The PC Guide Graphics Contest

As all of my readers know, The PC Guide is primarily a text site. There are a number of reasons for this, and one of them is that I am no artist. :^) I don't plan to load the site down with graphics, but I do have the need for some banners (for advertising the site and doing exchanges with other Web pages) and I also would like a real logo for the front page. So I thought I would run a little contest for my readers, to see if someone with talent in this area could help me out.

Here is what I am looking for:

• A logo for the front page, to go in place of the text "Welcome to The PC Guide!" that I have at the top of the page now. This should be a GIF approximately 400x100 in size, although the size is flexible. It should be transparent to let the background show through, and not too big (in terms of file size).
• A standard size (468x60) advertising banner that has the name "The PC Guide" on it as well as some pleasant graphics and some text briefly describing what the site is about. I mean something like "Comprehensive PC Reference Information" or "Need answers to your PC questions? Try The PC Guide" or something along those lines.
• A similar banner to the one described above, only in the size 400x40 and under 7 KB in size, for the Link Exchange.
• A small 88x31 button for exchanging with other sites.

Here are my goals for the graphics I end up using on the site:

• GIF format for all graphics.
• I prefer the following for a general color theme: white, gray, medium blue and purple. This is just a guideline so don't be afraid to limit it to these or to add additional colors. (I like pastels in general).
• No animation please.
• Please limit to 256 colors per image.
• Smaller is better (to keep load times down).
• I would obviously like the logo and banners to match, to work together in a common theme.

To the winner of the contest go the following spoils:

• A copy of The PC Guide Disk Edition CD-ROM delivered to you wherever you live.
• A permanent "thank you" and link to your web site from my Acknowledgments page.
• The exposure of having your artwork seen thousands of times per day by thousands of people.
• My undying gratitude. :^) Please note that my undying gratitude means that I'll be happy to help you personally with any hardware issues that you may have (within reason :^) ).

Here are the specifics on how the contest will work:

• Anyone who wants to enter can feel free to send me submissions. All artwork submitted must be original and you must be willing to assign right of use for the artwork to me without royalty, for life. You must also grant me the right to make modifications to the artwork as I deem necessary as the requirements of the site change (size, dimensions, etc.). You maintain the copyright on your work of course, I just want to be clear that I don't want anything sent to me that you are going to have a problem with me using or adapting, or that you are going to want to be paid for (other than what I listed above that goes to the winner).
• You do not have to submit all the items I'm looking for (logo, two sizes of banners, button) to enter the contest, though more is preferable.
• The contest officially closes at the end of the year, December 31, 1997, although I reserve the right to extend this.
• I will choose the winner within one week of the end of the contest. Please note that graphics are largely a matter of personal taste, so I'll be choosing in part based on what I happen to like. I hope nobody will be offended if I decide not to use their submission.
• While there will be only one official winner, I will also ask others whose entries I like if I can make use of their entries for additional banners, if they are willing. It's always good to have additional banners and buttons.
• Please do not send any submissions if you are not willing to abide by the conditions of this contest. Please do not send any submissions that contain material copyrighted by others--I have enough problems already without having lawyers to deal with. :^)

My thanks to everyone who takes the time to enter this contest. I appreciate it greatly and it helps support the site in an important way.

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