're making excuses when you're the one getting the short end of the stick here. Look, you and I are obviously not going to see eye to eye here so I'll drop the issue simply for the sake of not wanting to derail your thread further.
@Elyaradine, I understand you want to expand your community and such. I just feel that there are better ways. Considering my own experience in running the cgtalk forums for many years now, I know a fair bit about growing and expanding an online art community - these days we run huge contests with big prizes, but they weren't always that big. Back in the day, we didn't even have prizes for contests, it was just a community-building exercise, and yet people got really into it. A site will grow naturally if the community itself is a good one - you don't need cash prizes for contests and such at first at all. Perhaps what you should consider is contacting people in the graphic design field (since your site seems very graphic design oriented, as opposed to art in general), and ask them if they'd be interested in judging your contests - this alone can turn the contest into a learning opportunity because people love getting their work seen my pros. Once your community grows larger, you'll be in a position to approach sponsors for prizes - you can always offer advertising space in exchange for this. This is how we did things back in the day on cgtalk.
sambarino
13-01-2009, 03:01 PM
i understand where ur coming from onona, but ur looking at it from the perspective of someone who will get paid R3000 to switch their computer on. if i tried to get paid for graphic work all i'd get is ridiculed as i have zero experience, so for me the reward would be enough attraction to attempt learning something new.
i dont see how this competition is a bad thing at all, there are many comps where the only reward is "well done", how is this different from say a quake 3 tournament that has a cash prize? if you are already a graphic designer then please dont enter it will make it harder for the rest of us and u can make the money urself anyway, but for people who are not in the profession or not at the level where they can get paid this is a GOOD thing. and no amount of ranting is gonna make me stop and think "screw that, 2k? pssh forget that" it's alot of money no matter which way you slice it unless ur one of those people rolling in the dough.
Elyaradine
13-01-2009, 03:03 PM
@onona: Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.
FuzzYspo0N
13-01-2009, 03:06 PM
Either way, we have enough points and counterpoints to move forward..
We dont disregard your view onona, as a legend in your own right we take what you say to heart but we will continue with the competition for the sake of our community (more of a student base, rather then the entire worlds elite artists)...
Thanks for the views guys
SkinkLizzard
13-01-2009, 03:44 PM
not to be an ass and all but shouldn't this rather be in say off topic
as its not really game dev related ?
other wise interesting comp, I think I'll take a bash at being exploited :)
Elyaradine
13-01-2009, 03:46 PM
Game.Dev: Aspiring game developers, artists, programmers and etc.
Mind you, it probably belongs in Competitions (http://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/forumdisplay.php?f=19). :P
FuzzYspo0N
13-01-2009, 04:10 PM
yea, i posted here out of habit... my bad.
dislekcia
13-01-2009, 04:42 PM
This thread is cool here. Lets us all keep track of those with artsy skills for next time we desperately need graphics ;)
Also, while I see Onona's point, I think it's a good idea to get hobbyist artists to get their feet wet. Competitions on a community level are motivation to participate, even CGTalk has competitions that if viewed in sheer monetary terms would equal hundreds of thousands of dollars of wasted billable time.
I can understand the view that IP and skills are valuable. I think the biggest wish I have is that other companies valued them the same way ;) It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario: I get 50 calls a year to "build an FPS game like Crysis" for R10k. But if you don't pick and choose to do a couple of under-paying projects like that, you never get the exposure to grow. I do loads of pro-bono design work, mainly to open doors that I otherwise wouldn't have seen... The trick is managing to ramp up your contribution in terms of offered value. I mean, Aeq and I are basically charging money for ideas, in an industrial paradigm it's hard to both prove that you're good at coming up with rare ideas whilst not giving away ALL the value you could generate in one go.
So, competitions = motivation to get people doing, which is a big issue in SA... Building a measure of perceived value so that companies know what to pay for skills is up to the community leaders and those in the market.
FuzzYspo0N
13-01-2009, 05:35 PM
thanks dis, i totally agree. can you make a crysis type game for me? my mom gives me pocket money on the 22nd :>
Kensei
14-01-2009, 12:05 AM
Edit: Re-read the posts, misunderstood the rant :p
I see the problem is more the exploitation of 'cheap labour'...
Regardless, good luck to those that do decide to enter and definitely good luck to those who take it further and start approaching companies.
From a game dev point of view, it seems that there are so many companies constantly looking for artists.
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