deviantART and NVIDIA® present: Speak Visual™: Design Digital

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

CONTEST BEGINS AT 12:01:01 (PST) ON DECEMBER 23, 2008 AND ENDS AT 11:59:59 PM (PT) ON JANUARY 14, 2009 (THE “ PROMOTION PERIOD”).

  1. HOW TO ENTER:
    1. You must be a member of http://www.deviantart.com (“Contest Site”) to enter the Contest. Free membership to the Contest Site is available. Entrant must also be a resident of the United States at the time that the entry is submitted. If Entrant is already a registered member of the Contest Site, Entrant is not automatically entered into the Contest. Entrant must follow the instructions to submit a completed entry, a digital image of any subject matter which features the theme “Speak Visual™” rendered in one of the following styles and submitted in the corresponding gallery: “Vector Art”, a technique in which images are created using mathematical equations to represent geometric forms such as points, curves, polygons and lines; “Fractal Art”, a technique in which images are created using fractal geometry to render forms; “Digital Painting”, a technique in which images are created using traditional painting techniques through digital tools such as graphics tablets and stylus pens; “3-Dimensional”, a technique in which images scale to the Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) on a 2D digital canvas; or “Pixel Art”, a technique in which images are created pixel-by-pixel in miniscule detail (the “Work”). In addition, each entry must be accompanied by a 250-500 word essay explaining “How does my art Speak Visual™” submitted in the “Artist’s Comments” field when the Work is submitted. The Work must incorporate into the entry the NVIDIA® claw, an abstract digital representation of the NVIDIA® logo available for download at the Contest Site; be at least 2550px by 3300px at 300dpi (with the exception of pixel art entries which may be 225px by 330px at 50 dpi); and, be in one of the following file formats: GIF/PNG/JPG. ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59:59 PM (PT) ON January 14, 2009. No illegible, incomplete, forged or altered entries will be accepted. Entrants may enter as many Works as they like, duplicate entries are allowed (entering the same entry into more than one category) however duplicate entries will only be judged as a winner, if at all, in one category.
    2. Entries may be created by more than one person provided that
      1. all members of the entrant group are identified in the “Artist’s Comments” field when the Work is submitted;
      2. one member of the entrant group is designated to receive any prize awarded; and
      3. all members of the entrant group are members of deviantART.
    3. Do not submit original file of the Work. Entries will not be returned.
    4. The Work
      1. must be the created originally and specifically for this contest
      2. may not have been previously published or won any other prize/award or previously submitted to any other contest,
      3. must be the exclusive original work of the entrant and made for the Contest and may not contain stock art except for the use of the NVIDIA® claw, an abstract digital representation of the NVIDIA® logo;
      4. must be in keeping with the Sponsors’ image,
      5. (iv) may not be inappropriate, offensive, libelous or defamatory, pornographic, sexually explicit, unlawful or plagiarized, as determined by the Sponsors in their sole discretion,
      6. must not be harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, profane, obscene, excessively violent, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or offensive in any way, as determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion,
      7. may not violate or encourage others to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation,
      8. may not defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other third party rights,
      9. may not contain commercial/corporate advertising, including but not limited to corporate logos, brand names, and slogans, other than those relating to the Sponsors,
      10. may not include any viruses, worms, corrupt files, Trojan horses, or other forms of corruptive code or content that may harm or compromise the Contest Site and/or the proper conduct of the Contest
      11. may not use any watermarks or distinguishing artist marks and (xi) if found to be in violation of these rules will be disqualified and therefore removed from the Contest Site Gallery.
    5. By submitting entry, entrant represents that
      1. (s)he has the unrestricted right to submit the Work;
      2. all persons whose name, voice or likeness appears in the Work (“Work Participants”) have unconditionally consented in writing to their appearance in the Work and unconditionally granted entrant in writing the right to submit the Work subject to these Official Rules, a copy of which consent and grant will be furnished to the Sponsors upon request; and
      3. the Work does not infringe upon any third party’s proprietary or other rights.
    6. All Works submitted will remain the exclusive property of the entrant, provided that:
      1. entrant will not acquire any ownership or other interest in any and all trademarks, logos and other intellectual property of the Sponsors (collectively “Sponsor’s Marks”) contained in the Work;
      2. except as expressly required in these Official Rules, entrant may not use the Sponsor Marks in any manner whatsoever in connection with the Work or otherwise without the relevant Sponsor’s express prior written approval;
      3. during the Promotion Period and for one (1) year thereafter eligible Works may be posted at the Contest Site or otherwise displayed in any form and media in connection with promotion of the Contest;
      4. during the ten (10) year period immediately following the Promotion Period ( the “ Display Period”), the Sponsors may ( but will not be obligated to ) display prize winning Works in any form and media in connection with the promotion of their respective businesses;
      5. the Sponsors may otherwise use prize winning Works in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as the relevant entrant may approve in writing (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned) and the entrant agrees to make him/herself available to discuss such terms with Sponsor(s); and
      6. entrant may not authorize or permit any prize winning Work to be used to promote any product or service of any party other than those of the Sponsor(s) during the Display Period
      7. if an entrant’s Work contains or incorporates into it any of the permitted logos or graphic material of the Sponsor(s), that entrant may not use the Work with such Sponsor’s materials for any purpose than other than entering the Contest or to display the Work on deviantART.
