And the 2014 Superstar winners are…
And the 2014 Superstar winners are…Actually before I open the envelop can I just say that once again you all did me proud, this year we received some brilliant entries and hand on heart I’m not just saying that. There are some I will definitely be drawing in addition to the 24 chosen so don’t be disheartened if your gorgeous one doesn’t appear on a month, they might very likely appear on a card!
Lack of time was my biggest downfall and there are a number of potential superstars I still really want to draw but they would each have taken at least a day which sadly is time I didn’t have.
So I thought I would explain a little how I go about choosing your Superstars.
Step 1. Receive entries and read anecdotes and highlight instant favourites.
There were lots! The anecdotes can play just as big a part as the photo, in fact one of you snuck into the mix purely based on the first line of your email, “meet my midlife crisis”. You made me giggle.
Step 2. Start the artwork and hope I’m having a good design day. A simple piece can take about 3 hours, a detailed one over 4, a very detailed one, a whole day.
Step 3. Review artwork half way through to get a balance of breeds, full pictorial artworks, plain background designs, funny, cute, serious, old, young. There is a great deal to consider let me tell you…it’s not just glueing and sticking and flicking a bit of paint around. Well ok, it is a little bit:-)
Step 4. Realize I need more cat entries as I have gone a bit heavy on the ginger.
Step 5. Scroll through the entries, there were over 300. (You guys are great!) and match the superstar to the owner’s email; far more time consuming than it sounds, especially when you’ve dragged all the images into one large folder but didn’t think to name them,which is one of the many reasons you haven’t heard from me yet. Me and admin struggle to mix.
Step 6. Scan all the artworks, format and set into place. This takes approximately 1 to 2 days.
Step 7. Summon my brother and business partner, Gavin, to brain storm some captions as he’s the funny one. If the caption isn’t funny, then I’ve probably ignored him and opted for one of my own.
Step 8. Get someone with real Mac skills, Debs, to prepare the final article for print.
Step 9. Proof, proof and proof again.
Step 10. Press send then receive an email 10 days later highlighting date and artwork errors. Aarrrrrrrrghhh. Fix and resend.
Step 11. Vow on my life to start 2015’s diary next month to avoid running out of design time!
Step 12. Let everyone know the results. I hear by declare a full list of winners will be announced on the 1st of July. Furry paw honor.
