So when my friends over at Rocket World reached out asking for some design help they thought it would be nice to ask you all for some help as well! The Creature Hoodies have been such a hit ~ and they are adorably cozy (fleece as fine as you'll find from folks like Patagonia ~ but less branding and even cooler little details you never even dreamed of, but can't live without once trying it!)... You can see lots of pics of the latest one (with removable ears - and swappable horns - with no face) from the giveaway post from the holidays... and for a chance to win one of the 2010 Creature Hoodies (that you will help decide the fate of) plus a Rocket World Gift Bag ~ and two runners up will also get gift bags! Anyhow, if you're feeling nice, please check out the possibilities for the 2010 Creature Hoodie on the next page and more details on how to share your opinion!

p.s.
not to bias you, but i'm all about 3b or 4a... can't decide between the black or grey yet...

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Tags: contests - fashion - giveaway - nature - toys

HAPPY EARTH DAY! And good morning! Apparently i'm judging this latest Mimoco Contest ~ along with Cool Hunting and Inhabitat! Firstly what is GURPing (GURP = GreenBot USB flash drive Recycling Program)? Well apparently it is the Mimoco program to recycle all those unwanted flashdrives you've been accumulating (every few months they just get BIGGER, BETTER, and Cheaper!) In the last year they've already received hundreds!

So what's the deal? VIDEO CONTEST!!! From Earth Day until Mother's Day (May 10th), you can enter by making a video that promotes recycling via GURP.

"For every video entry received, Mimoco will contribute to save 1,000 square feet of rain forest through the Arbor Day Foundation's Rain Forest Rescue program. Mimoco, and their media partner judges at Cool Hunting, NOTCOT, and Inhabitat, will choose up to 100 entrants to receive limited edition, organic cotton MIMOBOT GURP t-shirts. The grand prize winner will receive two 8GB MIMOBOT flash drives of their choice. An Audience Choice winner, chosen by the Mimoco community, will win an 8GB drive of their choice, and four runner ups will each receive 4GB MIMOBOT drives." Read more about GURP and enter here.

p.s.
you can watch the GURP instructional video on the next page!

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Tags: contests - green - recycle - technology - usb

On fun design contests ~ just saw the final picks from the New Yorker's 2009 Eustace Tilley design contest, and i love what their picks say about the state of things in 2008 ~ everything from iPhones and Banksy to Watchmen and Mondrian... Can you believe Eustace has been on nearly every cover in the magazine launched in 1925? The original was created by Rea Irvin. Check out a few more of my favorites on the next page, and the full gallery here.

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Tags: art - contests - magazines

CLICK HERE TO ENTER!... Ok guys, seriously? Even if you don't want to enter, can someone win this for me? I never even knew i needed/wanted/craved a $2000 Graphics Card... but with promises to make all things CS4 lightning fast, how can any of us resist?!?!?! Even if you don't have a desktop, having this might be reason enough to get one... mmmm, blazingly fast Adobe Creative Suite ~ super video editing/encoding.... product model renderings in real time! *swoon* So that's the NVIDIA Quadro CX Graphics Accelerator... on top of that they are throwing in a copy of Adobe CS4 Master Collection (small print: its usable only until CS5 emerges, but that's still pretty awesome)... Master Suite is the one with EVERYTHING: InDesign CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, Illustrator CS4, Acrobat 9 Pro, Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver CS4, Fireworks CS4, Contribute CS4, After Effects CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Soundbooth CS4, Adobe OnLocation CS4, Encore CS4, Adobe Bridge CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4, Dynamic Link, and Version Cue CS4. You want. Trust me, even if you already have both of these, you totally want it, or give it to me! =)

This is the NOTCOT prompt this week, so hope you have fun with it! PLAYING WITH SCALE: So you took your shrink way and aimed it at... well, you tell us! Better yet, SHOW us! Share images of videos of unexpected proportions to win!

So what do you have to do? Just SUBMIT an image or video at the contest page! But first, here are a few quirks i've found with the NVIDIA gallery that i thought would be helpful (and also show you why it really doesn't take much on your part to enter!)...
1. Maximum display size of artwork in the gallery: 512px x 387px
... tinier than most NOTCOT post images
2. You lose about 71px off the bottom of that for their pointy bit
3. Title can only be up to 18 characters
... many full names are longer!
4. Description can only be up to 111 characters
...yes, less than an SMS/Tweet
5. Post approval person seems to lag, so don't worry, they should eventually show up!
6. Pay little attention to the posts showing in the Contests Gallery ~ they are still showing the ones from the first prompt *sigh*

For more info ~ mostly visuals of what entering looks like, more ideas, and some crazy toys attacking a gingerbread house as my example mini photoshoot of messing with scale... check out the next page! or ENTER THE CONTEST!

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Tags: contests - technology

New contest! This is all pretty new to me, and the whole NOTCOT world, but as you've seen the last month, we're learning to give stuff away more and more! Latest is a collaboration with NVIDIA and their fun Speak Visual campaign (you know, the green one where we get to SPIN the ads), that brings us, Core77 (so excited to be officially on this with them!!!) and Behance together is this 3-part State of the Art Contest ~ (clicking through there you see my header... they made us all make different ones).

