Design Challenge #1 - March 2012 (a little early)

[frogfish]

Welcome to the very first Design Challenge on MouseScrappers!!!

"Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
–Walt Disney

In this challenge, everyone gets to be a designer; every month you participate, you will receive the resulting design challenge collaboration kit (for that month) free of charge and help MouseScrappers in the process! This challenge is open to every MouseScrapper member regardless of prior design/scrapping experience.

At the beginning of each month a color scheme will be posted and MouseScrapper members will have the entire month to create a collection of papers/elements with that color scheme. At the end of the month participating members will submit their items, which will be compiled and distributed as a collaboration kit to MS members who participated in the design challenge that month. The completed kit will then be added to the MouseScrapper store for anyone to purchase. All proceeds from the sale of the kit will be used to keep MouseScrappers running!

Timeline:
Since we are SUPER excited , we are starting March's challenge a little early. Paper/element submissions are due by March 23 (before 11:59 CST). The compiled kit will be distributed at the beginning of April. Starting in April the challenge will follow a slightly different timeline; the full instructions and the official timeline will be posted for the April challenge.

Submission Guidelines:

• You may submit any combination of papers, individual elements (such as ribbons, scatters, frames, etc), word art, alphas, and clusters. You may not submit items for which you do not hold the copyright.
• The minimum number of unique items is 5; the maximum number of unique items is 15. The same paper/element in different colors counts as one. A full alpha fulfills the minimum requirement (counts as 5 items).
• All papers and elements MUST use the provided color swatch—you can use any shade (darker or lighter) of the chosen colors. You may also use these neutral colors: black, white, shades of gray, brown, silver and gold.
• Save your elements/papers at 300ppi and size them appropriately for a 12"x12" layout (don’t make flowers 12"x12", 2"x2" is a more appropriate flower size).
• Make a 12"x12" (300ppi) preview of your submission.
• There is an enforced file size limit of 25 MB for each member’s complete submission to keep download times reasonable. Do not reduce the resolution; increase the compression.
• You must include a TOU/copyright notice in your submission. A basic fill-in-the-blank TOU can be found here if you don’t have one of your own.

IMPORTANT:
You may NOT include:

• Any items trademarked or copyrighted by Disney. This includes but is not limited to names, words, song lyrics, and phrases (for example, you cannot create word art that says “Cinderella”, “Splash Mountain”, “Pop Century”, etc.).
• Photos, clipart, silhouettes, etc. of Disney characters—no Mickey heads either!
• Park, attraction, resort, restaurant, or movie signage/symbols/logos.
• Photos of buildings/structures on Disney property.
• Elements that are too similar to images copyrighted by Disney (for example: you may create a turtle that has similar coloration as Crush, but you may not create one with the same markings, eyes, expression, etc).

Your papers/elements should be useful for Disney layouts without infringing on the copyrights that Disney has on its characters, movies, parks, rides, attractions, etc.
The following website has a searchable database where you can look to see if a name/phrase is trademarked: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp

*** If there are any questions about minimum requirements or copyright infringement, please ask. ***

Free Kit Add-ons:
If you choose to create them, you may use the challenge thread to advertise free kit add-ons but only AFTER the kit has been distributed to the MS contributors. The content you provide for free on your blog is not governed by challenge rules. MouseScrappers will not be held responsible for the content of said kit add-ons that are offered on individual blogs. Free kit add-ons are not required.

Files and Zipped Folder:
To zip files place all your elements and a TOU inside a folder, then zip that folder.
This is automatically creates a folder containing your files in whatever folder the user unzips to.

Naming your files:

Your MS username_DC#_element name
Example: MMouse_DC50_papergreen.jpg

Naming your folder:

Your MS username_DC#
Example: MMouse_DC50

If your username is longer than 8 characters, please use an abbreviation. Avoid using spaces anywhere in the file/folder name.

Uploading Submissions:
Upload your completed submission to the file sharing website of your choice and contact frogfish (Christina) by PM with the link. Submissions will be checked for copyright compliance and size before being added to the collaboration kit.

Layouts:
Although not required, contributing members are encouraged to create and post a layout using the completed kit. What better way to show off the work everyone put into the kit than to use it in a layout! Layouts created using the collaboration kit should be posted in the Design Challenge gallery and the appropriate thread in the forum.

Disclaimer:
Every month you participate in this challenge, you will receive the resulting design challenge collaboration kit (for that month) free of charge, but will receive no compensation (monetary or otherwise) for your submission to the challenge or for the sale of the collaboration kit. Any and all proceeds from the sale of the completed kit go to MouseScrappers. Copyright of your submission remains with you.

Color Swatch for Design Challenge #1 - March 2012

Hex Codes: #f3d11a #d26c1b #ae0a11 #676371 #6e91e5 #1b428d

Here are some suggested uses/themes for this color swatch although you are not limited to them:
Pluto, Donald, Main Street USA, Jammin' Jungle Parade, Stitch (Stitch's Great Escape), Finding Nemo (The Living Seas), Soarin', Downtown Disney, Pin Trading, The Lion King, Liberty Square, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, EPCOT, Snow White, Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Genie (Aladdin), All-Star Movies Resort, Dumbo, UP!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. You DON'T have to be a designer; anyone can do this! The more people who participate, the bigger the monthly kit will be! I can't wait to see all of the wonderful things you create!!!