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I Want To Hold A 3D Icon Contest!

Hi guys!

I figured general discussion might be the best place for this, but I could be wrong... It has happened once or twice before.

So here's the concept-

I'm about to do a Kickstarter for a fully 3D operating system overlay. It's basically a 3D skin that fits over Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, etc. It doesn't change your OS, it basically just lets you use your computer in 3D.

So far, I have been making all of the objects and icons and whatnot, and while that's fine, it would be awesome to send the project out with some extra themes. Tron, Aquatic, Rustic, STEAMPUNK!?!?!? whatever you like.

And that's where you come in.

You would submit an icon pack of any style, as long as it's under 300 polys per icon. Everything I've made so far uses 200 or less, but we want folks to use their imaginations! A pack would consist of around 4-5 icons, and can be for any Group of Objects you feel inspired to make.

I want to give people an opportunity to have their 3D icons included in our system. The contest would basically accept the top three entries, or more if we really like them.

These three winners would have their icon(s) added to our project,and would also get a free copy of it once it's done.

I don't know exactly how to begin doing this, so I welcome any feedback.

I need to know things like:
1. Do I organize the contest myself, or is it polycount's gig?
2. Should entries be creative commons? What's the deal on that? I wouldn't think folks would be in to that, but my boss wants to know.

Anyhow, here's a quick example of what you'd put into an icon pack!

[SKETCHFAB]2ec5f99d6d8e4e16a8ab210bf55d7297[/SKETCHFAB]

[SKETCHFAB]06683804f1a449f6a6d174756d39f85e[/SKETCHFAB]

These two icons are used to replace things like My Computer and My Photos. In this series we would need:

My Computer
My Documents
My Images/Photos
My Music
My Movies
My Downloads
My Desktop

SO basically, find a group of similar icons, and make a theme pack!

Here's a video of the system at work! It's called 3Dos, and it's been a crazy ride!!! ENJOY!

http://youtu.be/UGJdK5I4MRg

Replies

  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    "Do my work so I can get money via kick starter and you'll get a copy"

    Is how I read this post.
  • ysalex
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    ysalex interpolator
    Yeah this is extremely ridiculous. A "contest" where users submit work to make the contest organizer money, where if you "win", you don't even get compensation.

    People who ask for free work drive me nuts, 10x so if you're asking a group of people to compete for that free work. How crazy ARE people?
  • havenisle
    ysalex wrote: »
    Yeah this is extremely ridiculous. A "contest" where users submit work to make the contest organizer money, where if you "win", you don't even get compensation.

    People who ask for free work drive me nuts, 10x so if you're asking a group of people to compete for that free work. How crazy ARE people?


    Ok, thanks for the response.

    I told my boss it would be received this way, but since when do employers do what the art team says?

    The compensation for the winners would be a free copy of the project, plus the "Ability to have their artwork shown to the world."

    Let's get some more comments! If this is just a universally bad idea, I'd like to be able to go back to the office with a reason why it would or wouldn't work.
  • havenisle
    Mr.Moose wrote: »
    "Do my work so I can get money via kick starter and you'll get a copy"

    Is how I read this post.

    Thank you for responding.

    Just to clarify, the winners would be getting a free copy of the software. But to be honest, I think you're justified in feeling that way. I told my boss is was a bad idea, but my opinions are totally listened to and respected.
  • SnowInChina
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    SnowInChina interpolator
    its really simple why this doesnt work

    you want others to do free labor for your company, so the company can earn money with it.
  • Eric Chadwick
    Moved to the appropriate forum.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    I suppose you'd have to explain to your boss that artists dislike doing work for free because it is not only considered insulting, but that time could be spent doing actual paid work.

    Generally speaking, free software compensation would only work if its software that the artists competing would want/need. I'm not saying your software is bad or anything, but there are many contests where the prizes offered include commercial licenses to popular software such as Substance Designer or 3D packages.

    In terms of getting your work seen by the world, artists can simply spend time making artwork then post it on popular art communities such as Polycount or deviantArt, or even submit it to a site like reddit where they would likely receive even more attention. How many users of this software will say "Wow, that's a great logo for [insert software here]! I wonder who the artist behind it is!" Compare that to an artist posting on Polycount whose work could be seen by a potential employer that will be willing to contact them for a paid position.

    I'd suggest having a talk with your boss in terms of upgrading the prizes if you want this to work better as a contest, or alternatively, just hire people to make logos. I'm not a business guy so I can't say which one will be better for the company.
  • mister_s
    havenisle wrote: »
    Ok, thanks for the response.

    I told my boss it would be received this way, but since when do employers do what the art team says?

    The compensation for the winners would be a free copy of the project, plus the "Ability to have their artwork shown to the world."

    Let's get some more comments! If this is just a universally bad idea, I'd like to be able to go back to the office with a reason why it would or wouldn't work.

    If it's your "boss" that is asking then why does your profile say "Join my Kickstarter!" and then have a link to this exact project?
  • havenisle
    mister_s wrote: »
    If it's your "boss" that is asking then why does your profile say "Join my Kickstarter!" and then have a link to this exact project?

    It's in my profile because I spent the last year of my life working on this project, from concept to beta. I want it succeed. However, the contest was the boss' idea, not mine.
  • havenisle
    its really simple why this doesnt work

    you want others to do free labor for your company, so the company can earn money with it.

    I really didn't come at it from the angle of free labor.

    Over the last 11 months, I have created over 136 fbx assets for this project.

    I was okay to adding variety, and maybe because I like the product, I figured I would let anybody else who wanted to kill some time have fun with it too.

    I mean, how many barrels and chests get made in the name of posting to the forum?

    At any rate, I've told my boss that I refused to push the contest. Making him happy is not worth becoming blacklisted in the 3D community.

    So there's going to be this 3D system that may sweep the nation, and only my models will be in it. I guess that's cool.
  • havenisle
    Moved to the appropriate forum.

    thank you for taking me to the right place.
  • havenisle
    NegevPro wrote: »
    I'm not a business guy so I can't say which one will be better for the company.

    Me niether, man.

    I told the boss that this was a bad idea from the start, that we needed to wait until after the kickstarter was done and we had money for decent prizes.

    And look at it from my perspective- A contest like this is like literally fishing for my replacement, is it not?

    If I didn't like the project I probably would have walked a long time ago.
  • havenisle
    NO MORE CONTEST

    Sorry guys, if we make a bunch of money on Kickstarter, I promise to come back with some really good prizes.

    I value the opinions of this forum, and I thank everyone who gave feedback in this matter! This whole project has been a frustrating ordeal, but I at least learned some valuable life lesson. Get a contract. Don't poke hungry tigers. A yellow snowcone could just be yellow snow. Sometimes "Carpe Diem," lands you in the hospital with a concussion and displaced vertebrae. What else? Ah, slow down for pedestrians. I like that one.
  • [Deleted User]
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    [Deleted User] insane polycounter
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • mister_s
    havenisle wrote: »
    So there's going to be this 3D system that may sweep the nation, and only my models will be in it. I guess that's cool.

    All the flailing was funny, but this quote was the best.
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