HiResCovers.net

Congrats again to Zungam and Garot... particularly Zungam for bringing the crown (or at least half of it) back to HiResCovers!

Zungam, if you decide to finish the cover, please correct the typo on Russell Crowe's name (two L's in Russell). Nothing against the artistic quality of your cover, but the principle of a cover with a typo taking the crown bothers me a little bit.

I apologize for being negative, but I have to admit that I am ashamed at the lack of professionalism amongst some of the judges. Some did not submit their scorecards by Tim's deadline, some didn't finish the scorecard (although I understand there were unforeseen circumstances), some left very brief comments, some didn't comment on every cover (as we were requested to do), and some left no comments whatsoever. Yes, scrutinizing and ranking all of those covers was a daunting and time-consuming task, but nowhere near as time-consuming as the hard-working artists who designed the covers. Regardless of your personal opinion of a cover, all had something that was done well and most had areas for improvement. Each cover rightfully deserved comments from all judges. It's part of the job each judge elected to perform. Going forward, I would recommend that judges who do not follow the requirements for judging have their votes removed from the final score. Designers have rules, so too should the judges.

So as to not end on a sour note, I would like to say that I am very glad I did not compete against this year's powerhouse of designs. The sheer amount of artistry, creativity, and flawless execution on display was mind-blowing. As a judge, I was overwhelmed when I first laid eyes of all of the designs. Any one of them could have won depending which way the wind blew. Beautiful work and an excellent amount of care and precision from all the designers. Each and every artist should be very proud of the work that they created. Simply amazing...

Kernie wrote:

QUOTE (Kernie @ Apr 10 2014, 09:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congrats again to Zungam and Garot... particularly Zungam for bringing the crown (or at least half of it) back to HiResCovers!

Zungam, if you decide to finish the cover, please correct the typo on Russell Crowe's name (two L's in Russell). Nothing against the artistic quality of your cover, but the principle of a cover with a typo taking the crown bothers me a little bit.

I apologize for being negative, but I have to admit that I am ashamed at the lack of professionalism amongst some of the judges. Some did not submit their scorecards by Tim's deadline, some didn't finish the scorecard (although I understand there were unforeseen circumstances), some left very brief comments, some didn't comment on every cover (as we were requested to do), and some left no comments whatsoever. Yes, scrutinizing and ranking all of those covers was a daunting and time-consuming task, but nowhere near as time-consuming as the hard-working artists who designed the covers. Regardless of your personal opinion of a cover, all had something that was done well and most had areas for improvement. Each cover rightfully deserved comments from all judges. It's part of the job each judge elected to perform. Going forward, I would recommend that judges who do not follow the requirements for judging have their votes removed from the final score. Designers have rules, so too should the judges.

So as to not end on a sour note, I would like to say that I am very glad I did not compete against this year's powerhouse of designs. The sheer amount of artistry, creativity, and flawless execution on display was mind-blowing. As a judge, I was overwhelmed when I first laid eyes of all of the designs. Any one of them could have won depending which way the wind blew. Beautiful work and an excellent amount of care and precision from all the designers. Each and every artist should be very proud of the work that they created. Simply amazing...

Oh YES I'm in the powerhouse group!
Good call there kernie well said.
Oh and in case you all missed it, I'm in the powerhouse group!

Kernie wrote:

QUOTE (Kernie @ Apr 9 2014, 06:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Going forward, I would recommend that judges who do not follow the requirements for judging have their votes removed from the final score.

Interestingly: If I had eliminated the "incomplete" cards, the Top 4 designers would still be the same. (I just checked. )

It was tempting to make a statement, as the deadline approached and several beseeched judges were either unwilling or unable to provide additional comments, but...
Imagine disqualifying half of the cards while, for instance, all of the HiRes scores remained intact. That's a big cloud of accusations and unhappiness waiting to rain down.

It's dissatisfying, since individualized comments are supposed to be a strong, unique aspect of the competition. Why volunteer, right? Each judge did seem sincere to me when conveying how carefully they chose their scores, even if the comments do not wholly reflect as such, but it's probably fair that those individuals are blacklisted from future judging.

I hope I was not one of the judges that let you down. I spent several days going over the entries in order to try and get it right. While we are on the subject of judges, would it work better if there were less? What do you think about having one judge per competing site? Out of curiosity, how would the winners have fared if you took one score sheet from each site (from the most senior member of that site)?

Bunny Dojo wrote:

QUOTE (Bunny Dojo @ Apr 10 2014, 12:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's a big cloud of accusations and unhappiness waiting to rain down.

To clarify my point, I wasn't suggesting that this year's outcomes were not deserved or valid, or that you should disqualify any judges or adjust the points from this year's competition. Moving forward, however, I would expect the judges to be held to similar expectations as the designers.

Setting a rule of "all covers must be ranked and commented AND submitted by the deadline" from the outset should make it clear from the beginning that any judges not upholding their responsibilities will have his/her scorecard withdrawn. Accepting anything (design or scorecard) after an established deadline is unfair... imagine the cloud of accusations and unhappiness if a late design somehow won the competition. Rules are rules... people might not be happy about them, but at least you can stand behind them.

The designers spent a lot of time on their work and deserve to know that each judge studied and evaluated their efforts to some degree of detail. Ranking without commenting makes me question if some judges even looked beyond the preview image. I am not trying to argue with you or disregard all the time and effort you put into running this competition, but I am trying to offer suggestions to hold both the designers and judges accountable for the duties they agreed to perform.

Bazzah wrote:

QUOTE (Bazzah @ Apr 10 2014, 05:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What do you think about having one judge per competing site?

I agree... there may be too many judges at the moment, all with varying degrees of cover-designing ability and experience. Perhaps lessening the number of judges would help ensure quality judges that know what they're talking about. Perhaps a rule that the judge from each site must have won at least one competition from their respective site in the last year?

--

I'm sorry to be negative following such a great competition, but it really bothered me to see those blank scorecards from the judges. Many judges worked very hard to fairly and professionally examine the covers they were scoring, but seeing that others did not take the job so seriously was disappointing.

I think there should be less Judges. While I can't write as elgant as Kernie, I'm in agreement with most of what he wrote.

Even though part of the competition is also a celebration of the whole cover community, this isn't 'just' some monthly cover competition on some cover site. This is supposed to be the biggest comp of the year; and with that in mind I think it's fair to expect something from the Judges.

JollyRoger wrote:

QUOTE (JollyRoger @ Apr 11 2014, 01:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think there should be less Judges. While I can't write as elgant as Kernie, I'm in agreement with most of what he wrote.

Even though part of the competition is also a celebration of the whole cover community, this isn't 'just' some monthly cover competition on some cover site. This is supposed to be the biggest comp of the year; and with that in mind I think it's fair to expect something from the Judges.

Well I expected something J....like someone appreciating Vegemite damnit!

Nightrider wrote:

QUOTE (Nightrider @ Apr 10 2014, 04:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well I expected something J....like someone appreciating Vegemite damnit!

Easy did appreciate it! Made an excellent Kon-Tiki raft!

:lol22:

I too think less judges, as in one per site plus the special judges should be sufficient to determine a winner and as Kernie said that would make it far easier for each site to select a more competent judge to represent them.