Manitoba's Largest Anime Event Seeks New Mascot Design

MANITOBA'S LARGEST ANIME EVENT SEEKS NEW MASCOT DESIGN
Contest under way to find aiko's look for Ai-Kon 2006

Winnipeg, MB - March 8, 2006 - Ai-Kon organizers are seeking a new
design for aiko, the Ai-Kon mascot, for use on the convention's 2006
promotional materials.

A stylish, energetic anime girl with pink hair and blue eyes, aiko
appears on a variety of Ai-Kon promotional items, including t-shirts,
posters, flyers, badges, programs, and the Ai-Kon web site
(http://www.ai-kon.org).

Contest rules:
Entries must be full-body images, with no background.

Images featuring poses, outfits and/or hair styles of copyrighted
characters, or copyrighted characters themselves, will not be
accepted.

No adult-themed images will be accepted. This will be at the
discretion of Ai-Kon executives. Please ensure entries are suitable
for all ages.

A maximum limit of four entries per person will be accepted.

Entries must be full-colour, 300 dpi resolution and submitted
electronically in PSD or JPEG format. A smaller version of your entry
may by submitted for judging as long as a higher resolution version is
available.

You may also post artwork to your own web site, DeviantART account, or
other hosting service and e-mail us the URL. When submitting entries,
please use the following naming format for
your file: firstname_lastname_01.jpg (or PDF). If you are submitting
more than one entry, please number them appropriately (i.e:
firstname_lastname_02.jpg, firstname_lastname_03.jpg, etc.).

E-mail entries to [email protected]. The following information
must be included with your entry:
-Your real first and last name
-Your artist nickname (if you use one)
-Your e-mail address
-Your telephone number

Entries must be received no later than March 25, 2006 and will be
judged by Ai-Kon executives. The winning entry will be announced on or
before March 28, 2006.

All entries and rights to the images become property of Ai-Kon.

The designer of the winning entry will receive one free art table at
and one weekend pass to Ai-Kon 2006, scheduled for July 21, 22 & 23 at
the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

Full contest rules and details are also available at
http://www.ai-kon.org.

ABOUT AI-KON: Ai-Kon is Manitoba's largest anime convention. An
all-ages event, the goal of Ai-Kon is the promotion of Japanese/Asian
animation and culture to the public. Started by the University of
Manitoba Japanese Animation Club (UMAnime) in 2001, Ai-Kon took a
reorganizing hiatus in 2002, returning in 2003. Ai-Kon has since
become an autonomous event, run by an independent volunteer board.
"Ai" means "love" in Japanese, hence Ai-Kon's slogan "For the Love of
Anime".