Motivation: Who wouldn't like to be able to print money?I run a Bitcoin-based business in Germany that also sells Bitcoins for bank transfers. Sadly, some culprits tried to use this opportunity for cashing out fraudulent bank transfers. I didn't lose any money but it gave me a good scare.
So now, to make sure I work with real, existing people, instead of demanding copies of their IDs and playing police state, I try to respect new customers by sending them a private/public key combo to their home address (they have other payment options which do not require this step, so it's their choice). When they send me back the public address, it gets charged with the amount of BTCs they purchased and they can access the BTCs immediately. I know that they are who they say they are and they have their bitcoins.
Nevertheless, a blank sheet of paper is missing that certain monetary flair that you get from, let's say, a bank note. Same thing happens to me when holding Casascious-Coins: They feel like a 2 EUR - Coin and make my fingers smell, regardless of the amount they were charged with. Also, they are a nightmare to ship because it's not possible to insure them for more than 500 EUR. Wouldn't be a problem if they are not precharged, but there you go.
Outlook: A high-quality print that makes you feel the value.I took care of most of the steps we require for a good prototype. I was able to find semi-synthetic paper with a really nice feel and adequate security features. I got some generic holograms that self-destruct upon removal, but those will probably be customized with my logo when the rest is ready. Alpha-version printing will be performed with a standard color laser printer but maybe handed over to a professional printer in the future. Automatic keypair-generation and conversion to QR-Codes is easy.
The only thing that's really missing is a design. I could use bitadress.org, or any bitnote by PenCity as seen on ebay, but I want something branded, since those two are far away from perfection.
Requirement: Something classy with “more lensflare” and kittensNo, not really. This contest will not only test your craftsmanship but will require a certain amount of creativity. What you need in order to win is both,
but you will not have to enter a finished design to win. I believe in leaving you with a lot of freedom, so there are just some basic rules and guidelines.
Here are the hard requirements:
- Vector graphics, metric units
- 160x80mm dimensions
- A 25x25mm field for the public key as QR-Code and Base58
- A 20x20mm field for the private key (will be covered by hologram)
- The BitAurum-logo (golden bull), not too big. Contact me for High-Res versions.
- If wanted: The artist's name as signature on the bottom right on backside. No hyperlinks, no offensive synonyms
Here are some soft requirements (may be omitted):
- Old currencies contain curved patters to make them hard to reprint (see http://ggjgfljkdvjdj.blogspot.de/2010/09/austria-500-schilling-1965.html) [edit:], they are called "Guilloches"[/edit]. Let's carry on with this, but instead use straight lines that may be broken by 90-120° angles.
- There should be a picture of a person of importance in the center of the front. I was thinking of Satoshi, but there are hardly any pictures so let's use some of my own heroes instead. I want to go with an artist's impression of Andeas Hofer, a freedom fighter in the aftermath of the Neapolitan Wars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Hofer).
- There should be architecture on the back side. Since nobody said it has to be houses and bridges, let's use a part of the SHA256 compression function (http://www.limited-entropy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/SHA-2.png).
- There should be a 1-byte binary field with boxes to be ticked and the corresponding base10-values for each bit printed small below(1,2,4,...,128). This should be not too obvious, a kind of an “inside trick”-feature and will serve as a denominator for the value of the note, which is, of course, only dependent on what was charged before. If you load 10 BTC, you can (if you want to), tick 0000x0x0. It should be at the spot where normally you would read 100 EUR or USD or whatever.
- If you come up with a good name, let me know. I was thinking of staying with "Bitnotes" but I don't know if this word is branded.
The rules, how to apply and winFeel free to use this thread to publish your designs and get feedback from the community or ask questions. To officially enroll, please send a high-res picture to
[email protected]. If there is no mail, you are not a participant. Everything you send per email becomes the IP of BitAurum LTD unless otherwise specified. This contest will be over by March 15th, 12:00 PM UTC, a winner will be announced the day after.
In order to win, I need to see that you are up to the job and willing to finish the project. This is not a scholarship, you will not get paid for being talented, but for delivering. If you go “meh” after winning due to lack of motivation to finish the concept, the first price winner will get a 0 BTC commemorative BitAurum-BitNote that was painted by the 2nd price winner who designed the note and got the 10 BTC!
If you enter a breathtakingly good concept which you can only finish for x Bitcoins more, we will negotiate in private, but I reserve the right to decline. So again: No finished product, no pay.
Why the shitty rules? So you do not have to invest a lot of time just to see someone else win this. Use this thread to compare yourself to others. Think you can do it? Do it!
[edit, see post 4:]
Since there were no objections: All the artwork in this thread must be licensed under Creative Commons V3.0 BY-NC-SA (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). If you do not agree, you can choose to enter the competition by email only.
[/edit]
I will now hedge the Bitcoins to 15UCowJK6xeYm9xnQzHQf3mBg4VVELA8wk. Good luck!