Welcome!
Submissions will be Wednesday August 1 through Wednesday August 15, 2007.
Voting will begin 12:01am EST Thursday August 16 through 11:59pm EST Thursday August 30, 2007
Welcome to the Hirst Arts Design Derby (HADD). This contest is, thus far, the only one of it's kind specifically relating to Hirst Arts molds and designs. This derby is a contest intended to help generate new ideas and reveal new methods of the use of and for Hirst Arts Silicone molds.
This entire derby is officiated by VOIDGAMERS.COM. Hirst Arts, a.k.a. Bruce Hirst, and/or any other prize sponsor does not have any participation in execution of or the moderating of this contest. However, Hirst Arts does supply a single mold award for the entry with the most votes (and a discount awarded to 2nd and 3rd place entries) at the end of the contest in the current five main (Small, Medium, Large, Unique, and Restricted) categories. Other suppliers are responsible for supplying their stated awards for the categories/conditions for which they sponsor.
Objective:
There is one major objective to sponsoring this derby is to help promote the creative nature and inspiration of those who build and design using blocks created from Hirst Arts Silicone Molds.
The side benefits for such a derby is to help motivate others to new heights of inspiration and documented concepts of design. Sharing your designs will also bring you recognition and a sense of self-satisfaction of designing and creating a new piece of miniature architecture and artwork. Not to mention the possibility of also bringing you the opportunity to win a mold or two for your efforts!
Overview:
The HADD8 contest has five main classes of entries - small, medium, large, unique, and restricted projects.
Each project category has size limits to help categorize which class a project may fall into. If the model is attached to a base, the size includes the base as well. Any project mounted on a round or oblong base should use the diameter of the base as both the width and depth of the entire base.
Small Projects: A small entry might be no more than a total of 20" (which could be a 6" x 6" x 8" or a 4" x 7" x 9", etc.).
Medium Projects: Medium projects would be between 20" and 40"
Large Projects: Large entries would be anything larger than 40"
Unique Projects: No restrictions on size. These projects should show a unique and creative use for the blocks other than model buildings for war games and dioramas. Entrants will judge this category on the unique and original use for the blocks, the amount of work involved and the visual appeal of the work.
Restricted Projects: This category is one which will change from contest to contest. The idea behind it is to propose the building of a special type of project with some form of restriction(s) applied. This could be the most interesting use of a single mold, a specific project based on a real world structure, or something similar. This subject of this category is usually a consensus of those using the Hirst Arts Forum
In the HADD8, this category focuses on the most interesting design based on the incorporation of Mechanical Element(s). The restrictions for this category is as follows:
- You build any creation using any of the molds available from the Hirst Arts lineup.
- The base cannot be more than 12" square.
- The height of the project cannot be larger than 12".
- The project must be constructed of at least 75% Hirst Arts pieces. It's understandable that some sophisticated projects could not all be made of stone (such as the base for the project, or a roof, statues, the mechanical components of the project, etc.)
- The project must include working mechanical apparatus. An example of such an apparatus such as drawbridges, dungeon traps, bridges that lift or any creation that has
working or moving parts included within it.
HADD Derby Dates:
The dates for the acceptance of your submissions will be Wednesday August 1, 2007. The submission window will last eight (15) days to Wednesday August 15, 2007. Voting will begin 12:01am Thursday, August 16, 2007 and last until 11:59pm Thursday August 30, 2007. All times are listed in Easter Standard Time (EST = GMT+5)
In the event of a prize award sponsored by a sponsor other than Hirst Arts, then the winning designer in each class will be contacted informing them of their winning design, and asking for their personal shipping information within 5 business days of the end of the contest. The winning contestants may also be directed in how to go about claiming their prizes such as whom and/or how to contact the sponsor(s). At which time prize(s) will be sent to them directly from Hirst Arts, and/or from the applicable sponsor whichever is appropriate at the time.
HADD Regulations:
The following rules and regulations will apply and are subject to change based on communal contestant review and or correction from mistyped instructions or for a more concise clarification. These rules are also set about as a guideline so there will be some loose interpretations, which I (Scott Spieker) will govern their intentions and meanings if any misunderstandings are created by them.
Each contestant can enter as many designs as they wish in any class in which their project falls - unless otherwise stated (such as in a sponsored category). The more entries, the better the chances of winning, but each entry will be judged separately from any others which have been submitted (i.e. votes are not totaled for all of your submitted projects). Therefore, a winning design will be based on it's own merits rather than as a part of a larger project or collection. Each project can only be entered once in any contest. An assembly of separate projects (such as a wall design that may assist in creating a larger castle) may not be entered separately but must be included in the larger project.
Entries from former HADD contests are not eligible to be resubmitted!
As this is a DESIGN contest with the primary focus on using the Hirst Arts blocks, the project should focus on the design aspect of the project rather than the presentation (however the finishing touches do help to illustrate the design). The use of additional materials for the finished project is entirely acceptable, such as flock, a base, bushes and trees, balsa wood floors, etc. But to have a design based solely on the additional materials would be unacceptable. A project must be comprised of at least 70% or more Hirst Arts blocks. For example, a building with a card roof, or a carved foam base are good examples of the proper use of these additional materials. However, a graveyard where the Hirst Arts blocks are used only as headstones or a model kit being adorned with blocks to spice up the finished look, would not meet the 70% block requirement criteria.
Each entry is intended to be a new design or an addition to an existing design. Examples of an addition to an existing design would be: the addition of the bell tower to the gothic church as one complete design, or the addition of a second level to the dragon inn, or the building of the Parthanon or the Temple of Jupiter using the Roman Temple design plans, etc.
