[Xanth]

Banner Contest

---

With the upgrade obliterating our old skins, I think it's a nice opportunity to start with some fresh material. With that in mind, this contest is a chance for you to have a hand in making the new skins by creating a banner.

Your mission is to create a banner that I can use in a new skin. They can be anything from 100x50 to 800x200 pixels in dimension.

I want skins that reflect the setting of the game (so nothing futuristic or science-fictiony, for instance), but you have free reign to interpret the setting as you like. I'd prefer not to have colours already used in the Moonlight or Unknown skins, but that gives you a lot of leg room to play with.

Note: Your banner needs to be able to flow horizontally with the banner bar across the top of the forums (for instance, the right-hand side of the Moonlight banner was made to tile with the repeating clouds behind it so there are no sharp edges to disturb the aesthetics), so please keep that in mind when working on your entries.

To enter: PM your entries to me. If they're over 500px wide, please send them as a link rather than an image so they don't break my inbox. Once the deadline is over, I'll post the images in a poll that will last one week.

---

The Prizes

---

Every entry will receive ζ20 just for taking part, and there's no limit to how many times you can enter!

I'll also put the entries to a vote, so the winner will receive a new trophy for their cabinet as well as ζ250. If we have enough entries, I'll also give the runner-up ζ100.

---

Disclaimer & Rules

---

I can't and won't guarantee that your entries will inspire a skin even if you win. I'm really sorry, I wish I could, but my skinning muse is very picky and I can't always run with an idea no matter how much I might enjoy looking at it. That said, I will keep all entries on hand, because I may be able to use it at a later date. So just please bear that in mind when entering, and please don't be offended or upset if I don't use the entries.

• Don't use copyrighted images or images you've found on google. You're better off using a stock site like Stock Vault or deviantART's stock gallery (remember to check that you have permission to use the images off of dA since many deviants restrict their art) so we can be sure we won't run into any problems later.
  
• Entries must be your own work. You can use resouces made by others (such as stock images, brushes or textures) but you need to put the banner together yourself.

[Xanth]

By popular request, I've extended the deadline for a day (possibly two, if needed, but I'm reluctant to go more than that)!

Thanks for entering!

[Xanth]

This entry is now closed to submissions, but open for voting! Please remember, don't vote for yourself, and only vote from one account. Voting will end on the 30th of January.

Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a banner! They're all wonderful. *snugs*

Resource Credits: (I'll announce who made what when voting's over )

Entry #1: Izaskun
Entry #2: Ozai Designs

[Xanth]

And so it's time to announce the winner! But first, I want to thank Skyla, Russ and Colleen for participating in this contest. I greatly appreciate your efforts, guys.

Congratulations to our winner, Skyla!

It's a lovely banner befitting EF, and I'm looking forward to working with it. Your ζ250 should be sitting in your account the next time you look, along with your new trophy!

Sadly, we didn't get enough entries to choose a runner-up, but you should all have received your ζ20 for entering just before I opened the poll for voting. I also brought cookies!

So, that's it for this contest. Thank you again to everyone who entered, and to everyone who voted!