Give us a YAY!

It’s very hard to spend a day on deviantART without seeing an emoticon. They appear pretty much everywhere around the site and with many being made each day, the list of different emotions and actions shown is endless.

However, what is not always seen is the time, effort, energy and passion that can go into these little characters. It is this idea which has launched this contest. Give us a YAY aims to encourage people to try out emoticons and get some insight into what goes on behind the screen.

Rules

The rules for this contest are simple:

Create an emoticon with a ‘YAY’ theme
All entries must be brand new submissions, submitted after 9th April 2009
The contest will end on 9th May 2009 (11.59pm PST). All entries must be submitted before this date.
You can enter as many times as you wish
Entries can be Static (non-moving) or Animated (moving)
All entries must be 100% your own work
Please state in the comments that your deviation is an entry for this contest

Categories

As the aim of this contest is to encourage any deviant to take part, there are two categories for entry:

New
Experienced.

This has been devised to allow deviants that are not yet experienced in emoticons to enter without being put up against deviants well settled into the emoticon gallery.

Prizes

Well it wouldn’t really be a contest without prizes. The prizes up for grabs for the winners of each category are:

1st Place

- One pack of official dA emoticon stressballs
- 3 Month subscription donated by `capncraka
- 3 Month sub donated by =Sinister-Starfeesh
- Request from =xxfangirlkillerxx
- Chibi Request from =elicoronel16
- Avatar request from =Waluigi-Prower
- Journal feature from ^Synfull
- Journal feature from ^Helewidis
- Journal feature from ^DeMaulwurfn
- Journal feature from ^orangefruits
- Journal feature from `brokenboulevard
- Journal feature from =Droneguard
- Journal feature from `CookiemagiK
- Journal feature from =BurgerBunny
- Journal feature from =Waluigi-Prower
- Journal Feature from =Nekoori
- Journal feature from =Caeser1993
- Journal feature from =SparklyDest
- Journal feature from ~PatrickRuegheimer
- Journal feature from ~Yoshiko-86
- Journal feature from =elicoronel16
- Journal feature from =ManiacalMuffin
- Journal feature from =Gnog
- Journal feature from =Amarie-Veneanar

2nd Place

- One pack of official dA emoticon buttons
- 1 Month sub donated by =Sinister-Starfeesh
- Request from =xxfangirlkillerxx
- Avatar Request from =elicoronel16
- Journal feature from ^Synfull
- Journal feature from ^Helewidis
- Journal feature from ^DeMaulwurfn
- Journal feature from ^orangefruits
- Journal feature from `brokenboulevard
- Journal feature from =Droneguard
- Journal feature from `CookiemagiK
- Journal feature from =BurgerBunny
- Journal feature from =Waluigi-Prower
- Journal Feature from =Nekoori
- Journal feature from =Caeser1993
- Journal feature from =SparklyDest
- Journal feature from ~PatrickRuegheimer
- Journal feature from ~Yoshiko-86
- Journal feature from =elicoronel16
- Journal feature from =ManiacalMuffin
- Journal feature from =Gnog
- Journal feature from =Amarie-Veneanar

3rd Place

- Request from =xxfangirlkillerxx
- Avatar Request from =elicoronel16
- Journal feature from ^Synfull
- Journal feature from ^Helewidis
- Journal feature from ^DeMaulwurfn
- Journal feature from ^orangefruits
- Journal feature from `brokenboulevard
- Journal feature from =Droneguard
- Journal feature from `CookiemagiK
- Journal feature from =BurgerBunny
- Journal feature from =Waluigi-Prower
- Journal Feature from =Nekoori
- Journal feature from =Caeser1993
- Journal feature from =SparklyDest
- Journal feature from ~PatrickRuegheimer
- Journal feature from ~Yoshiko-86
- Journal feature from =elicoronel16
- Journal feature from =ManiacalMuffin
- Journal feature from =Gnog
- Journal feature from =Amarie-Veneanar

Custom animal sprite/avatar from ~SapphirexKitsune for her favorite entry overall.

Prize donations are always welcome, even if it’s just a journal feature. The up to date list of prizes will be placed in this journal.

Judges

The judges for this contest will be:



Each entry will be judged on a number of different aspects such as originality, how well it fits the theme and the general look of the emoticon.

Submitting your entry

Entries for this contest can be submitted my placing the emoticon in the following category when uploading onto deviantART:

Contests > 2009 > Give us a YAY

In the comments section please state whether you feel you should be placed in the ‘New’ or the ‘Experienced’ category. The final decision on categories will be down to the judges, however this ensures your view its known.

That’s as simple as it is. Even if your emoticon doesn’t turn out perfectly, it’s still worth entering. If you browse through most emoticonists pages, you’re bound to find an emoticon that is rather rough around the edges. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Tutorials and Programs

As some of you may not be aware of what is needed for an emoticon, I have complied a list of some useful information and tutorials below. One of the most useful resources is the =Emotication account which acts as a hub for list over 160 different tutorials, base packs, FAQs and useful information.

Programs

There are many different programs you can use to create an emoticon. Some of the most common ones are listed below:

- Adobe Fireworks
- Photoshop / Imageready
- Ulead GIF animator
- Animation shop
- GIMP – Free for download
- Paint (static only)
- PaintShop Pro (Static only)
- Paint.Net

More additional information on obtaining a FREE copy/trials of these programs can be found on this page


Tutorials

A full list of all known emoticon tutorials can be found on this page, however listed blow is a selection of good tutorials to get you started

General



Photoshop / Image ready



Fireworks



GIMP



My Tutorials



Other

If you have any other questions or queries about this contest, or emoticons in general, then just drop me a note and I will get back you.

I look forward to seeing the entries. Have fun and give use a YAY!