Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Ladies & Gentlemen, Your Banner Contest Winners

In case you missed it, the Riding with Rickey banner contest has come to a close. Initially, we had elaborate ideas for a banner consisting of Rickey Henderson driving an old timey pickup truck with all sorts of topical objects/knickknacks discussed here at RwR spilling out the back of the truck. But here’s the rub: have you seen how much Photoshop Suite costs? Much to Rickey’s chagrin, nefarious publishers like to charge a whole helluva lot for legitimate, non-pirated software. And we’ll be damned if Rickey is shelling out that kind of money. One year into this blog and we’re supposed to be generating revenue, not losing it. Anyhow, we farmed out the work to you good folks and were pleased to receive a whopping two submissions (just enough to make this an actual contest!) and now the time has come to reveal our fabulous finalists.

First up is Joel from Crummy Church Signs. Being a purveyor of some of the most fantastically poorly written congregational signs across this great nation of ours, Joel knows exactly what it takes in a banner to attract an audience’s ridicule and scorn. This is a trait we’re relieved to say Joel left at home when he submitted this nifty banner:

We like it—it’s simultaneously dynamic and goofy. Now if only Rickey knew how to resize it so that it actually fits on the blogger banner, we’d be totally set…

Next (and, uh, last) is the work of a person named Adrian. He/she doesn’t have a blog to pimp (which is actually breath of fresh air) but what he/she does bring with them is a brilliant sense of juxtaposition. Take a peek, Adrian has edited together photos from Rickey’s “Beard Watch” updates and added them to the real life Rickey Henderson. And even better, we’ve got three different schemes to pick from:



There’s “Basic”


“Abstract”



And “Team Colors”


And each one is a winner in their own way. Is the implication that by growing a beard, one can turn into Rickey Henderson? Is it an homage to an Andy Warhol panel? Who cares! It’s totally surreal and Rickey digs it big time. This is possibly because Rickey, being totally enamored with Rickey, likes seeing pictures of himself and his wondrous man-beard. Strong work indeed Adrian.

As far as crowning a victor goes, let’s just call it a tie and say that everyone’s a winner, mmmkay? Rickey's riding high after a three day weekend and doesn't feel like sullying the mood by making any decisions of great consequence today. So once Rickey musters the technological gumption to incorporate these into the blog, look for these banners to appear here and at Humor-Blogs. Great job all around folks.

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11 comments:

Unknown said...

The first one looks brilliant. I believe that a banner promoting Ricky should mention the name "Ricky" four times, at the very least.

And you should definitely invest in a deep frier and - if you choose to do so - either a fan, a ventilation system, or an incense burner. Frying definitely causes some stank.

Joel B. said...

I can resize it for you if you need.

Thanks, Rickey!!

Noah said...

Smitty would like to totally rip-off your idea and beg someone to design a banner for Around the Keg.

Damn. was that self-pimpage? Smitty begs forgiveness.

Smitty also likes the Andy Warhol Beard Banner. It says that Rickey is a man's man (the beard) as well as high-society (the Andy Warhol-esque-ness).

Rickey said...

Ed: Rickey want's something capable of flash frying a buffalo in 15 seconds. Is that commercially available?

Joel: if you could at all resize it to fit, that would totally rock. Problem is, Rickey's not sure what dimensions it needs to be... Blogger doesn't list that in the template. Perhaps just add a few inches on each side to fill it out?

Smitty--something along the lines of drunken shriners driving around a mammoth beer keg perhaps? And never ever apologize for self-pimpage: it's a blogger's best friend.

Toasty Joe said...

I am going to put my brilliant colleague who designed my banner on the case here. Stay tuned.

maybe i can help... said...

ooohhhhh... as the photoshopper in residence of Toasty joe's site, I am up to the challenge... stay tuned indeed!

Noah said...

Awesome. We can't wait...

Rickey said...

And hey, if you're feeling charitable, Rickey's always looking for another submission to add to the already strong banner rotation of banners here... :)

(Don't make Rickey beg.)

steves said...

This ATK contributor seconds the begging motion.

AmyV said...

Wow. Those are all pretty good banners. Though the "team colors" one is a little hard on the eyes.

And I _swear_ I'm not saying that b/c I live in a house of Yankees fans.

Seriously, in a huge banner across the top of the blog, it would be hard on the eyes.

Really. I'm just thinking of your readers.

Rickey said...

Yeah, the orange is harsh, but it's the one Rickey had been leaning towards... Thanks for looking out for us Amy, we'll take it under advisement.