Challenge Summary
The goal of this contest is to create a Cinco de Mayo Day theme for AOL Mail. This includes updating the provided template with a new design and exporting the web-ready images needed for the AOL mail application.
This is an exciting opportunity to create a theme that will be used in AOL Mail! This project is highly visible and people using AOL Mail across the globe may see the results!
AOL Mail now lets you change your theme in the WebMail application. To take a look at the existing themes and to see what is possible, login to mail.aol.com. In the upper right hand corner there is a "Rainbow color bar" | Settings | Help. Click the Rainbow to preview and change your theme. A theme like these is what we are after in this contest. INSTRUCTIONS We have provided the AOL Skinning Kit, which contains everything you need to create a new AOL Mail theme. Here are the instructions: 1. Design your theme - Use/edit theme.psd. - The top layer group should not be edited. - The middle layer group contains all of the colors for your theme. Change these. - The bottom layer group contains the graphics for your theme. This includes 2 slices for the header and 1 slice for a theme thumbnail. 2. Export your slices - There are 3 slices you should have edited, plus you choose one of the 2 logos that already exist. - When finished editing, save the file, then export named slices to the "theme-images" folder. (Do not change the filenames or format of the slices). 3. Edit Your Theme Colors - Open the file theme.css in an HTML editor like Dreamweaver, TextEdit (Mac) or Notepad (PC). - Look for the /*--- Edit ---*/ call outs in the document. - Change the #HEX Values (Sample: #0066cc) to your specified #HEX value for your theme. 4. Preview your theme by viewing theme.html. ABOUT THIS THEME Try to capture the essence of Cinco de Mayo Day in your design! It's about celebration, food, music and dancing! GENERAL NOTES - There is a sample theme within the skinning kit that will give you an idea of how you should be editing the files. - Remember to check out the existing themes on mail.aol.com! We are expecting submissions of similar quality! - Regarding the header slices, you may choose the widths of hat_bg1.gif hat_bg2.gif. hat_bg1.gif will repeat horizontally and hat_bg2.gif will stick to the top left. PREVIEW IMAGE Your preview image should be a screen shot of your updated theme.html. Crop the page out of the browser window and do NOT apply any effects (such as reflection, skewing, etc.). YOUR SUBMISSION AND SOURCE - Your submission should be the updated skinning kit without theme.psd. - Your source should be the updated skinning kit including theme.psd.
Entries must be your original work, and must not infringe on the copyright or licenses of others. Stock art, clip art, stock photography, templates and other design elements from other sources are prohibited unless specifically permitted here in the Contest Details.
AOL Mail now lets you change your theme in the WebMail application. To take a look at the existing themes and to see what is possible, login to mail.aol.com. In the upper right hand corner there is a "Rainbow color bar" | Settings | Help. Click the Rainbow to preview and change your theme. A theme like these is what we are after in this contest. INSTRUCTIONS We have provided the AOL Skinning Kit, which contains everything you need to create a new AOL Mail theme. Here are the instructions: 1. Design your theme - Use/edit theme.psd. - The top layer group should not be edited. - The middle layer group contains all of the colors for your theme. Change these. - The bottom layer group contains the graphics for your theme. This includes 2 slices for the header and 1 slice for a theme thumbnail. 2. Export your slices - There are 3 slices you should have edited, plus you choose one of the 2 logos that already exist. - When finished editing, save the file, then export named slices to the "theme-images" folder. (Do not change the filenames or format of the slices). 3. Edit Your Theme Colors - Open the file theme.css in an HTML editor like Dreamweaver, TextEdit (Mac) or Notepad (PC). - Look for the /*--- Edit ---*/ call outs in the document. - Change the #HEX Values (Sample: #0066cc) to your specified #HEX value for your theme. 4. Preview your theme by viewing theme.html. ABOUT THIS THEME Try to capture the essence of Cinco de Mayo Day in your design! It's about celebration, food, music and dancing! GENERAL NOTES - There is a sample theme within the skinning kit that will give you an idea of how you should be editing the files. - Remember to check out the existing themes on mail.aol.com! We are expecting submissions of similar quality! - Regarding the header slices, you may choose the widths of hat_bg1.gif hat_bg2.gif. hat_bg1.gif will repeat horizontally and hat_bg2.gif will stick to the top left. PREVIEW IMAGE Your preview image should be a screen shot of your updated theme.html. Crop the page out of the browser window and do NOT apply any effects (such as reflection, skewing, etc.). YOUR SUBMISSION AND SOURCE - Your submission should be the updated skinning kit without theme.psd. - Your source should be the updated skinning kit including theme.psd.
Please read the challenge specification carefully and watch the forums for any questions or feedback concerning this challenge. It is important that you monitor any updates provided by the client or Studio Admins in the forums. Please post any questions you might have for the client in the forums.