OSA Contest: "Enter the Scaretale"

[C.]

Greetings Oceansouls,

Oceansouls of America is pleased to present our first contest in 7 years!

Whenever the band tours North America for a new album, OSA creates custom shirts for fans to wear at the shows. Demand for a new batch of t-shirts has grown since our popular DPP shirt from '07. We have been waiting for a new tour to make our new t-shirts, so we want to kick off the Imaginaerum North American tour in style with brand-new OSA t-shirts...except this time, we want our fellow Oceansouls to help in the way our new t-shirts will look. We're looking at all you Oceansouls out there with artistic/creative talent who have been looking for an opportunity to design something! This is your fan club, these are your shirts; so take part in helping us design our new shirts, and win some goodies while you're at it!

To welcome the Imaginaerum tour back to North America, our "theme" is called "Enter the Scaretale". So let your imagina(erum)nation run wild...think spooky, creepy, dark and dismal. Think Halloween, ghost stories, etc. (listen to the song "Scaretale" or read the lyrics to really get your creativity flowing!). Your designs can be in either black-and-white or color, whichever you choose. Be sure to incorporate in your design the OSA logo: "Oceansouls of America; The North American Nightwish fan club". The design will be for the front of the shirt only; the back will feature the North American tour dates, as is customary with all of our OSA shirts.

You can get as creative as you'd like, and there are plenty of free programs online such as GIMP, or programs on your computer such as Paint or PhotoShop, where you can create your design. You may also draw by hand and submit a scan of your drawing through the Contact feature on the site. You can use sites such as PicResize.com if your picture is extremely large. If you do not have access to a scanner or cannot use the paint programs online, please send us an e-mail and we will try to assist you. If you need to find particular fonts (such as the Shelley Volante "Nightwish" font), send an e-mail to us and we will help. Once your design is finished, e-mail a .jpg or .gif file to us and we will upload it on the site for all to see!

The rules for entry submission: designs can be scary or eerie, but nothing macabre or violent (i.e., blood and guts). Designs must be tasteful (no gratuitous sex or violence). Designs must be your own original work, or you must have permission to use the imagery/artwork of anything in your design that is not your original creation. You must be a member of the OSA website to join. You can use the "join site" feature on the front page to make a username/password; after the site admins approve you, then you will be a member of the site. When you are ready to submit your design, send an e-mail through the "Contact OSA" tab on the site, your entry will be uploaded to the site. You may also use the Contact feature to ask for help with uploading your design. You can submit up to two (2) designs. Entries can be submitted starting June 1st, and the deadline is July 15th. Any entries submitted after July 15th will not be counted. Photos of the designs will be available on this page, on our forum in the designated topic, and on our Facebook for everyone to view.

How will the winner be decided? Because this is your fan club, so your fellow Oceansouls will take part in helping choose their design by voting for the one they like best! The voting process will begin on July 16th and end on July 31st. You will have three (3) voting options: through the OSA site, through our forum on UltimateMetal in the poll topic designated for the contest, or through our Facebook page. You may have one (1) vote in each area, so you can vote up to three (3) times. We want as many people to vote, so we have more than one option for voting, for those who do not have Facebook or who do not visit our forum. Once the voting process ends on July 31st, the votes will be tallied and the design with the most votes is the clear-cut winner!

Members of the OSA Council (i.e., website coordinators/forum moderators/Facebook staff) cannot participate in the contest, and cannot participate in the voting process except in the instance of a tie, in which case they will only be allowed one (1) vote each via either website/forum/Facebook page.

So what's in store for the winner? Thanks to donations from fellow Oceansouls, as well as our friends at Roadrunner Records, Sonic Cathedral, and Bazillion Points, we have a very nice prize waiting for the creative Oceansoul who comes up with the design for our "Enter the Scaretale" OSA shirts. The winner will receive the following:
*One (1) OSA "Enter the Scaretale" t-shirt designed by you.
*An autographed Imaginaerum CD, signed by all 5 members.
*A copy of the Once Upon a Nightwish book.
*A promo poster of the Once Upon a Nightwish book cover, exclusively from Bazillion Points.

