Calling all Artists: LAMINA1 Betanet ‘Space Laser’ NFT Creator Competition
This week, October 2–8, 2023, we’re calling on artists to submit unique “space laser” designs for an upcoming test experience releasing on LAMINA1 this fall. Read below for details on how to participate.
Interested in having one of your NFTs featured in one of the first open metaverse experiences released on the LAMINA1 Betanet?
As we mentioned last week during the launch of Pathfinders: Open Metaverse Discovery Month, “Spaces” or explorable experiences are coming this fall to the LAMINA1 Hub.
To get ready for the big launch, we’re kicking off a new Creator Competition with our friends at Open Meta DAO this week — October 2–8, 2023 — calling on community members to submit unique “space laser” designs for an upcoming test experience we’re currently creating for the LAMINA1 Hub.
Read below for details on what to expect for our latest competition and how to participate as an artist.
Competition Details
For those following along in the L1 community, this is our second-ever NFT Creator Competition, and our first one of the LAMINA1 Betanet.
Last time around, we featured 10 NFT Creator Competition winners, including artists Rebecca Nuvoletta, Carrie Able, and Technatogy, whose work was featured and traded in a digital, on-chain “Collect Them All” game testing EVM & smart contract functionality in the roll-out of Testnet’s LAMINA1 NFT Playground.
For this next phase, we are hoping to feature another collection of artists in the upcoming roll-out of Space Lasers — an arcade-style game and demo experience where you’ll be battling alien spaceships with laser NFTs you collect and earn in-game, and then take back with you to view and eventually trade within the LAMINA1 Hub.
To take a look at what’s coming, here are a couple of sneak peeks of the experience we’re developing:
Additionally, below are some AI-generated versions of laser designs we have been using as placeholders in the experience so far.
When the competition window closes, we’ll be selecting five winning laser designs in the following colors — Red, Green, Blue, Yellow & Purple — to mint on the LAMINA1 Betanet and feature within the game.
If selected as a winner, your NFT will be directly credited to your active username or LAMINA1 Hub Address in the smart contract they’re minted on. Additionally, a brief 1–2 sentence artist description you provide us will be featured across the LAMINA1 Hub and L1 ecosystem, showcasing your designs to a community of nearly 50,000 open metaverse builders.
Please note that this competition is exclusive to the LAMINA1 Betanet phase, and that all assets, tokens, etc, accrued during Betanet will be deleted at the end of the Beta testing period.
The Competition is open for one week only— with submissions closing on Sunday, October 8th, at 11:59 pm PST. Winners will be contacted the week after the competition ends via email, and the selected designs will be announced when Space Lasers launches later this fall.
If you’re interested in participating in the Betanet NFT Creator Competition, please submit your laser designs using this form.
Submission Guidelines
To ensure the consistency, quality, and authenticity of work required to be featured as an artist for the next LAMINA1 NFT Creator Competition, please keep the following submission guidelines in mind:
Still Images Only: Like last time, we are requesting that artists keep things simple with still image submissions only, PNGs preferred. Later this month, we’ll be announcing a few other creator competitions that will break out of this mold and into the 3D & multimedia realms.
1:1 Aspect Ratio: To fit into the game seamlessly, all designs should be submitted in a square format, with a minimum resolution of 512 x 512 pixels. We also ask that each individual design you submit does not exceed 1MB per image.
Creative Parameters: NFT creators are welcome to submit single colors, multiple colors, or a full laser set for consideration, but should only submit designs in the following colors: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Purple. While your designs should align with the general aesthetic of the “Space Lasers” example images shown above, they don’t necessarily have to adhere to standard interpretations of what a laser is, and do not need to be directly derivative of the example designs presented below.
Provable Online Identity: On the submission form, we‘ll be asking participants several identifying questions to help ensure that your identity and past work can be clearly verified. If we receive incomplete answers to these questions, or can’t otherwise tell that the work you submitted is yours, we will very likely not select your design.
Ethical AI Use: Finally, while we are not outright banning AI-generated images from the competition running, if you use AI in your design process, please be transparent about it, credit the artists prompted to generate the image, and avoid using platforms that pull data without permission. Better yet, create original art with the AI image simply used as a starting point or inspiration.
If you’re interested in participating in the NFT Space Lasers Creator Competition, please submit your laser designs using this form.
Selection Process
Finally, we’d like to be transparent with our selection process for the competition. Just like last time, winners will be decided by a cohort from the L1 core team through a direct majority vote.
The selection committee includes current designers, content leads, and developers of the Space Lasers experience, all of whom will be joining the community for an AMA this Friday, October 6 to answer any outstanding questions about the competition and what we’re looking for.
When submissions close on Sunday, October 8th at 11:59pm PST, the selection process will proceed as follows:
Initial Filtering: Submissions will be pared down first by our community team based on survey responses alone. Works that are not original, fail a reverse-image search, do not adhere to ethical AI practices, have incomplete or spammy survey responses, or contain offensive or explicit imagery will be automatically eliminated from the running.
Aesthetic Evaluation: Submissions will then be evaluated by our selection committee and voted on based on their aesthetic appeal, originality, and the provable work history of the artist. Designs that receive the most direct votes in this phase will be selected as winners in following elimination heat rounds, after which we’ll reach out to each artist individually.
Number of Winners: The number of winners in this competition will depend on the quality and quantity of submissions we receive. Ideally, we aim to showcase multiple creators from our community whose work we haven’t featured before.
Betanet Creator Competition Week Quests
Finally, to help amplify the competition, we are releasing four quests new quests this week you can earn XP on this week as we continue Betanet development.
Please note that submitting to the competition itself will not earn you any XP. This is to cut back on the number of spam submissions we have to sort through next week after the competition is closed.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be showcased as an L1 artist and help us test key NFT, smart contract, and in-game integrations.
We can’t wait to see what you submit.
Secret Code: SPACELASERSC0MP!
