Tad Kubler To Judge 2011 Album Cover Design Contest!
April 4th, 2011
We’ve been thrilled with the level of creativity and design prowess we’ve seen on Figment over the past year. In short, all of our players have upped their game, and we’ve enjoyed seeing the results! So as we kick off our 3rd Annual Figment Album Cover Design contest we’re excited to see what our players will come up with for this year’s contest!
For those of you who are visiting Figment for the first time or just recently became a player, our Album Cover Design Contest is arguably the biggest contest we hold all year here on Figment. It’s a competition to see who can design the best album cover for their fake band. Whether you have mad design chops or just a great imagination and a clear concept, you’ve got a chance to win, and winning has it’s perks.
We’re proud to have Adobe, the leader in digital media creation and editing products, team with us for the 3rd straight year to supply our winner with Photoshop CS5 Extended. In addition, we’ll outfit the winner with a brand spanking new Figment t-shirt as well as 1,000 pieces of lucre.
We’re also excited to announce our judge for this year’s contest. In the past we’ve asked album cover designers to judge the contest, but this year we decided to take a slightly different tack and enlist a musician. After all, who do album cover designers ultimately have to please? The band, right? So we went out and got one of our favorite musicians, Tad Kubler, to be the guest judge. Tad is the lead guitarist for indie rock band The Hold Steady, and has had a hand in the design and layout of several of the band’s releases. In addition, he is a talented photographer, who has snapped pictures for his band and many others. Tad will be lending his expertise as a musician, photographer, and designer, to pick a winner and 2 runners up.
So how does the contest work? Quite simply, we’re looking for the best original album cover design. Sure, technical design skill is a plus, but we’re ultimately looking for an album cover that grabs our attention. Last year the winner was javdoc for the album cover he designed for his band Zeroth’s single “Crytonomicon”. William Schaff, last year’s judge, explained his choice this way:
Imagine that you and I are were hitting the yard sales on a bright Saturday morning. Our goal that day is to purchase an album that we know nothing about. The band’s genre isn’t what is affecting our choice, because we don’t know the band. What they sound like doesn’t matter because we’re looking to meet something new. So we’re going strictly on what strikes our visual fancy. Now you and I may have disagreement on what those criteria are, but lucky me! I get to be the fellow who says what gets chosen. If I was at a yard sale and had only these ten records to chose from, Zeroth would catch me the most, because it is unclear what exactly is going on. I see numbers, I see letters that don’t make sense to me. Yes, the word “Zeroth” is at the bottom, but it is pales in comparison to everything else going on. It has me curious! I am assuming it may be some sort of detailed, electronic music (which I am able to enjoy at times) but I am not sure. That uncertainty has me wanting to check it out. Neat!
So how will the judging work? The initial round of judging will be done by the Figment staff who will pick the Top 10 covers that they think merit being considered by Tad Kubler. Tad will then pick a winner and 2 runners up from that Top 10.
As we mentioned above, the winner will receive a copy of the premier 3D graphic design software on the market, Photoshop CS5-Extended courtesy of Adobe, a prize worth $1,000 alone! But it doesn’t end there, because we’ll match it with 1,000 pieces of Lucre to spend on Figment, and a brand spanking new Figment t-shirt.
The runners up will each receive 750 and 500 pieces of lucre respectively, and we may have a few other prizes to throw into the mix soon enough, so we’ll keep you posted!
So now that you know what’s at stake, what do you need to do to enter? Here are the basic rules of the contest:
1. You must be a registered Figment user to participate. If you don’t currently have a Figment account please click here to create one. This contest is open to Figment users worldwide.
2. Create a fake band on Figment and release an album (EP or singles are also eligible) with cover art. The band and album must be fake, and not artwork for a real band. You may also release an album by an existing fake band that you created on Figment. To be considered, any album entry must contain song titles. Even though they won’t be the focus of our judging, any album that is released without any song titles will be disqualified. Once you have released an album you want to submit as an entry please post the band, album name, and the URL to the album’s page on Figment as a comment to this post, so that we and other users can check it out. If you don’t post that information as a comment to this post your entry will not be considered eligible.
3. Any artwork used in the creation of your album cover should either be original or at least one you have the permission of the copyright owner to use. If you do use someone else’s work you need to make it your own by adding text, altering it through manipulation or doing something else that makes it your own. Any album designs that are judged as being a copy of an existing work will be disqualified. We will also disqualify any album cover that is offensive in nature – sexist, racist or hate-based.
4. You may enter as many album covers as you like. If you would like to enter an album cover you have already released on Figment, please note that you may only enter album covers created since January 1, 2011. Any album covers entered that were released before Jan. 1, 2011 will not eligible.
