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Announcing “BSG ORCHESTRA” Web Design Contest!

Posted by Bear McCreary on June 21st, 2009


With the success of our recent concerts at The Roxy Theater and California Plaza, I think its time my band, The Battlestar Galactica Orchestra, gets its own website.  Over the past few years, I’ve received frequent and generous offers from BSG fans around the world, volunteering to pitch in with web design services.  Now the time is right and I need YOUR help.  I’m challenging you loyal fans to a web design contest.

The BSG Orchestra needs a site that can provide media from previous concerts, information on upcoming shows, updates on potential international performances in 2010, a forum for fans, and details on the possible LIVE CONCERT DVD AND ALBUM in the works for release later this year (shhhhhhhh! More about that soon!).  

Designers will be given a collection of approved images and a basic site-map concept, but I’m looking for a creative and attractive layout.  The deadline for submitting your designs is 11:59pm PT, Wednesday July 1st.  A winner and two runners-up will be announced by Friday July 3.  

The winning designer will be awarded:

  • 2 VIP Passes to “The Music Of Battlestar Galactica” Concert at the House of Blues, Thursday, July 23rd in San Diego. (Includes open bar, exclusive autograph signing, VIP seats, but does not include travel expenses.)
  • Exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Sound Check on the day of the show
  • My personal baton and signed set list used in the concert
  • A signed “Battlestar Galactica: Season 4″ 2-CD soundtrack
  • “Battlestar Galactica Orchestra” poster signed by the band
  • An ‘About the Web Designer’ feature page on the site
  • My eternal gratitude

 Two runners-up will each be awarded:

  • A signed “Battlestar Galactica: Season 4″ 2-CD soundtrack
  • “Battlestar Galactica Orchestra” poster signed by the band
  • Their work featured here on my blog

In addition to the super cool homepage, the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra website must contain tabs / links and accompanying pages for the following sections in order to be considered: 

  • “About the Band”
  • “Blog:” Upcoming Concerts and News (with comments enabled)
  • “Forum:” A General Forum, with a section where International fans can show support.  Let’s convince promoters to bring this concert to the East Coast, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
  • “Music & Video”
  • “Press”
  • “Links”
  • “Store:” This just needs a link, which I will then connect to a third-party store.  We’re announcing some very cool merch soon!
  • “About the Web Designer:” A few paragraphs all about you!  This page can be modified after your VIP show experience with pictures and anecdotes that you submit.

In judging these, I will look for simple, clean and easily navigated designs.  I’m not into flashy / animated sites.  Think “classy / minimal but not boring.”  It will need to be easily modified and maintained by me and my team, so user-friendly sites created with free services like Wordpress or Tumblr are recommended.  However, you’re welcome to start one from scratch.  (Please note that we reserve the right to modify the final page to meet our needs, and all submissions will be property of the BSG Orchestra.)

If you would like to submit an entry, please send an email to bsglive@gmail.com with a subject line reading “BSG Orchestra Website Contest.”  We will send you a ZIP file of approved images and copy.  Please make sure we can reach you to discuss your design.

I will be judging the submissions myself, so I look forward to checking out everything you submit.  

See you at the shows in San Diego!

-Bear

Posted by Bear McCreary on Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at 9:16 pm.

34 Responses to This Blog Entry:

Very exciting! Thanks for this opportunity Bear!

Left by MattH on June 21st, 2009

sigh… I’m a guru coding websites, but I can’t design them!

Left by cory on June 21st, 2009

I wish I could make a website. I’m really excited about the live concert DVD though!!

Left by RoyH on June 21st, 2009

So psyched for this contest! Here’s hoping this humble Vancouver web design student can make a site capable of competing with any other BSG fans in the industry =)

Left by Mike on June 21st, 2009

Damn. Too much to do within that timeframe, or I’d love to enter. Ah, well… :(

Left by Trialia on June 21st, 2009

“updates on potential international performances in 2010, (…), and details on the possible LIVE CONCERT DVD AND ALBUM in the works for release later this year (shhhhhhhh! More about that soon!).”

Uuuuhhh, promising ;)

Left by Sandra on June 22nd, 2009

Ohhh come hell or high water I’ll get a design mock-up put together in time :) We listen to a lot of BSG soundtrack goodness in our office (web design/development), so this is an awesome opportunity, thanks!