Runner-ups (2nd & 3rd place) will each receive a Sonic Cathedral t-shirt and a special edition Imaginaerum CD. Other entrants will receive a Sonic Cathedral "Sirens" CD for their participation. Once the t-shirts are printed, everyone else will be able to purchase them through our site in plenty of time for the North American tour, so you can wear your OSA shirts at the Nightwish shows and seek out your fellow Oceansouls at the gigs!

Good luck, everyone! Be creative, have fun, and "Enter the Scaretale"...

The OSA Council

*Special thanks to our friends at Roadrunner Records, Sonic Cathedral, and Bazillion Points!
**Extra-special thanks to Taimi for coming up with the "Enter the Scaretale" concept, and to Desi for donating the signed Imaginaerum CD!

Submitted designs become property of the OSA and are not to be used without permission.

[BaraHime]

Can you design more than one? Or is it one design per person?

[C.]

Two designs per person. Can be either black-and-white or color, or both. Be sure to sign up to the OSA site (the one my banner below takes you to); once you're registered, you're qualified to enter!

[BaraHime]

I'm signed up, but it never lets me log in. guess I'll try again. Yeah, it still wont let me log in, and when I try to reset my password it just shows an error when I click the link. What the heck?

[C.]

Just PM me what your username is or the e-mail you used, and I'll check to see what's up.

Edit: I sent you a message with what I think the problem might be; let me know if that worked.

[~Night*Star~]

I was wondering, can you also participate in this really cool competition as a 'non-American'?

[C.]

^Yes, you may. As long as you are registered to the OSA site you are qualified to enter.

If you are already registered there, just specify what your username/e-mail is when you send off your entry.

[Angel of Grief]

Hello guys from America!

Where can I find already uploaded designs? And what should be included at the back side (expect tour dates, of course).

[C.]

There haven't been any entries yet; they will be posted here in this thread, on the site, and the Facebook page. You have until July 15th to create your design and send it to us. You also need to be registered to the OSA site (click the top banner in my sig to get there). Once you are registered, you will get a reply e-mail with further info (namely the e-mail address where you will send your entry to, as well as contact info in case you need any assistance with submitting your design). If you are already registered to the site, send me a Private Message here at this forum with the username/e-mail you registered with, and then I will e-mail the info to you.

You can design the back however you like; just make sure the North American tour dates are included and it says "Imaginaerum North American Tour 2012: Enter the Scaretale".

Please remember that you must register to the site first, or send an entry e-mail to us first! Attachments cannot be sent via the "Contact OSA" tab on the website. You need to receive the qualification e-mail from us first so you can receive instructions on attaching your file once it is ready. This is just to make sure that people who are not registered to the site don't try to sneak into the contest!

[Bianca74]

Too bad I have no artistic talent whatsoever. Damn!

[C.]

With all the paintshop programs out there these days that do most of the work for you, you don't need to be as much talented as imaginative.

Lots of new folks registering to the site...let's see those entries coming in! You've got just a little more than 2 weeks, everyone!

[Bianca74]

but I still want it to look good. I have absolutely no artistic bone in my body, not even half an artistic cell lol.

[C.]

Neither do I, but I'm not allowed to enter the contest anyway as a site admin/forum moderator, so it's probably for the best!

[BaraHime]

Do you have any images of the winners from years past? I don't have the self esteem to turn in anything until I see how it stacks up by comparison.

[C.]

We've never done a contest like this before, so please do not let your lack of confidence keep you from turning something in! I know of someone who is working on an entry who is only 13 years old, so if he has enough confidence to do something, you can too!

Our last contest was about people's Nightwish collections, and who had the most impressive one. The winner had a "Nightwish" tattoo, which we thought was a sign of a pretty hardcore fan. This contest took place back in '05 on our old website, so unfortunately all the photos from the various contestants got lost when the old site was hacked.

Our OSA shirts in the past have always been very simple; we've never had any artwork or designs on them. Here's a sample of how our last batch of t-shirts looked; except the final version did have the proper "Nightwish font", Shelley Volante.

OSA T-Shirts Available

This is why we are holding this contest; we think it would be a great way to get fans involved on how our new t-shirts will look, not only from those who submit an entry, but those who will ultimately vote for the winning design.