4. The contest will run from Monday, April 4, 2011 until Friday, June 3, 2011. All submissions must be posted by no later than 11:59 pm ET on Friday, June 3, 2011.
5. By no later than, Friday, June 10, 2011 Figment will select the Top 10 album covers and send them to Tad Kubler for his review. Tad will judge the Top 10 covers and select a winner and two runners up. The winner and runners up will be announced on Friday, June 17, 2011.
As we stated earlier, this is one of the biggest contests we run on Figment and we’re thrilled to have Tad Kubler on-board to be the ultimate judge. So really pull out all the stops and try to create an album cover design that you think captures your fake band’s aesthetic. We look forward to your submissions.
If you’d like to read the full contest rules you can access them at: http://figment.cc/content/pdf/2011_Album_Cover_Design_Contest_Rules.pdf
April 4th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Ok, kicking things off here….
‘Concentric Horizons’ by Zeroth
http://www.figment.cc/albums/3092/concentric-horizons.fig
April 4th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
I have a question. I designed the cover for “Pandaemonium” by Sound of Fury by myself. The album belongs to Algoreyou, but he enlisted me to design the artwork. Can I enter “Pandaemonium”s cover as an entry for myself seeing as I designed it?
April 4th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Childofalma, if it were up to me, I’d let you enter Pandaemonium because it only seems fair. Anyway, I’m really excited this year because I already have a few great albums with awesome art already out this year, but I’ll be sure to enter more. Good luck everyone, let the games begin…
April 4th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
I would like to submit “EPIC!” by Eccentric Arcade. I’m still really proud of how that cover turned out. I worked on that cover for at least two months before I got it just how I wanted it.
April 4th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
frizbee and every one else please make sure to include the URL to you album page to make it easier for everyone to check your entry out.
April 4th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
ChildofAlma, thanks for your question. We’re fine with you submitting the cover as an entry as long as you have the permission of the person who commissioned the cover – in this case algoreyou. While it is definitely your design, you did agree to do it for someone else and by right they may feel a sense of ownership as well. My guess is that they will have no issue with you entering it, but if they do, you’ll have to honor their wishes.
April 4th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Thank you Eric
April 4th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Childofalma, Pandaemonium’s art is all yours; feel completely free to enter it.
April 4th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
I would like to submit “The Name of Freedom” by Anton Vukasin
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4155/the-name-of-freedom.fig
April 4th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
My first entry will be “Taking Down An Empire” by Stonekrank
http://figment.cc/albums/3937/taking-down-an-empire.fig
April 4th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Whoops. My bad.
“EPIC!” by Eccentric Arcade
http://figment.cc/albums/3345/epic.fig
April 4th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Thanks Algoreyou,
“Pandaemonium” by Sound of Fury
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4546/pandmonium.fig
April 5th, 2011 at 8:51 am
Vorpal Queen – Psychedelicatessen
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4180/psychedelicatessen.fig
Lucifer and the Long Pigs – The Road to Helldorado
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4149/the-road-to-helldorado.fig
Mortimer C. Klaxton and His Big Damn Steam Band – Powerhouse EP
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4430/powerhouse-ep.fig
Janissary – ashes from a witch burned at the stake LP
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4569/ashes-from-a-witch-burned-at-the-stake-lp.fig
Body.Rhythm.Machine – Confirm Range to Target
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4183/confirm-range-to-target.fig
April 5th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
“Fragment Shelter” by Fragment Shelter
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4301/fragment-shelter.fig
April 6th, 2011 at 10:04 am
My comment might have been flagged as spam due to the multiple URLs. Can you guys check? When I tried to post it again, I got a message saying, “It looks like you’ve already posted this.”
April 6th, 2011 at 10:37 am
formerwageslave – it had been flagged as spam, so in the future I recommend posting entries individually. Thanks.