Left by wilsonography on June 22nd, 2009

International performances… oh man oh man oh man…

Left by plainsong on June 22nd, 2009

What happens if the winner can’t make it to the concert?

Left by Delta on June 22nd, 2009

“The BSG Orchestra needs a site that can provide media from previous concerts, information on upcoming shows, updates on potential international performances in 2010, a forum for fans, and details on the possible LIVE CONCERT DVD AND ALBUM in the works for release later this year (shhhhhhhh! More about that soon!).”

This paragraph is so much win.

Left by GungaDin on June 22nd, 2009

Hey Bear, when will the ZIP file be sent?
And are we allowed to submit more than one design?

Left by MattH on June 22nd, 2009

Rereading the post, does it mean that you are looking for a design for each of those pages to be sent in with the entry, or just the homepage (with subpages coming later)?

Just want to clarify :)

Left by wilsonography on June 23rd, 2009

Zip files are out to everyone who’s emailed. Let us know if there are any problems.

MattH: Sure, submit as many designs as you’d like!

wilsonography: We’re looking for a complete website.

Please also feel free to e-mail bsglive@gmail.com with any further questions.

Left by bsgorchestra on June 23rd, 2009

Wow, I am late in the game, but still I’d love to try a layout myself. Just wrote an email to bsglive. Love the idea. Thanks for giving us fans a chance to contribute. Awesome! :o)

Left by BonaTaylor on June 24th, 2009

“LIVE CONCERT DVD AND ALBUM”

I really do hope that it’s available as both a CD and DVD, as personally, while DVDs are nice to watch, I enjoy listening to the music by itself in iTunes and on my iPod. I guess I’ll just have to wait to see what happens.

Anyways, I have no talent with web design, but best of luck to those who do, and I’m sure it’ll be neat getting to see all the different entries.

Left by valdore on June 24th, 2009

That’s a sweet deal. Good luck to everyone!

I also had an idea, which is totally something you might have thought of or don’t care to think of, but you could possibly do a competition in the future for Best Score. Have your readers compete by scoring a BSG scene or something. Might be fun.

This seemed like the best place to pitch that idea.

Left by tmcarlee on June 25th, 2009

I’ll support tmcarlee’s idea, which is something I’ve thought of as well – it would be an awesome idea for a competition to maybe pitch an imaginary scene for an imaginary BSG episode and see what the fans come up with in terms of scoring that scene – based on your style and the established themes of the involved characters. I guess it would be this community’s equivalent of fan fiction. Dunno how you’d feel about your work being potentially maltreated by a bunch of home musicians with laptops, though :)

Left by Boreez on June 25th, 2009

I just got back from a week-long field trip, so I’m a bit late in the game, as well. Anyway, despite a limited timeframe, I’ve decided to join in with the rest of you guys. This is going to be great! Thanks for this opportunity.

Bear, I reckon your servers support both PHP and ASP? Also, do we submit our entry/entries in this post?

Cheers,

Arild

Left by ArildWT on June 25th, 2009

I am so excited to hear about this. I cannot wait. I would offer my services but am swamped with other work right now.

Left by DarthRazorback on June 26th, 2009

Woohoo, I’m excited :-) I’ve surprisingly, despite a huge web portal project that goes live on July 1st, gotten a large part of this project done already.

Left by musicpaladin2007 on June 26th, 2009

I received the ZIP file…thanks! However, the blog post says that, “We will send you a ZIP file of approved images and copy.” I received no copy in the ZIP file. What text are we supposed to use throughout the site? I’m assuming your PR people will do a much better job than me at writing the kind of copy that you want for your website. :)

Left by tbphx on June 27th, 2009

Bear, I’ve seen the BSG Orchestra performance in L.A. on the filmsinfocus channel on YouTube. You folks in the BSGO really are phenomenal and are creating something that’s never been done quite this way before. I think you’ve got potential to go way beyond the confines of the BSG soundtrack – while at the same time attracting the many viewers like me for whom a huge part of the BSG experience was the music.

I guess what I’m saying in a roundabout way is – you guys rock, and I hope you parlay your success so far into something broader.

