Designer contest - trying to hash out an idea :)

[cgutzmer]

I have been mulling this over for a while now... I am trying to figure out how to make a designer competition of some kind... Input appreciated!

I am considering that I could do a contest in a couple different ways.

1. One REALLY big diorama that would have LOTS of different models. could have lots of building, vehicles, scenery etc etc. Each designer would do as much or as little as they want. All their work would be used towards judging. We would need to figure out what to do - this could even result in an entire city!

2. smaller dioramas that would contain a set number of components - one vehicle, one building and one scenery item (just a my initial thought) one designer would do the entire diorama. Same judging as above. each designer would be able to pick their own genre etc.

This could be a rather long term contest :)
Thoughts?
Chris

[SJPONeill]

Chris, Maybe you need to expand some on your idea - at the moment it looks more like a diorama contest than a designer competition. Due to the incredible range of design expertise and topics in this community i.e. from 1/1 scale small arms to 1/2000 and smaller ships, star ships etc and eras that cover millenia, I think it would be a challenge in its own right just figuring out how to get them in the one diorama.

Perhaps another approach to a designer competition would be to agree on a theme in which each designer could apply their skills and interests? Possible broad themes may be Classics, HistoryMakers, I saw it in the movies, end of an era...?

[cgutzmer]

hmmmm food for thought :)
Thanks!
Chris

[rickstef]

I would like to see how all the designers, and their styles would tackle one particular subject.

To see their interpretations of that subject would make for interesting viewing and judging

It would be a kick to see Gary Pilsworth design an 18 wheeler in the style of the Thunderbirds

[nebeltex]

i hate to sound pessimistic, but i'm not sure the design competition would attract many of the usual commercial designers. the competition format might be of a subject matter or scale of no interest to some or it may conflict with current projects/schedules. and besides, commercial designers already compete every day.

having said that, i think it would be a fine idea to have a competition for amateur designers (those who design and offer for free, never have asked a price for a designed model). kind of like the olympics used to be...

[silveroxide]

Will this include the template plans, the build thread or both?

[cgutzmer]

Nebeltex - thats is why I was thinking of a LARGE diorama.... people can design whatever interests them :)

I will have to see what designers want to participate in order to figure a contest ;)

silveroxide - build threads are nice but interested more in the plans than the final model as many of the designers dont build all their designs ;) i think for it to be considered for the contest it needs to have a final build though else how do we know its good! :)

[silveroxide]

OK! cmags, Understood, plans and finished product.

[APA-168]

Well, as a commercial designer, I like the idea. But I do agree that maybe finding out how many designers would be interested would probably be a good since we are a busy lot. ;) If it does go forward, I like the theme idea proposed by SJPONeill. That sounds like a very good idea. Also, what would the ultimate outcome be? What would be the prize, and what would happen to the finished designs?

[SJPONeill]

I think that the ultimate outcome could be that a lot more paper modelers may take the plunge to become familiar with one or more of the available design tools and thus the designer pool would increase to develop more models...I'd see the competition as a confidence builder for the 'been thinking about designing something for a while now' group....

The prize? Well, if I walked away with a few basic skills in Sketchup or one of the other 3D designer tools, i'd comsider that a good prize...

And on themes, I'd be really keen to see a monitor/predreadnought take on Thunderbirds and other well-known scifi....

[Retired_for_now]

Ok, how about we do this like an obnoxious chain letter and severly abuse the server drives?

Start with a basic structure posted on the downloads page; publicly pass the tasking on to the next poor bugger (tag!) who has to add detail (no more than 5 parts?), who then passes it on to another unlucky soul, who passes it on until the model either achieves reality or somebody has a nervous breakdown. If too busy, the recipient can pass it on early (to appropriate razzing from the assembled blogitude).

Depending on the model subject, could get people into new areas. Small individual tasks could encourage more to give designing a try. End result could be sold on e-cardmodels to benefit this site. And then there's world peace ...

Yogi (I'm always serious when I have to do another edit for a refereed professional journal)

[eibwarrior]

I'd love to see the potential contest cover all areas (vehicles, ships, figures, sci-fi, architecture, etc.)

Nothing is working on the ZF-1 from the movie "The Fifth Element" so naturally I'd love to see his current design included in the competition. And Barry is doing an LSM (landing ship medium) over in the ships forum right now. I'm not the least bit biased by the way :D since I have such a great interest in both these projects.