April 6th, 2011 at 11:08 am
“Killing a Symbol” by Old Republic
http://figment.cc/albums/4218/killing-a-symbol.fig
April 12th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
TOP SCORES: The Best of Eccentric Arcade
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4598/top-scores-the-best-of-eccentric-arcade.fig
April 12th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
“Gods & Cowards” by Devil’s Playground
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4275/gods-cowards.fig
April 12th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
“Born Fighting” by Sleeping Through The Apocalypse
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4276/born-fighting.fig
April 12th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
“Infamous” by Drifter
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4161/infamous.fig
April 12th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
“Not Your Sweetheart” by Cindy Wright
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4277/not-your-sweetheart.fig
April 12th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
“Judgment Day” by Gravestompers
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4389/judgment-day.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
“I Am War-Machine [Single]” by Sinthetic
http://figment.cc/albums/4380/i-am-war-machine-single.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
“Into Abyss I: Spirit Sword” by Wakizashi
http://figment.cc/albums/4165/into-abyss-i-spirit-sword.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
“Of Shadows Born” by Disfigura
http://figment.cc/albums/4090/of-shadows-born.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
“2.0″ by The Forgotten Falling
http://figment.cc/albums/4215/20.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
“INFINITYCODE” by Manta Rey
http://figment.cc/albums/4100/infinitycode.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
“The Funeral Chronicles” by Sanguine Symphony
http://figment.cc/albums/3967/the-funeral-chronicles.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
“NEUROSTASIS” by Sinthetic
http://figment.cc/albums/4234/neurostasis.fig
April 13th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Midnight Sons by Deadmen Militia
http://figment.cc/albums/4186/midnight-sons.fig
April 18th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
“Psycho Circus” by The Phony Fakers
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4485/psycho-circus.fig
April 18th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
“Saturday Night Appetite” by Firecharged!
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4519/saturday-night-appetite.fig
April 18th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
“Nothing Short of Killer EP” by Midnight Cheerleader Rebels
http://figment.cc/albums/4618/nothing-short-of-killer-ep.fig
April 18th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Just a heads up, but there’s already a KISS album called “Psycho Circus”.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:19 am
Frizbee – I had no idea. Thanks for the warning though. I must be honest by saying that I came up with that album title last minute, it sounded good. Too bad it was already taken. It did sound a little too good to be true.
April 20th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
@TMTYTF – Man, that’s laughable. It’s called doing some copyright research before you commit plagarism. For instance, as you just did with your use of Hard Rock Cafe Oslo’s hard-rocking fetus image on the latest Stonekrank cover. I wonder how they’d feel about that one?
I won’t even touch the whole “Black Album”, “White Album” nonsense….
April 21st, 2011 at 12:24 am
@javdoc – Just let it go man.
@TMTYTF – Don’t respond. Don’t let this feud start up again here.
Please, please, just for once would someone let the name/picture thing slide! For one thing, there are such things as different albums with the same name, such as the album name “Revolution”, 14 different musicians have used it. As for the artwork thing, some users are not professional artists; they can’t create amazing artwork all the flick of the wrist, so they have to make do. Just respect the effort at least; you don’t have to “buy” it.
This really needed to be said.
April 21st, 2011 at 7:24 am
@whoeverthatwaswho’stooafraidtousetheirname – Nah, I don’t think I want to let it go. It’s a culmination of watching this guy spam, needle and browbeat other players for the last two years, while he contiunes to blatantly use other people’s artwork with little or no modification aside from slapping the title/name on. And, what just transpired above is particularly ironic, as TMTYTF seems to take it upon himself to police the song or album titles other players use, but when he’s called out on it, he pleads ignorance. The point is, there’s a steady theme of plagarism running through his stuff and if any real band(s) carried on like that, they’d be getting sued left and right. Just tired of watching this continue to play out unchecked.
April 21st, 2011 at 8:05 am
I concur
April 21st, 2011 at 8:52 am
“Psychopomp” by Mescaline Kimono
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4167/psychopomp.fig
April 21st, 2011 at 8:52 am
“Pedal” by Calavera Electrica
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4625/pedal.fig
April 21st, 2011 at 8:53 am
“Detritivore” by Shroomurai
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4490/detritivore.fig
April 21st, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Theuserwhowishestoremainanonymous, I understand your side of the argument. Nobody wants things to escalate into a blowout, but I completely agree with everything Javdoc said. TMTYTF has abused the rules of Figment for quite a long time, and many other players are sick of it. I understand your point about album names being used by multiple bands, but there’s a limit. When it’s something that anybody could pull out of thin air like “Revolution” then it’s easy to let it slide, but when it’s something well known like “Psycho Circus”, you can’t really look the other way on that. And like Javdoc said, TMTYTF is always the first person to claim someone else has ripped him off, but when he blatantly does it he acts innocent.