So here's the gist of it ~ you have a chance to win a kick ass NVIDIA Quadro CX Graphics Card, which is THE graphics accelerator for CS4 (i want! who doesn't want more monitors?) as well as Adobe CS4 Master Suite (granted this license is good until CS5 arrives, that's still some pretty good time with the full bundle!)!!! To win it? Make some art ~ pictures and video are fair game, just blow our minds! (Accepted formats are: .avi, .mov, .mp4, .jpg, .png and .gif ) And if you're super busy, but have previous work that fits, submit that in too! There will be 3 mini contests ~ and the first prompt is from Core77 ~ SO... "Visualize the Screens of the Future" - How do screens help us communicate, experience and create? Are there 3-D e-books or LED skyscrapers? Show us your design for the screen of the future.

I have this funky feeling its going to be super tough to figure out which of the entries are from you ~ so if you want me to pay special attention to checking yours out, leave a link/name/etc to the entry in the comments here, and maybe work NOTCOT into your description or if you're feeling extra sneaky, slip the logo into your creative somewhere! My prompt starts Dec 29th... so watch out for that one! Go check out the contest here!

Tags: art - contests - designers

Aston Martin has just launched its One-77 ~ only 77 in the production run... they are saying over 100 buyers had already signed up and put down a £200,000 deposit without even SEEING this £1.2m beauty... Everyone was teased with the appropriately referenced upskirt shots coming out of the Paris Auto Show, where they only revealed a portion of the car under a cover! Where are they ending up? Only six in the U.S. to be exact, with just five destined to stay in the UK out of the total production run of 77 (says autoblog). You must admit its mesmerizingly beautiful, the curves are absolutely stunning...

"One-77 fuses advanced technology with stunning Aston Martin design to create possibly the world's most desirable automotive art form. Based on a sophisticated carbon fibre chassis with a handcrafted aluminium body, this 7.3 litre V12 super car will deliver exhilarating performance for a strictly limited number of discerning customers." Take a look at more sneak peeks of this luscious new design on the next page, and check out the video of what it's all about.

So here's where it gets really interesting ~ especially for our UK readers (or anyone who can be in the UK first week of Dec) ~ Aston Martin invited me to come out and tour their factory and see the car itself ~ unfortunately the timing is terrible and far too last minute as much as i'm dying to get out there! So, i thought i'd invite a reader to help cover it for me! SO, WHO WANTS TO VISIT ASTON MARTIN'S GAYDON FACTORY? Think you're a perfect fit? Know a car lover with mad photography skills? More details on the next page after the pics and videos of this beautiful work of art. (I could stare at these for ages, i'm already jealous of whoever gets to go!)

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Tags: aston martin - cars - contests - uk

Zune has been a great supporter of the arts with their Zune Arts initiative, and its been incredible to see all of the artists - illustration, 3d, animation, and now graphic artists they have been supporting! The latest project is The Lost Ones: "a graphic novel written by celebrated writer Steve Niles. For the Zune-commissioned novel, Niles was paired up with visual artists Dr. Revolt, Gary Panter, Kime Buzzelli and Morning Breath to take the reader on an epic journey through time and space. Each artist illustrated a different chapter of the novel." On the next page you can check out a trailer video... i've also pulled some of my favorite pages from the novel, as well as the covers of the various chapters.

GIVEAWAY! There are two sets of a special collectors edition of the novel with a silk screened cover and poster waiting for two lucky readers ~ so leave a comment with your favorite on/offline comic and why you love it (by monday night PST) for a chance to win it!

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Tags: art - book - comics - contests - giveaway

Firstly ~ look down to the left corner! How cute is that little orange bouncy raccoon balloon? Secondly, this is not a paying advertiser of NOTCOT, yet i put it on all my sites for free... because i'm in love with the genius of this campaign.

Orange (the mobile phone guys in the UK) are launching the "World's First Internet Balloon Race" in 6 days - and essentially it is kind of like their own stumble upon race... users register their "balloon" and they can race from site to site trying to get as "far" as possible to win a trip to Ibiza... as for where they go? Sites like this one, can register on their page and put up little balloons, so when people are racing, they go through your sites! (and who knows, some might come back later!)... SO, free advertising for the sites, which give free advertising for Orange, and fun exploring the internet for the users... AND super cute raccoon balloon flash 9 animation for me to have bouncing on my screen. On the next page, i've compiled all the info on what happens and how things work ~ and FYI my balloon is named NOTCOT, feel free to give it a boost and i'll boost you back when the race starts.

So, take note advertisers, if you make it cool enough, you'll definitely get around... and future advertisers, lets break out of the IAB ad boxes, i'd love to work with someone who wanted to sponsor the next little balloon or critter to hang out somewhere non intrusive and unexpected on our sites!

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Tags: advertising - contests