Tips for our Bella Creations Contest
It's time for another year of Bella Creations. Entries for the Spring round will be accepted through March 19th. We always look forward to seeing your creativity and we encourage you all to submit an entry.
WHY SHOULD YOU ENTER? Two reasons.
One - Get cool prizes. The winner of each quarter round receives credit for free Bella or Prisma product. Get a sweet gallery sample for the shop or frame that special something of your very own. The grand prize is a free trip to join us at the WCAF 2019 show in Las Vegas!
Two - You can use this as a marketing tool for your business. The contest is an opportunity to draw attention to your artistry and talent. You can engage your customers in the contest either in-store or on social media and really showcase your work.
WHAT SHOULD YOU ENTER? Two ideas.
One - Some framers are entering something personal to them. A piece of art they've been meaning to frame and can take the time to design and photograph for entry before the deadline.
Two - Another approach is to photograph all those cool customer pieces before they go to their forever homes. Many of you are doing this already for your own social media or websites. With a library of awesome framing to pull from, it's easier to submit when the due dates roll around.
HOW IS THE WINNING ENTRY CHOSEN? Two rounds.
One - Once we compile all the entries, voting is open to the general public on our contest page.
(One nice change this year is the contest will not be connected to Facebook. You can share the contest page link on your own website or any social media channels and there will be no need for your customers to join or be involved with Facebook at all. )
Two - The three entries with the highest popular vote are then put in front of an independent panel of judges. These are industry experts with no affiliation with Bella Moulding. The panel selects the winner based on a consensus of the most creative, interesting and unique design.
We encourage you to share the contest voting page through email or social media or ask your customers to vote for you while in-store. We see many amazing pieces in the contest, but without soliciting votes from friends, family and customers, unfortunately those pieces have a much smaller chance of reaching the panel judging round.
HOW TO UP YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING? Two ways.
One - Submit a clear image of the piece. See photography tips below.
Two - Earn extra credit by writing a description for your entry that will make people weep. Tell us about the art and why you chose your design? What did the customer request and how did your design solve a problem for them?
PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS
An image is worth a thousand words and a really good image should be worth a thousand votes. You don't need fancy equipment to capture the best image of your project.
Tip 1: Find a spot with natural light. Outdoors on a cloudy day works great or indoors near your largest natural light source are good spots. You can also use a piece of foam to bounce ambient light onto the piece by holding it below and getting the right angle.
Tip 2: Consider the background. A messy work shop behind won't look great. Try hanging the piece on a blank wall, leaning against a neutral surface or laying it flat on the floor. You probably have some mat board or foam core around to make a great make shift backdrop too.
Tip 3: You might need to add a sense of scale. For some projects, it's nice to give the viewer an idea of the size. Include a human, a hand, a plant or even a shop pet to give an idea of scale.
Tip 4: Cut out the reflection. We're asking you to shoot pieces that usually have glass and thus reflection. Grab a buddy and ask them to hold foam board up next to you or behind the camera to block reflection from overhead lights or windows.
NOW YOU'RE READY TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS YEAR'S CONTEST.
<SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY HERE>
Enter as many times as you'd like, and GET THOSE VOTES!!