[RyanShort]

Sounds interesting, but I see too many issues. I for one would not be interested in anything sci-fi, or too far off the beaten path. It'd have to be something I'd be interested in for me to switch off current projects.
Also, I don't know how one would go about fairly judging such a competition. The best way is for the free market to reward good designers!

Ryan

[nebeltex]

the thing about LARGE dioramas is they take up a LOT of space, can take several months to build, and can cost a good deal of money even if going the inexpensive route. a 4'x2' section of scenery generally takes me about four months to do in my spare time (and i have more than most) as well as costing around $50-$75 USD.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg227/nebeltex/003.jpg

four months of scenery, three months of design and build... it is a huge effort to put in for a contest. it IS do-able, but i'm not sure how many would do it, even if you could cut those times in half.

[Dragos]

I dont think that a large diorama is a good theme for a designer contest because as nebeltex has said it takes time , space and money. Not to mentione that some designer are making only airplane or only ships and so on. I would like to suggest a large theme for the contest e.g. : D-Day , Koreean War, Spanish Civil War or Star Trek. Because the designer can make cars , airplanes, ships , and so on.
I will like to know what is going to happen with the designed models. They will be free or will become commercial.

[cgutzmer]

nebeltex - what I think you are missing here is that each designer would design something to contribute towards a diorama. You could build just one piece of it or all of it, up to the builder.

Ryan, I would not stray far ;) also judging would be a vote by members here. There is no way to assign strict guidelines so fan favorite is about it.

Eibwarrior - I would like to come up with something that will encompass everything. Right now I like the idea of picking one subject (take an 18 wheeler for example since it was suggested) and let designers take free reign in doing it anyway they want. Another option would be the large diorama built up like Elliott suggested in modules that can be put together - the diorama could follow a timeline from old to futuristic. Maybe.... still hoping for more ideas....

Retired for now - thats a possibility didnt kartonbau do something similar once? Also I plan on letting the designers do what they want with models when done. Any that get sold through me will have my share of the proceeds (20% of each sale - and designer gets their usual 80%) will be donated to papermodelers.com to help with upkeep and hosting fees. I will put these under a unique designer id in the shop to denote profits go to pm.com optionally if designers wish all proceeds will go towards pm.com - this of course is up to the designer.

SP and APA - not sure on a prize yet.... i will offer a gift cert from my shop of course. Maybe see if anyone wants to donate a prize like a model or something. Possibly an amazon gift cert, who knows....

Also need to maybe have a couple classes of competition people who have never designed before and another for people who have designed....

Gotta scoot for now!
Chris

[cgutzmer]

Dragos - I cross posted with ya...

The point of the large diorama is that the designer makes one small part like a plane, or a building or as many or few pieces as they want and all the models fit together to make a large scene. The builders can likewise build or utilize whatever they want....
Chris

[dansls1]

I think it might be a cool idea to do a giant diorama with each designer putting forth one model towards the giant diorama - but I think you'd want to limit the type of models by a theme. Some ideas are:
a) A day at the races - would have mostly car models - but needs buildings, haulers, a blimp and camera helicopters, tow trucks and cranes, etc.
b) The air show - now mostly airplanes - but an airshow can attract a varied number of planes, plus buildings, support and rescue vehicles, etc.
c) The shipyard - pick a smaller scale, maybe 1/400 and a city and a date - and build the ships and buildings that would be representative.

[Maltedfalcon]

Well just to be different, if its a designer contest I would suggest that each designer design the exact same thing, same scale, same version, and then as a part of the submission/judging submit a step by step log of the design process.

It would be extremely interesting to compare methods of design and look at how different designers approached the same problem. This would also allow non-designers to see how its done and "appropriate" the style that best suits them.

As far as the diorama, the question comes up exactly how many designers would participate. if it was say, just six then your diorama would only have 6 elements... it would be kind of sparse. - Also a diorama tends to need consistency, I think with multiple designers, the diversity of build types in the diorama would detract from the setting/scene and lessen the impact you are looking for. What's your goal to see how people design things or to group build a diorama?

So the question comes up what to design, some people like military, some aircraft, some scifi - etc etc etc.
I would think it should be something relatively quick to design, but it should have curves, facets and shapes that challenge the designer and allow for each designer to apply there own style to the project.

I would suggesting picking something that is not from a TV show or film as those things are copyrighted.

Matt Sparks