  2. SELECTION OF WINNERS: Potential winners will be selected on or about January 25, 2009 from all eligible entries. Ten (10) semi-finalists for each of the five (5) categories of digital art specified for this contest for a total of Fifty (50) semi-finalists are to be selected by full-time deviantART Community, Artist Relations and Creative Staff. The Grand Prize Winner and five finalists (one in each of the five categories) will be selected from the Fifty (50) semi-finalists by a judging panel consisting of David Wright, NVIDIA®, Creative Director and Fabio Costa, Cutwater, Creative Director. The Grand Prize Winner will be selected from the five finalists. The judges’ decisions are final on all matters relating to the Contest. Judging of the finalists and the Grand Prize Winner will be based on a 1-10 point system on the basis of: Visual Impact (40%), Originality (20%) Technical Skill (20%) and the “How does my art Speak Visual™” essay component (20%) . In the event of a tie, tie will be broken based on the highest score for Visual Impact, then the highest score of the essay component, followed by Originality and Technical Skill. Potential winners will be notified by U.S. Postal mail and/or email and/or through the deviantART internal messaging system at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.
  3. PRIZES: 1 (ONE) Grand Prize: Alienware® Area-51® m15x 15.4” Notebook Computer with an Approximate Retail Value (ARV): $1,299; Domestic Airfare and Accommodation for two to Austin, TX between March 13 - 18, 2009 in order to attend the NVIDIA® Speak Visual™ Show, an artist showcase at the NVIDIA® Speak Visual™ Show presented in conjunction with SXSW 2009, two SXSW 2009 Interactive Badges; with an Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of $5,400. 5 (FIVE) First Prizes: $1300 American Express gift card, deviantART Artist Bag and a 1-year deviantART subscription with an ARV for all first prizes of $2,400. Total ARV of all prizes: $8,800. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received and nature of Work. All prizes will be awarded (assuming sufficient number of entries). Sponsor reserves right to substitute prizes or portions thereof of equal or greater value. No other substitution, cash redemptions, or transfer of prizes permitted. Sponsor responsible only for prize delivery; not responsible for prize utility, quality, licensing or otherwise. All taxes and expenses not specifically described as part of a prize, if any, are the sole responsibility of prize winners. No more than the stated prizes will be awarded.
  4. ELIGIBILITY: Contest open to deviantART members who are at least thirteen (13) years old as of December 23, 2008 except employees (and their immediate families and members of the same household) of Sponsors, their affiliates, agents, judges and advertising and promotion agencies. There is no charge for a deviantART “free membership” and a “subscription membership” is not required to enter this contest.
  5. VERIFICATION OF WINNERS AND DELIVERY OF PRIZES: Potential winners who are under the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence and their parent or legal guardian will, and other potential winners may, be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility and liability release and, where permitted, a publicity release. If the Grand Prize winner is under the age of 18, (s)he must be accompanied to Austin, TX by a parent or legal guardian over the age of 18. Prize may be forfeited if affidavit or releases are not returned within 14 days after mailing to potential winner or if prize notification letter or prize is returned as undeliverable or if a winner cannot be reached after a reasonable attempt has been made by Sponsor (ad determined by the Sponsor in it ssole discretion). Winner agrees to Sponsors’ use of his/her name, address, likeness, and/or prize information for promotional purposes in any medium without additional compensation to the extent permitted by law.
  6. GENERAL: This Contest is void outside the United States and where prohibited or restricted by law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. This Contest will be governed by the internal laws of the State of California. Any and all legal actions or claims arising in connection with this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction within the State of California. Sponsors and judges not responsible for late, lost, stolen, damaged, garbled, incomplete, misaddressed, postage due, incorrect or misdirected entries, mail or communications, for errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or delays in operations or transmission of information, in each case whether arising by way of technical or other failures or malfunctions of computer hardware, software, communications devices, or transmission lines or data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry materials, loss or otherwise. Sponsors and judges not responsible for electronic communications which are undeliverable as a result of any form of active or passive filtering of any kind, or insufficient space in entrant’s e-mail account to receive e-mail messages. Sponsors disclaim any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, or accessing, posting, uploading or downloading information in connection with, this Contest, and reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to modify, cancel, terminate or suspend this Contest should any virus, bug, technical failures, unauthorized human intervention or other causes beyond Sponsors’ reasonable control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Contest. In the event of any such cancellation, termination or suspension, a notice will be posted on the Contest Site and the winners will be selected from among all eligible entries received prior to such time. Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant from this Contest or any other promotion conducted now or in the future by Sponsors or any of their affiliates if the entrant’s fraud or misconduct adversely affects the integrity of the Contest. By participating in this Contest, each entrant accepts the conditions stated in these Official Rules, agrees to be bound by the decisions of the judges and warrants that s/he is eligible to participate in this Contest. By accepting a prize, winner agrees to release Sponsors, their directors, employees, officers, and agents, including without limitation, their advertising and promotion agencies, from any and all liability, loss or damages arising from or in connection with the awarding, receipt, and/or use or misuse of the prize or participation in any prize-related activities.
  7. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSORS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
  8. WINNERS LIST:Winners list will be available on or about January 25, 2009. To obtain
    winner's list, go to http://www.deviantart.com.

SPONSORS: deviantART, Inc., 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #788, Hollywood, CA 90028; phD
220 East 42nd Street 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017 USA; and NVIDIA®, 2701 San Tomas Expressway Santa Clara, CA 95050 USA

© deviantART, Inc. 2008.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.