Hi there! How can we help you?
About Aarting
Submitting Designs
Design Tips
About Blankie
Aarting is a Contemporary Art brand based in New York. It is a brand of toy, sculpture and limited edition art objects that is designed, developed and curated by you.
The works on Aarting.com are not toys. Many similar designer collectables have recently sold for several thousand dollars at leading auction houses such as Christie’s and Phillips de Pury in New York. In December 2007, several similar designer collectibles were accepted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Many Aarting products are extremely rare and collectible and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Aarting products are created in extremely limited edition runs and may appreciate in value over time. Once an Aarting product is sold out, it's sold out forever. This insures scarcity and value.
Well, actually YOU do!
Ah! Those can be found over here!
- Scroll through the submitted designs, find a design you like and click on one of the score buttons numbered 1 through 5.
- Each button equals 1 score point, allowing you to place up to 5 points per design.
- Each design lets you score once every 30 minutes. You can check the time remaining on a design by clicking on a button within 30 minutes of having scored that design.
- You can score a design as many times as you like, for as many designs as you like.
- Clicking on the designer’s name will take you to the forum where you can view the designer’s full model sheet submission.
- Entries will be randomly reorganized once a day to insure fairness of design placement on this scoring page.
Winning designs are chosen through public scoring. You do not need to be a member of aarting.com to vote. All scoring data is calculated and averaged into three distinct categories. The winning design is the one with the highest average across all three determining categories.
One of the most interesting aspects of aarting.com is it’s original scoring system. We have some amazing coding experts behind the scenes, and they’ve developed new voting software from the ground up. Aarting’s scoring system is unique to this site and was developed to insure fairness during competitions.
There are three categories by which each submission will be evaluated:
1) Average rating per voter. (sum of all ratings / total voters)
We reward tenacity. By allowing you to score a submission once every 30 minutes, we are encouraging you to participate continuously throughout the voting period. After all, it's the Aarting community that is choosing the contest winner. A design's average in this category is determined by dividing the total number of all ratings (score points 1-5) by the total number of voters.
2) Average rating per UNIQUE voter. (average rating per IP / unique voters)
We encourage diversity. By averaging ratings per voter we are limiting the value of voters who simply score for themselves every thirty minutes. Remember, this is a community. We all depend on your honest opinion of EVERYBODY's submissions. A design's average in this category is determined by dividing the total average rating per IP by the total number of unique voters.
3) Total number of voters.
We encourage honesty in voting. Our system prevents malicious voting such as scoring 1's for your opponent as often as possible. Any attempt to change another designer's averages in this way would actually give your opponent an edge in this category. We're not saying, "Don't do it", we're just trying to keep things fair.
This system captures the best of all worlds: unique votes AND repeat votes AND popularity. The winner is determined by the highest average of the three categories. A tie is virtually impossible. Cheating is virtually impossible.
So just because someone has the most votes doesn’t mean they’ll have the highest average?
Right! Our data shows that people who visit the site tend to vote for several designs, and score those designs differently.
Aarting competitions are all about strategy. It is up to each designer to come up with their own unique approach to winning. Some simple approaches include uploading many designs to increase your chances (we’re calling this the ATOMIC method) and “viral voting”. “Viral voting” includes spreading word of your design through family, friends, social networks, blogs etc- everywhere you can think of. “Viral voting” is a great way to increase your standing in the “total number of votes” category.
Another great asset is Aarting’s “CRITIQUE” forum. The “critique” forum can be used to “test” out your designs. Just post the “front” of your character design and have the community discuss it. Or, even better, send it out via the “viral voting” strategy and have the people in your own network respond with comments and suggestions. The “critique” forum is a useful tool. It’s a great way to tweak your design and can greatly improve your chances of winning.
No. The “1 vote-per-person” system is highly flawed and easily manipulated. This is due to the fact that computers read the data not as “1 vote-per-person” but “1 vote-per-computer”. Because of this, anyone with access to a large company, University or library can curve the vote in their favor creating a tremendous amount of “unique” votes. Under this method of voting, someone sending a well received “company wide” email, or someone with access to a big computer network automatically wins.
There are also several dishonest “cheats” using the “1 vote-per-person”. Their are some very sneaky programs available that can “automatically” post votes for a design over and over again. (These designs will be disqualified, deleted and the user may be banned).
