2012 Badge Contest
Hello artists! If you are reading this, it means you are getting ready to create some wonderful art work for this year’s Phoenix Comicon badge contest! This year we are going to make it so easy to be involved that we are going to provide you templates and information of all you will need. So get out your superhero, anime, sci-fi, horror and zombie art and anything else you could imagine and throw them on a badge!
Dates
1/9/12 Badge Art Contest Opens
2/26/12 Badge Art Submission Closes
3/5/12 Badge Art Voting Begins
3/25/12 Badge Art Voting Ends
4/2/12 Badge Art Winners Announced
Objective
Create one or more art pieces for badges that will be used by guests, volunteers, staff and members of Phoenix Comicon.
Rules & Information
1. Final art pieces must be in the dimensions of 4.25x3.25” and 4.25x7.25” (templates will be provided to show where art area will be displayed).
2. All art work must be 300dpi before submitting for judging. (Anything lower will be rejected)
3. Two styles of badges will be created; we encourage artists to create their pieces to fit both vertical and horizontal.
4. Be sure to list all names of those involved in badge creation, as they will have credit on the back of each badge.
5. File formats accepted: .eps, .pdf, ai, .jpg, .tif, .psd, png.
6. Keep art family friendly and non-offensive (No nudes)
7. Please do no add text or the Phoenix Comicon logo to art work. (We will add that below)
8. Please note that the smaller badges will be horizontal displayed and the 4x7 badges will be vertically displayed. If you submit a vertical 3x4, it will not be accepted.
Download Badge Pack Here! Includes contest info in .pdf, templates in psd and pdfs.
Submission Your Artwork!
1) Log into your Phoenix Comicon account: https://phoenixcomicon.com/
2) On your dashboard (homepage), click the "Change my dashboard" link in the top left corner of the page
3) Make sure that the "Badge Art Contest" panel is visible, then click Save
4) The contest panel will now be visible on your dashboard.
5) You can submit up to 3 entries
6) Your art must meet the following specifications:
300dpi
4.25in x 3.25in or 4.25in x 7.25in
JPG, TIF, EPS, PNG or PDF
The Importance of Using High Resolution (300 D.P.I.) Images for Printing
Scanning Images:
Importing Images from a Digital Camera:
Resampling and Interpolation - Why Resizing isn't the answer
When designing digital files intended for offset printing, it is essential that all of the photographs and images in your in files are high resolution. If you have ever seen printed material that contains blurry or blocky images which often provides a bad presentation, it was likely caused by incorporating low resolution images. Ensuring a high quality printed job is as simple as making sure all photos and images in your digital files are all high resolution. The information below covers the specific differences between the two and how to avoid problems.
Often, you will require custom images pertaining to your own business or industry and you may have physical photos you would like to first scan then import into your design program. This is a perfectly acceptable method of acquiring high resolution images, just be sure to scan your photos in high resolution to begin with. All scanning software allows you to specify the resolution of image you would like to scan. Selecting 300dpi (or higher) as your scanning resolution will provide you with an excellent quality image for printing purposes.
Many graphic designers use images from a digital camera such as the example catalog image to the right. This organization needed images specific to their facility so a digital camera was the best choice. There is really only one thing you need to know to ensure you are using a high resolution image. The only real difference between a high and low resolution image is the amount of pixels/dots (DPI) that are used to create the image. With this in mind, the high mega pixel camera you have taking the picture, the higher resolution the photos will be. Most cameras that can take photos above 3 mega pixels should be more than adequate to provide you with high resolution images. Keep in mind that you must have your camera set to the highest possible resolution when capturing your images.
All artwork design programs allow you to resize an image you are working on, but it's important to understand why simply resizing a low resolution image will not produce a true high resolution image. When you resize and make a low resolution image larger to meet the commercial printing specifications of 300DPI, all you are really doing is stretching the image. The technical term is called either resampling or interpolation. Since high resolution images are based upon the number of pixels an image contains, resizing will not create new pixels, information of your images and will only make each pixel larger by stretching it. The only way to ensure picture perfect high quality printing of your photos and images is to start with a high resolution image obtainable by the methods mentioned above.
