Sunday, July 18, 2010

Designer collections?

This post is meant mostly for our designers, but others do feel free to contribute. We’re toying with the idea of cards recruited not from the contest mechanic, but through one of the following models:-

1. Paying a designer a set fee for a collection of 10 cards, for which after they will continue to collect royalties.

2. Recruiting non-contest cards with a significantly higher Royalty scheme (say US$0.30) per card.

3. Some other brilliant business model that we haven’t thought of yet.

What do you think? Really would appreciate your feedback here…

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Announcing the winners of “A Modern Fairytale” greeting card contest

Wow… we’re on schedule for once! Once again, it’s time to announce the winners of our first ever wedding card contest, A Modern Fairytale. The contest challenged designers to reinvent wedding cards into something more hip and modern. From the response we’re getting so far, I’ve gotta say… mission accomplished.

Before we get to the results, let’s cap out the new rules for this contest.

  • There are now 10 prizes instead of 5!
  • Final scores are calculated from 70% public vote and 30% Foldees staff votes

With that in mind, may we also say that royalty jumps for wedding cards will be coming suddenly and quickly. A typical order for wedding cards is at least 200, which means US$20 in royalties immediately!

In other words, don’t be too disappointed if you don’t win :)

Alright, enough with the pleasantries. Let’s get matrimonial!

10. ellipsiSave The Date for Something (Prize: US$100)

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I really really like this design. Let’s hope that this new designer, ellipsi, stays with us for a while. As many of you know, our preference has always been on simplicity, and in the case of wedding cards, elegance. This one hits all those right notes and yet presents itself as a modern intepretation. She has another great design in her Gate of Love submission so do be sure to check that out as well.

9. Fox - Priceless (Prize: US$100)

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Fox is fast joining the ranks of our regular winners like Salchipunk and Kokuzo in churning out consistently smart and nice designs. In fact, in his own words, he salchipunk-ed this design with the trademark three tier idea, jibbing the famous VISA priceless ad campaign.

Damn, those are expensive glass slippers.

8. xhenRed Thread of Fate (Prize: US$100)

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This one was one of the staff favourites! Since our staff is primarily Chinese, we really appreciated the modern look yet classic message of this design, playing on the red thread that is synonymous with Chinese weddings. It’s also one of the best uses of the SPLIT template we’ve seen, and we were surprised that it didn’t score even higher than its credible 8th place.

Not to worry though, xhen, I’m sure it’ll earn shedloads in royalties

7. catpowersTie The Knot (Prize: US$100)

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Another really simple and appealing design, using almost exactly the same shade of blue as ellipsi’s. I especially like how the designer has incorporated the elements bringing two people together, without cluttering the card.

Also, the use of red at the bottom in its sparing is very very effective.

6. salchipunkHappy Ending (Prize: US$100)

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The master returns to do what he does best. A charmingly illustrated, three-tier design of our favourite classics. Honestly, alot of the joy from seeing salchipunks designs are just to see his interpretations of characters we all know and love.

In this case, we absolutely love his rendition of The Beast, and quietly note the fact that all three princesses are different.

5. pastelineStatus: Married (Prize: US$150)

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Another new designer that fast became joint top-office rated card. The concept itself is simple, but the execution is nearly flawless for this MSN Messenger wedding card. We love how the inside opens up to reveal a conversation window where couples can put their own conversations, and how the designer chose the TALL template to replicate exactly how the window appears in real life.

We reckon this one is going to sell truckloads. Welcome to the winner’s circle, pasteline :)

4. greenwong - Classic Wedding Card (Prize: US$150)

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Another new winner! This one almost didn’t make it through cos she initially submitted rasters. Thankfully, due to the captivating design, we did give her one extra day to complete her design and send it in.

Many of you seem to be showing gratitude that we did, propelling this new designer to our coveted Top Five! It’s a very detailed illustration, with a nice use of colour, that we can definitely see people picking up.

3. Richard Lee - Lasting Love (Prize: US$300)

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It’s honestly been a while since we’ve had this anime-inspired style win our contest (last one was this excellent anime robot birthday card!). Richard Lee submitted two entries, and while both were great, the simplicity and grace of a couple locking hands on the cover of this one edged this ahead substantially (the other design fell out of the top ten by a whisker.)

Perfect for newlywed couples that love anime. Hmmm… wonder where we’ll find some of those?

2. cscottdraw  - Forever & Always (Prize: US$400)

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Chelsey has been with us for quite some time now, but hasn’t cracked the winners circle until now. This is what we were looking for when we created this contest. A modern intepretation of weddings. Tattoos are truly forever (because you can’t afford laser surgery), and this tattoo wedding card is actually, when you think about it… perfectly not-so-common sense!

A great idea, boldly realised into a great card.

1. KokuzoThe Braided Bride (Prize: US$700)

 2010050403383605091375953315_Kokuzo_The-Braided-Bride_SQUARE

“Oh wow… what a big surprise.”

We hear you. Can someone please topple the dominating performance from Franz a.k.a. Kokuzo!? He’s taken a sizable chunk from Malaysia’s GDP now, with no end in site due partially to his beautiful drawings, but also equally to his willingness to experiment.

Looking back at his previous artwork, it’s not an immediately recognisable style, unlike some of our other designers. His christmas DHL was quite different from his transformer ambulance which is again very different when compared to this Rapunzel wedding riding into the sunset on a Harley Davidson. In fact, the only way you can sorta guess are his hallmarks of exquisite detailed and flawless illustrations. Perfect form, perfect colour, perfect expressions.

God man, give the other’s a break!

Or don’t… cos we love you and apparently everyone else does too. *sigh*

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Once again, THANK YOU to all of you who participated in A Modern Fairytale!

As some of you might know already, this is the last contest we’ll be running in a while. We are in the process of relooking our business model, so in the meantime, we’d love to hear your suggestions about how we can improve our site and the experience for you! Do drop us a mail at ideas@foldees.com and take part in the revolution!

PS: As usual, If you want to know your final position in the rankings, do drop me a mail :)