Entry Deadline

All entries must be received by August 23, 2009.

Submissions

Each contestant may enter one puppet character. Submissions consist of four or more digital photos of one original puppet, and a character description. Submissions must be e-mailed to contest2009@puppetcontest.com. ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED FROM THE CREATOR OF THE PUPPET CHARACTER. NO SECOND OR THIRD PARTY SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Entry into this Contest does not guarantee that your Submission will be posted on the Project Puppet website or PuppetContest.com. Project Puppet reserves the right to accept or reject any Submissions. Rejected Submissions will be disqualified from the competition.

The Puppet

The puppet must be made from one of the Simple Series patterns available from Project Puppet, that is the Glorified Sock Puppet Pattern, the Roly Pattern, the Pinhead Pattern, or the Melonhead Pattern. The basic unaltered head and body patterns should be used as a base or starting point for the character. The Simple Series Alternate Body Pattern may be used to replace the original sleeve-like body of the Simple Series patterns. The arms and hands may be altered or entirely different. The Simple Series Legs and Feet Pattern may be used as well, but is not a requirement. The puppet must be an original character. Feel free to utilize any of the Puppet Building Tutorials available at Project Puppet.

Photos

Four to six digital photos of the puppet should be submitted. We recommend taking the photos with the help of a friend, as the photos should be taken from different angles and of different expressions.

Four or more digital photos of your character may be submitted. Each digital photo should be sized to one of the following dimensions:

• For a horizontal (or landscape) layout, resize your digital photos to 340 pixels X 255 pixels (l X h) with at least a screen resolution (72 dpi).
• For a vertical (or portrait) layout, resize your digital photos to 255 pixels X 340 pixels (l X h) with at least a screen resolution (72 dpi).

Please size all your submitted photos to one of the above layouts. The orientation of all photos submitted must be either horizontal or vertical. Please do not submit a set of pictures that includes both layouts.

For tips on taking photos of your puppet character, please review the information on the Photo Tips page of this website.

Text/Content

A short write-up consisting of one or two paragraphs must be submitted with the photos of the puppet including the puppet's name and a description of the puppet's character or personality. The name and e-mail address of the creator of the puppet must be included at the end of the character description. The creator's name will be noted wherever the Submission is displayed as it pertains to the Contest.

Judging

Once the deadline is reached and all Submissions have been gathered, the judging process begins. If more than ten Submissions are received, a panel of five pre-selected judges will vote for the Top Ten Finalists. The Top Ten Finalists will have their Submissions posted on the PuppetContest.com for the public to vote for the winner. The voting period will be limited, and will be announced at the start of the voting period.

The judges are - Zack Buchman of Furry Puppet Studio, Ed Christie (The Muppet Wiki and Alden Gallery), Philip Hatter of Thistledown Puppets, Tim Lagasse (www.timlagasse.com), and Russ Walko (www.russwalko.com). The creator's name or other information identifying the creator will not be revealed to the panel of judges. The entries will be judged on technical skill (construction of the puppet), successful character creation (how well the puppet's physical attributes reflect its personality), and general adherence to the Contest's theme.

WINNING & PRIZES

Grand Prize

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $200.00 USD cash prize from Project Puppet. Instructions for claiming the cash prize will be e-mailed to the Grand Prize Winner at the address from which the original submission was received.

First Runner-Up

The First Runner-Up will receive a $100.00 USD credit with Project Puppet. Instructions for using the credit will be e-mailed to the First Runner-Up at the address from which the original submission was received. The credit may be applied to any pattern or patterns already existing on the Project Puppet site or may be reserved for future pattern releases.

Confirmation of Agreement

Your submission of a puppet character into this Contest confirms that you have read and agree with the Contest rules.

Royalty-Free Right to Use

Display of Submissions is entirely under the discretion of Project Puppet. Project Puppet reserves the right to remove any entry at any time from the Contest, and from the Project Puppet website or PuppetContest.com, for any reason. While only the Top Ten Finalists will be posted on PuppetContest.com, Project Puppet reserves the right to display any Submissions in the Project Puppet Gallery as pertains to the Contest or in any other Project Puppet media.

Each Submission is the property of its respective creator. By entering into this Contest, you agree that Project Puppet has the royalty-free right to reproduce, edit, display, transmit, modify, publish and otherwise make use of Submissions, in whole or in part, in any and all media pertaining to Project Puppet. To ensure the consistency of Project Puppet content in accordance with Project Puppet's reputation, Project Puppet reserves the right to censor, crop, resize, compress, edit, feature, caption, affix logos to, and to otherwise alter or make use of the submitted photos in any Project Puppet media.

By submitting an entry into this Contest, you hereby represent and warrant that the Submission, in whole or in part, does not and shall not infringe on any copyright laws, rights of privacy or publicity of any person.