Entry Submissions:
In an effort to keep everyone working on and completing his or her designs, each entry will be submitted privately. By the term privately, I mean that the submissions are not shared with the rest of the contestants or anyone else until the submission deadline is completed. At which time all submissions will then be revealed for review by the other contestants, and the public, however only the contestant votes are eligible for prize awards. Public or 'popular' voting is now supported by way of a rating system (as are all image and article records within the site).
Each contestant will be able to view and edit their own entries prior to the close of the submission period - provided that this level of functionality exists when required. If you need to make a change/fix but cannot seem to make it happen, please contact Scott Spieker to assist you.
Entry Voting & Scoring:
Once all of the submissions are revealed, voting will proceed for a window of time agreed to by all of the contestants, for example - two weeks. Each contestant will have one vote for each category - regardless of the number of entries that contestant submits. Votes can be changed within the voting deadline period.
At the end of the voting period, the design with the highest number of entrant votes in each class will be declared the 'winner' of said class. The number of 'popular' votes in the form of ratings for an entry will have absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the contest.
All votes are final at the end of the competition, and all tallied totals are final and are not subject to refute by other contestants once the voting window expires. The only exception to this rule would be if some form of technical problem were to arise from the use of the web site or the design of the electronic voting process.
I (Scott Spieker) reserve the right to break any and all ties in votes if such a scenario should occur. This clause also includes any and all ties for second and third place entries and any/all categories.
Entrants may not vote for their own entries. This topic had been discussed on the Hirst Arts Forum, and it was agreed that your votes are expected to be objectively cast on other entries.
Prize Awards:
Each main class will be awarded a credit for one mold of the winner's choice from Hirst Arts. NEW:2nd and 3rd place entries in each category will be awarded discounts on their next order with Hirst arts: 2nd place = 50% discount on a single mold purchase, 3rd place - 25% discount on a single mold purchase. A category that only has one entry will only be eligible for the highest prize for that category.
Each winner will then send their mailing information as well as their mold selection to Bruce Hirst of HirstArts.com. Voidgamers.com will confirm the winner's information and forward such information directly to HirstArts.com. It will be the winner's responsibility to contact Hirst Arts to arrange for the selection and shipment of their prize(s).
Main Category Entry Requirements:
A design will need to meet the following minimum requirements for the entry to be included in the contest:
- 1 - Photos of the completed project/design. Different angles of the design, showing as much details as possible. For those of you without a digital camera or access to a scanner, paper photographs are also accepted and will be scanned for inclusion in the web site voting process if you want to mail your submission to me. Please contact Scott Spieker (scspieker@voidgamers.com) for mailing instructions.
- 2 - A description of the molds used to create the design.
- 3 - A set of measurements of the project in H+W+D combination. Although it is not a necessity, a close approximation of the number of blocks used to create the design would be helpful.
- 4 - A comprehensive description of the construction of the design including special materials used in the process. For example, if you used sand paper, sprayed parts with water for some special purpose, filed blocks to a different size or shape, etc.
- Photographic examples of the design/construction process are very helpful and appreciated, but not entirely necessary if the description explains the steps well enough. The documentation should be included in a text format friendly with most computers - i.e. ASCII text, Microsoft Word, RTF, HTML (preferred), etc.
- 5 - Each contestant will need to register as a user of VOIDGAMERS.COM to submit their design(s) and to register their votes. This registration information will remain confidential and will not be shared or sold for any reason. Your registration will then allow you to submit new items to any section of the VOIDGAMERS.COM web site.
- 6 - It would be important to note any and all molds and/or specific parts (i.e. Arrow Slits from the octagon tower mold) of molds used to construct your project in the description of your piece. After all, others may take inspiration from your design and would like to copy it. After all, replication is the sincerest form of flattery...
- 7 - HADD Contest Privacy Statement: By entering a submission to this contest, you are thereby agreeing that your design and informational materials (photographic or otherwise), are considered in the 'public domain'. Therefore, you are granting permission to use, duplicate, or modify your designs, and digitally publish them within the VOIDGAMERS.COM web site or elsewhere - royalty free. You, as the designer, will retain credit for your design by making a submission to this contest. The point of the design derby is to share your ideas with others who could and would want to use them to build similar or duplicates of your designs.
- 8 - 'Custom Blocks' - Many people have talents far beyond the likes of simply casting and assembling blocks into complete works of art. Many of these people go as far as to customize an existing block to fit a particular need or to compensate for the lack of an 'official' Hirst Arts block. These custom blocks may be included in a HADD project as long as the original block had a genesis from a Hirst Arts original - cast from a Hirst Arts mold.
Some examples of such a piece would be an assembly that is molded and recast to re-produce multiples for use in the HADD project, or a single block that has been carved with a different relief than that of the original block (i.e. a 'regular' block is carved into a fieldstone block, etc.)
- 9 - VOIDGAMERS.COM (a.k.a. Scott Spieker), assumes no responsibility for lost, late or misdirected entries or for any computer, online, telephone, or human error or technical malfunctions that may occur. All entries are subject to the terms set forth in the HADD Privacy Statement above. By entering, participants release and hold harmless VOIDGAMERS.COM (a.k.a. Scott Spieker), and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, prize suppliers, sponsor, employees and agents from any and all liability including any injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this sweepstakes/contest or acceptance or use of any prize won, except as may be assumed by any prize supplier under their specific written warranty offered with such prize(s). VOIDGAMERS.COM supplies the pathway and software to allow for such a contest to take place. VOIDGAMERS.COM has absolutely no responsibility in fulfilling prize(s) of any kind unless expressly stated as such here in.
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