The theme of the contest ("Enter the Scaretale") was thought up by Taimi, and when we were kicking around these ideas, she drew a rough sketch of her idea of how an "Enter the Scaretale" t-shirt might look. If you want me to, I can send you a copy of the sketch so you can get a feel for what we were thinking of when we came up with this contest idea. Since she's part of the OSA staff she cannot enter the contest, so the sketch is nothing more than a sample for folks to look at if they are interested. It's a very simple sketch; not intended to be the next Picasso or anything like that, so don't worry if your design is basic too. If we need to pool our resources and make your design come together more fluidly, we'll work on that when the time comes. But for now, just send us what you've got and let us see your creativity!

Also, if you need any resources such as the Nightwish font, send me an e-mail and I will get that to you right away.

Come on folks, we have some really wonderful prizes to give, so don't let your worries about the quality of your design keep you from being in the running for some of this great stuff! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Edit: OK, Taimi sent me gave me permission to share her sketch with you and these were her exact words: "Here's an example I drew a few months ago; can you do any better?"

[Taimi]

Not an artist, obviously, hehe. I'm happy with how that turned out, because it's the best way I can convey the original image in my head. Surely, someone out there can do better than my crappy little chicken scratch LOL.

[C.]

The first of the contest entries have arrived! This one was submitted by Domenik of Mexico City, Mexico. Thanks for your participation, Domenik; and good luck!!!

If you like this design, you will have the option to vote for it in the poll topic on this forum when the voting rounds begins, or you can vote for it on the OSA site or Facebook page.



Also, an upload form page has been added on the OSA site on the contest rules page. This way once you are registered, you can send the file to us right away!

[Angel of Grief]

The Amaranth is copyrighted by Toxic Angel, isn't it?

Anyway, Good luck Domenik

[C.]

We've got some news about the contest...

Due to the upcoming holiday next week in the U.S. (Independence Day), and due to some folks asking for some extra time to finish up their designs, we have decided to extend our entry deadline to July 15th. So you do not have to rush to send in your design by Saturday as was initially planned; you will have an extra 2 weeks to fine-tune those finishing touches on your design. We have also added an Upload feature on the OSA site, so you can mail your design directly to us once your membership is activated, so you do not have to wait for an e-mail from us to get the contact info. The Upload feature will be on the same page as the contest rules, at the bottom of the page. We are trying to make this as easy and user-friendly for everyone as possible so that everyone has a chance to get their contest entry submitted. We would hate to think that our winning design was out there, but never got to us because the artist had no way to get it to us, or needed that extra few days to finish it up!

So I will edit the first post here to clarify that the entry submission round has now been extended to July 15th. The voting round will begin on July 16th and last until July 31st. The winner WILL be announced on August 1st. Good luck, everyone!

Angel: Thanks for the tip about the amaranth; obviously if Domenik is the winner we will either have to alter the look of the amaranth or ask that it is taken out of the final design when it goes to the printer's.

I guess this would be a good time to specify that your design must be your own original work; if you are using imagery or artwork within your design that belong to someone else, please give them proper credit and make sure it is not infringing on copyrights.

[BaraHime]

^ YAY!! More Time! My damned job has been conspiring against me all month. Now I can definitely finish my crappy shirt. So we're allowed to put stuff on the sleeves? ... Hmmmm.....

[C.]

If you want to; I really didn't think about sleeve stuff at the time. I knew you guys could get creative, but I wasn't sure how much!

Yes, a few people asked me about extending the deadline due to this upcoming holiday and not being around, or having more time available to work on their designs. So hopefully everyone out there who has wanted to submit something will do so, as they now have more time to do it.

I can't wait to see your design, and I'm sure it's anything but crappy.

[BaraHime]

^ Yeah, I'm cursed. The same shit is happening now that happened back in March. Grandma having to go to the hospital then the home, my work schedule is out to get me... Blah. The extra time will be a big help.

[C.]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your grandma. I hope she recovers soon.

Yes, we thought that with the holiday coming up, people could use those days off to finish up their designs. Not to mention if we started the voting round, all the people on holiday may not be around to vote.

[C.]

Heads up, folks...you have *one week* left to turn in your designs! We want to see what you've got!

[C.]

OK everyone, here's another entry from one of our forum members, Angel of Grief! Fantastic job! Good luck!!!

Front design:


Back design:


Btw, Domenik's entry is back up on the site for everyone to see; some alterations had to be made so her picture was taken down so she could make the necessary changes. Thanks for your patience!