So when are you coming to the East Coast? :)

Left by Zbeeblebrox on June 27th, 2009

Hi Bear,

First time poster,long time fan.

I would not miss a show if you performed in the Chicago area. We have some great venues. I like the Sears Centre or maybe something down by Lake Michigan– or both. You’d reach a lot of people that way in decent-sized but not-too-big venues. Would love to see you and the BSG Orchestra. I know you have a big audience here.

Beth @ Cinemedia gave me the heads up about your search for a talented web designer.
Tweeted this a couple times to try to help out:

cyn_mccrackan – Are you a web designer and BSG/Bear McCreary fan? Bear’s Battlestar Blog BSG ORCHESTRA Web Design Contest going on NOW! http://bit.ly/1aohM4

I noticed other fans doing the same. I’ll bet you get avalanche of talent in the submissions!

I can’t do the graphics but if you ever need a volunteer scribe, I write.
Cheers!
Cyn

Left by Cyn on June 29th, 2009

I gotta agree with Beeblebrox, I think the BSG Orchestra has potential to transcend its roots (think about it, it’s a cable sci-fi TV show score and it’s selling out shows. That should be a great clue) and I would also second the motion to tour more. In particular, I think you’d be surprised how many fans you have here in Texas. So when the BSG Orchestra international world tour happens, you guys gotta make a stop in Austin or Houston. We’ll love you here, I promise.

Left by kevintporter on June 29th, 2009

tmcarlee… “I also had an idea, which is totally something you might have thought of or don’t care to think of, but you could possibly do a competition in the future for Best Score. Have your readers compete by scoring a BSG scene or something. Might be fun.”

Wow, that does sound interesting. I had an idea similar to that which might be fun, actually. I’ll be posting it in a few weeks.

Boreez… “it would be an awesome idea for a competition to maybe pitch an imaginary scene for an imaginary BSG episode and see what the fans come up with in terms of scoring that scene – based on your style and the established themes of the involved characters. I guess it would be this community’s equivalent of fan fiction.”

Yeah, and you guys have notation of every single theme in the series on the blog here. Wow, that would be interesting.

-Bear

Left by Bear McCreary on June 29th, 2009

- by the way, I assume we submit entries simply by mailing the address to bsglive@gmail.com?

Left by Boreez on June 29th, 2009

Yes, please submit entries (as a link) to bsglive@gmail.com

Left by bsgorchestra on June 29th, 2009

I’m really bummed I’m not going to be able to submit an entry. This contest just fell at a real bad time for me. :/
Best of luck to everyone who is submitting. I’m anxious to see the winning design!

Left by MattH on July 1st, 2009

Hi Bear,
Sent in my entry last night.Def not the winner but great to get involved and be put on a deadline.Been busy with my own sites ( http://www.caprica.ie ). Im looking forward to seeing the winning site. And hopefully it will get a big enough response to get you here to Ireland where there is a huge following for both Battlestar and your awesome music.The very best of luck to all in the competition and big pat on the back for you and the band for the superb work you’re doing.
Your a legend.

Left by alexindublin on July 2nd, 2009

Hi there! When will the winning designs be announced?

Left by califken on July 3rd, 2009

Hey guys…

We got so many quality submissions, it’s going to take us an extra couple days to sort through them. I think we’ll pick out the winning designs and announce them by Monday or Tuesday night at the latest. I’ve seen a bunch of them so far and… wow, they are amazing!

-Bear

Left by Bear McCreary on July 3rd, 2009

Any word on who the winner is yet?!

Left by athena on July 7th, 2009

Athena…

Word will be coming VERY soon, I promise! 24 more hours and I think we’ll have picked it. Lots of great stuff to look at. :)

-Bear

Left by Bear McCreary on July 7th, 2009

Congratulations to Arild on a very well deserved win, the new bsg orchestra site looks great and is easy to get around. Yet another great choice my Bear McCreary. I will put a feature page on my site ( http://www.battlestarquorum.com ) and links to to the new site.
Looking forward to following the journey of the BSG orchestra via thier new site and Bear’s Blog. And fingers crossed the site will drum up enough support to get the guys to play in Ireland or Europe.

Alex

Left by alexindublin on July 9th, 2009

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