yellow[alien]probed | green[alien]probe

Are you a web designer that is capable of creating completely standards compliant websites utilizing the latest and greatest standards, such as XHTML and CSS2? Interested in the possibility of winning an iPod Mini, a deviantART subscription, deviantART prints or deviantDOLLARS? Look no further than the green[alien]probe design contest!

Contest Description

The idea behind the contest is to create a website similar in nature to that of the existing green[alien]probe website but utilizing completely original XHTML, CSS2 and any necessary graphics. There must not be any use of tables for the layout of the site; this is the point behind using CSS2.

The design must, at the very least, follow this simple layout template in order to be eligible for prizes. The entire website must be centered within the browser and roughly maintain the same width as the existing website.

Do not get caught up in the use of green and yellow. First and foremost is ensuring the usability and readability of the site; for a journal needs to be legible and easy on the eyes.

The following are examples of websites that I am fond of and might be useful for inspirational purposes:

SimpleBits: [link]
CSS Zen Garden Template: [link]
Veerle's Blog: [link]
A Whole Lotta Nothing: [link]
stopdesign: [link]

Contest Entries

In order to “enter the contest” merely dream up a design the follow the aforementioned requirements and upload the site to a web server so that the entry can be viewed within a browser. Once the site is uploaded then post a link as a comment here on this journal entry. Only entries posted as comments will be eligible for prizes; if you send me a link via a Note, which does not appear as a comment, then your entry will not be qualified to “win” any of the prizes that the contest has to offer.

If you are incapable of creating XHTML and CSS2 based websites but are interested in designing a template then I suggest trying to work together with someone knowledgeable in the design arena and entering as a team.

Contest Duration

The contest will begin immediately and end on September 19th. All entries posted as comments prior to midnight on September 19th will be eligible to “win” prizes.

If it is generally felt that more time is necessary, as we get closer to the closing date, then the possibility exists of extending the contest deadline.

Contest Prizes

The prizes that are offered for the “winning” design are based on the effort put forth with the design of the site. The better the design, with a larger feature set, will be eligible for higher valued prizes. On top of that, if the site is easily extensible in that adding new areas to the website is a simple task then you will get “bonus points” for that as well.

What this essentially means is that if you put together a completely XHTML and CSS2 based website, complete with an entire set of graphics and a neat set of unique “bells and whistles” then you would be eligible for the most valued prize.

Here are the prizes, in order of value:

iPod Mini
$100 in deviantDOLLARS
1 “framed” deviantART Print of your choice
1 year deviantART subscription

As you can see it is well worth your effort if you put something extremely worthy forward. The selection of prizes for the winner will be entirely up to me, based on my thoughts on the “winning” design.

If you have any questions then please post them here as comments, so that everyone can see and I will answer them; this will ensure that I am not answering the same question multiple times.

I wish everyone that enters good luck in their endeavor. May the best design win!

[s]