Hahah, I should 'ave suspected as much. Was there a specific reason it was discontinued?
It's a general problem with layout and design. With the contest, we're squandering the option of wraparound covers and centerfolds, since these need to be horizontal; we force everyone to leave space for the title script although this is not necessary for all-but-one image; we can't have artists integrate the title script in the image because a title script should only appear on the cover and not on the interior; and we always run into the risk of having several artists select the same obvious theme for their contribution.
We also actually limit the artistic possibilities for interior art since all artists try to achieve best results for the cover, and "cover rules" are not necessarily "interior rules". Have a look at Titash's contribution (outside of the contest) for EF16, a busy piece like this would never have been submitted for the cover contest, but it adds to the variation of the book. I am trying to opening the doors a bit for people who want to try their hand at different kinds of motifs and layouts which may not be suitable for the cover.
EF was, I think, the last convention that held this kind of contest, and honestly, I was never too happy with that kind of competition. Whether it's a popularity contest like way back or, as I did it in the previous years, a judged contest with varying judges, it always felt like pushing people into competing - defining "winners" and "losers" - where everybody should actually work together towards the common goal of making the con book great.
Of course you are welcome to contribute. There will be more information about contributing up soon.
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Topic: Contributing/Judging artwork for the EF Con-book (Read 10750 times)