As far as the album art, the rules of Figment clearly state that if you’re going to use artwork that is not of your own creation, then you must at least alter it in some way to make it original. Simply slapping a band name or album title on the image doesn’t count. I realize that not everyone has access to programs like Photoshop, but there are plenty of other players on Figment who create great works of art with what they have available. theHoseman creates some fantastic album covers using free software and sometimes even cutting and pasting images together and photographing them. However, TMTYTF clearly just grabs random images from Google and adds some text using Paintshop.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:50 pm
“Rock On” by Stonekrank
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4289/rock-on.fig
April 22nd, 2011 at 8:49 pm
“Natural Machine” by Archers Storm
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4563/natural-machine.fig
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:18 pm
“Utopiate” [single], by Zeroth:
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4432/utopiate-single.fig
April 25th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
“This Is Livin’” by Johnny Steele
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4501/this-is-livin.fig
April 25th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
“False Fiber Optic Idols” by Steel Beneath Flesh
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4641/false-fiber-optic-idols.fig
April 28th, 2011 at 10:19 am
“Twang Your Head {strummin’ health} by Sludge Cartwright
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4191/twang-your-head-strummin-health.fig
April 28th, 2011 at 10:22 am
“Heard In Montreux” by Massey Ferguson’s Stampeding Heard
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4395/heard-in-montreux.fig
April 28th, 2011 at 10:24 am
“Wabi Sabi Bang Bang” by Zandergriff Miggs & the Parliament of Owls
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4511/wabi-sabi-bang-bang.fig
April 28th, 2011 at 10:25 am
“Shattered Circuits” by Van Q
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4545/shattered-circuits.fig
April 28th, 2011 at 10:27 am
“Revolutionary Leap” by Zandergriff Miggs & the Parliament of Owls
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4629/revolutionary-leap.fig
April 30th, 2011 at 6:56 am
‘Metamorphexistence’ by Voynix:
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4630/metamorphexistence.fig
April 30th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
“White Widow” by Whispers to the Fallen:
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4285/white-widow.fig
May 3rd, 2011 at 5:38 pm
“Return” by The Dark Immortal
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4387/return.fig
May 6th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
‘Flip’ by Kaliclysm:
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4361/flip.fig
May 9th, 2011 at 6:38 am
“Prayer For Oxygen [Single]” by The Forgotten Falling:
http://figment.cc/albums/4671/prayer-for-oxygen-single.fig
May 10th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Black Angel by Gravestompers
http://figment.cc/albums/4579/black-angel.fig
May 10th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
“Hemingway’s Lemonade” by Coxswain Insignia
http://figment.cc/albums/4590/hemingways-lemonade.fig
May 12th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
“Wicked Wasteland (Single)” by Stonekrank
http://figment.cc/albums/4657/wicked-wasteland-single.fig
May 13th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
“Lust for the Chaste” by Obliterati
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4678/lust-for-the-chaste.fig
May 18th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Midnight Cheerleader Rebels
http://figment.cc/albums/4497/midnight-cheerleader-rebels.fig
May 24th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
“The Next Victim” by Devil’s Playground
http://www.figment.cc/home/viewalbum.fig?id=4619
May 24th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
‘Radiant’ by Crashing Institute:
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4323/radiant.fig
May 29th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
“Serenity” by Shane Osiris
http://www.figment.cc/home/viewalbum.fig?id=4500
May 30th, 2011 at 8:44 am
“Out of the Picture” by Let’s Not and Say We Did
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4483/out-of-the-picture.fig
May 30th, 2011 at 8:46 am
“Wilde Dreams” by Let’s Not and Say We Did
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4360/wilde-dreams.fig
May 30th, 2011 at 8:49 am
“Tin Man” by Let’s Not and Say We Did
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4608/tin-man-ep.fig
May 31st, 2011 at 12:23 pm
“Siren” by The Forgotten Falling
http://figment.cc/albums/4705/siren.fig
June 2nd, 2011 at 12:00 am
“Iris” [Single] by Zeroth:
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4431/iris-single.fig
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:02 am
Would just like to note, there is some fantastic work in here – really stunning stuff, and very varied. I don’t envy Tad having to pick a winner out of all this. Or, even the Figment staff having to narrow it down to 10. Good luck guys!
And nice work by everyone who’s submitted.
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:08 pm
“Cursed” by Sleeping Through The Apocalypse
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4556/cursed.fig
June 3rd, 2011 at 1:37 pm
“Requiem” by Stonekrank
http://figment.cc/home/viewalbum.fig?id=4440
June 3rd, 2011 at 4:51 pm
“Interstellar Love Triangle” by Manifold Spaceport
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4633/interstellar-love-triangle.fig
June 3rd, 2011 at 4:53 pm
“Wow & Flutter” by Stalker Channing
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4469/wow-flutter.fig
June 3rd, 2011 at 4:55 pm
“Up the Creek [12" single]” by Zandergriff Miggs & the Parliament of Owls
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4530/up-the-creek-12-single.fig
June 3rd, 2011 at 4:59 pm
“Arthur Nouveau” by Van Q
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4661/arthur-nouveau.fig
June 3rd, 2011 at 5:00 pm
“[self titled]” by the Professor & Mary Ann
http://www.figment.cc/albums/4732/self-titled.fig
June 3rd, 2011 at 8:07 pm
I agree with Javdoc. May the best man/woman win…
June 5th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry. The deadline for entries passed at midnight ET on Friday night, so please no more entries.