The flaws of the “1 vote-per-person” system became obvious during our very first competition when a designer had logged over 300 “unique” votes THE FIRST DAY. If we had moved forward with the simple “1 vote-per-person” system, nearly 190 designs would have had almost no chance of winning with the odds against them at nearly 300 to 1 after only the first day. The odds would have only gotten worse for the other designers after the second and third day.
We don’t think that’s very fun.
Under our scoring system, this technique only allows for a possible win in 1 of the grading categories. It becomes an effective tool and strategy that every designer can (and should) use. It does not by itself, however, insure victory.
We hope that in time we will have earned your respect and trust so that you keep using this site and to keep working with us. Everything that we do, now or in the future, is for the growth of this community—it's really nothing without you.
CMYK is mainly used for print, and may not be viewable when you post your design to the forum. Make sure it’s RGB!
Check to make sure that it’s RGB, NOT CMYK colors. After that, make sure it’s 72 dpi, a .jpg file, and under 250kb.
As many as you want! Just make sure it’s your FINAL VERSION of the design you want to be scored. Multiple versions of the same design may be disqualified. To help avoid this, use our “CRITIQUE” forum.
The “critique” forum can be used to “test” out your designs. Just post the “front” of your character design and have the community discuss it! It’s a great tool and a great way to tweak your design and improve your chances of winning.
Yup! Here are a few:
1) Use flat colors!
Keep the colors flat and graphic. This will allow your toy to “pop” and give it the best chance to win. It also allows us, as the manufacturer, to reproduce your design accurately. ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO PHOTOGRAPHS can be used in/as your designs.
2) Balance design complexity!
It’s always better to keep the concept simple. Compose your design, remembering to balance areas of color and detail. If you feel that you have too many color ideas, or too many details, just create another design!
3) Stay on model!
Make sure that your design “rotates” correctly. Look at the edges of your design from all angles. It’s important to get the design as accurate as possible. This will help insure that your design is reproduced correctly.
4) Find inspiration!
There are tons of beautiful designer toys out there. Do some research! See what works and what doesn’t! Apply what you discover and your toy is sure to capture attention!
Yes! You may design accessories for the new Do-It-Yourself designer competition. All Accessories must be able to be sculpted and produced in plastic, and must fit within certain dimensions. Go here to find out more.
Aarting reserves the right to decline any submission. Here are some possible reasons:
Design Is Not Uploaded Correctly
A submission will be declined if it's uploaded to the gallery forum in a different scale, format or style other than the presentation template. We want everyone’s work to be seen the same, giving everyone a fair chance. If you want to post additional artwork or different designs, you’re welcome to create a new forum thread and post extra stuff in there.
Duplicate Submissions
We know you want to post only your best design. Sometimes it’s hard to determine which version of your design has the best chance of winning. We suggest posting various design tweaks to the “Critique” folder on the forum to get a better sense of which design stands out the best. Duplicate submissions, or submissions with only minor changes, may be subject to disqualification.
Submission Deemed Inappropriate
A submission can be declined if it contains material or themes that make us feel uneasy. Keep in mind that some members of the community may be under the age of 16. For more on Community Guidelines, go here.
Using Automatic Voting Software
We have ways of detecting automatic voting software when it is used on the site. Our unique scoring software makes it very very difficult to cheat. Don’t do it. (These designs will be disqualified, deleted and the user may be banned).
Forum Behavior Deemed Inappropriate
A submission can be declined and/or user banned if your posts or comments contain material or language that is inappropriate. Constructive criticism and comments are welcome; bashing, attacking or flaming is not.
For more on Community Guidelines, go here.
The Blankie figurine is made in China.
Aarting only works with well received factories. These factories were largely chosen based on their reputation for cleanliness of the factory and the way that they treat their employees. This makes it easy for us to make the best toys with the best factories in China.
Once winning designs are chosen, they go directly into production at the factory. Production and manufacturing can take several months to complete. Once made, they are sent to our distribution outlets via cargo ship from China. This can take a month or more on average due to travel time and customs handling.
Yes! Some designers have even chosen to design the Blankie figurine while it lays on its side! Feel free to design it in whichever orientation works best for your design.
The Blankie figurine has moveable arms and head.
Blankie is approximately 3 inches tall.
Copyright © 2009 Aarting, Inc. All rights reserved.
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