Updated 11/16/2009 View the entries of the competition here.
Updated 9/20/2009 The deadline has been extended and will now end on October 28th, 2009 11:59PM PDT.
Updated 8/18/2009 Brand images, assets and guidelines have been added here.
About
Sprout enables brands to engage their audiences across the social graph. Sprout Builder, a Web hosted application that allows creative designers to visually create rich Flash content such as branded ads and widgets. Sprout Builder is a great solution for independent designers tasked with building mash-up applications and widgets as well as creative agencies looking for a solution to quickly build mock-ups of Flash content. In our mission to advocate community outreach and foster creativity on the web, Sprout has partnered with the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) in this design competition.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation inspires and empowers people affected by cancer. They believe that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything. LAF provides the practical information and tools people with cancer need to live life on their own terms. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Austin, Texas To learn more about LAF, visit http://laf.org.
Concept
As the Lance Armstrong Foundation focuses its resources on programming and operations, they need your help: Sprout’s design competition, the HELP ‘EM GROW Design Challenge summons the most talented design students and creative thinkers to help LAF add some firepower to their social media strategy and online presence with a custom designed sprout/widget. Designs submitted for the competition should embody LAF’s brand guidelines. See Visual & Functional Requirements below for specific criteria. LIVESTRONG has a presence on many online communities and a large following in the blogosphere. We would like for you to create a widget that will compile all of our communities, point to our blog and allow people to post our widget on their own blogs/fb pages/etc. Including these social networks:
- http://facebook.com/livestrong
- http://twitter.com/livestrong
- http://myspace.com/lancearmstrongfoundation
- http://flickr.com/livestrongarmy
- http://youtube.com/livestrongarmy
- http://livestrongblog.org
Here are some examples:
Directions
- Create an account using the coupon code InnovativeDesigner (and your Miami Ad School email)
- Download these assets: image 1, image 2 and brand guidelines (or all 3 files here zipped).
- Start building your sprout using the brand guidelines and assets.
- Publish your sprout and find your seed page link.
- Enter the contest by using this form.
Prize
The Grand Prize winner will receive a $1,000 prize courtesy of Sprout. The winning design will be adopted by LAF into their social media strategy and help reach hundreds of thousands of their most passionate brand advocates.
Visual and Functional Requirements
Submissions to HELP ‘EM GROW should be a fully functioning sprout/widget that can be deployed as part by LAF. Entries are in the form of a seed page link. See the image below for the seed page link. 
Entries must fulfill the following visual criteria for prize consideration:
- The visual style of the design should reflect the nature of LAF’s philanthropic mission.
- Colors used in the design should match the brand personality of LAF.
- Graphics may be used for global navigation (in master pages)
The following functionality and features must also be incorporated into the sprout:
- Photo slideshow
- One or more videos
- Twitter component
- RSS news feed component
- Intuitive and user-friendly navigation
Format and Technical Specifications
- Dimensions of the Sprout should be no smaller than 100px by 100px and not exceed 600px in either direction.
- All images/artwork used must be royalty-free and optimized for web usage.
- Acceptable image formats: .PNG .JPG .GIF
- Acceptable video formats: .FLV
- Acceptable song formats: .MP3
- Files can be hosted elsewhere using URL references OR uploaded directly to Sprout Builder using the asset manager
Eligibility and Rules
Eligibility
HELP ‘EM GROW is open to all students currently enrolled in the Miami Ad School. The contest is not open to any other individuals restricted by U.S. export controls and sanctions, and is void in any other nation, state or province where prohibited or restricted by U.S. or local law.
Entry Period
Contestants may submit their designs here during the entry period beginning August 17th, 2009 and ending on October 28th, 2009. All entries must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on October 28th, 2009.
Grand Prize: $1,000
In addition to receiving $1,000, the Grand Prize winner will see his/her sprout design used to in an upcoming social media campaign.
Judging & Selection
Submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Originality and creativity of concept
- Effective reinterpretation of the LAF ethos
- Quality of execution (both functional and aesthetic)
- Simplicity of page structure for easy updates
At the conclusion of the entry period, a creative panel from Sprout and LAF will then evaluate the finalist entries and select one to be awarded the Grand Prize.
Rules
Entries submitted to the HELP ‘EM GROW DESIGN CHALLENGE (“Contest”) must adhere to all rules, terms and conditions below.
- Contestants must meet all of the terms of eligibility.
- All submissions must be original works created no earlier than July 29, 2009.
- All submissions must utilize LAF’s logo in scale.
- All images/artwork used must be royalty-free and optimized for web usage.
- Contestants may submit more than one entry.
- Entries may not be deleted, updated or modified after submission. All Entries are the property of Sprout.
- Entries containing copyrighted material (without proper authorization or permission to use) are subject to disqualification and removal from the HELP ‘EM GROW contest website at the sole discretion of Sprout or LAF.
- Entries containing any content that is pornographic in nature, lewd, prurient or sexually explicit will be disqualified and removed from the contest website.
- Sprout and LAF reserve the right to disqualify or remove any entries they deem in violation of the Rules and Terms & Conditions of the HELP ‘EM GROW Design Challenge, and Sprout’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use at Sproutbuilder.com, in their sole discretion.
- Open to design students of the Miami Ad School and enrolled as of July 29, 2009.
- The contest is void where any aspect of the contest is prohibited by law or where registration, bonding or translation is required.
- HELP ‘EM GROW is a contest of skill, creativity and ingenuity. Winning the contest is dependent on the quality of submissions received. This contest is not a game of chance. All decisions of Sprout and LAF are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest. To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, seek injunctive relief or make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this contest are hereby excluded, and all contestants hereby expressly waive any and all such rights.
Copyright Ownership
Each contestant will be required to represent and warrant and agree to the following:
- By submitting an entry by a sole creator to a category (“Contestant Submission”), Contestant represents and warrants that Contestant is the sole designer, creator, and owner of the artwork (or “Contestant Submission”), including all visual and auditory components, or has permission to use copyrighted components, and further represents and warrants that the Contestant Submission does not contain information or elements considered to be confidential or proprietary. By submitting a Contestant Submission by a group of creators, the group of creators represent and warrant that they jointly designed, created, and rightfully own the visual and auditory artwork or have permission to use copyrighted components, and further represents and warrant that the Contestant Submission does not contain information or elements considered by Contestants’ place of business or any other third party to be confidential or proprietary.
- Further, Contestant represents and warrants that the posting of his/her content on or through the Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, contract rights or any other rights of any person or entity. You agree to be responsible for securing all rights to post such content and to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person because of any content posted by you to or through the Services.
- By displaying or publishing or posting any content on or through the Services, Contestant hereby grants to Sprout and LAF a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, sublicensable and worldwide license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, commercially benefit from, reproduce, distribute and prepare derivative works of such content. Contestant further agrees to execute and deliver any further legal instruments and perform any acts which are or may become reasonably necessary to effectuate this license. Further, the Grand Prize winner and Finalists will each be required to execute a release and other documentation as deemed necessary in the sole discretion of Sprout and LAF.
Winner Notification
The Grand Prize winner will be notified no later than November 15th, 2009.
Contact Us
If you have any further questions regarding the HELP ‘EM GROW Design Challenge, feel free to contact us.
