Wall Stickers Printing GIVEAWAY! (Ends 5/24)

BearBear Creative has collaborated with UPrinting, a commercial and professional online printer! Courtesy of Online Poster Printing, a subsidiary of UPrinting, we're GIVING AWAY print services! Right now, you can win:

a 20" x 24" WALL STICKER POSTER

+ FREE UPS Ground Shipping. (ARV $60!)

This 20" x 24" Wall Sticker is a full color poster/sticker that has the ability to adhere to most flat indoor surfaces and is repositionable. You can make the graphic almost anything you would like, making it great for interior decoration, business promotion, or even as a gift...it's really up to your creativity!

See some uses and details for Online Poster Printing's cool wall sticker printing (http://www.onlineposterprinting.com/Wall-Window-Decor.html).

If wall stickers aren't your thing, Online Poster Printing offers other print posters (http://www.onlineposterprinting.com) like vinyl banners and canvas prints you can purchase.


BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

Because we just love to give stuff, the lucky winner will also receive their choice of a CUSTOM BEARBEAR CREATIVE VINYL STICKER DECAL!

You'll get to choose from the selection in our store (priced at $10 or less). These die-cut vinyl are great for indoor or outdoor use, such as on a car window, laptop/computer case, skateboard, and more.

 (SAMPLE OF STICKERS TO CHOOSE FROM. There's more at the store!)

********************

WIN IT: One lucky winner will receive (1) 20" x 24" Wall Sticker Print AND (1) BearBear Creative Vinyl Decal.


HOW TO ENTER
(up to 12 possible entries per person):

1. Follow @BearTweets (The BearBear Creative Twitter) and Retweet this contest phrase (only 1 tweet necessary):
   
   
   Win UPrinting 20"x24" Wall Sticker Printing and @BearTweets Vinyl Decal #giveaway (Ends 5/24). Please Retweet! http://bit.ly/9ywvZh
   Leave a comment on this post with the tweet URL. (You can find your link by clicking on the date/time stamp under your tweet.) +1 entry.
   
   
2. Follow This Blog Publicly using Blogger/Google Friend Connect. (You can use the big button at the top that says "follow our blog"). Leave a comment saying you did. +1 entry.
   
   
3. Purchase any vinyl decal from the BearBear Creative Store. Leave a comment saying you did. When purchasing from our store, please note what email you used for your Blogger comment. +10 entries.

Include your email address in comment if not in your Blogger profile, OR Twitter DM OR contact us with your email address (leave twitter handle in comment). You may leave just one comment with all the entries, or separate comments for the different entries; it's up to you.

Comment is mandatory for entry.

SOME THINGS TO KNOW:

• Open to US Residents only, ages 18 and up.
  
• You have until 11:59 PM PST on May 24, 2010 to enter. One lucky winner will be randomly selected and contacted on May 25th. Winner must respond to the notification email by May 26, 2010. Failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize.
• UPrinting and/or BearBear Creative will NOT provide the design, photograph, or artwork for your sticker poster.
• Shipping will be covered by BearBear Creative and UPrinting (Online Poster Printing). 
• Fulfillment of Wall Sticker prize will be conducted by Online Poster Printing. The BearBear Creative vinyl decal will be mailed out to winner by BearBear Creative after winner responds with sticker choice.
• Your privacy is important to us. Your information will only be used for fulfillment of this giveaway; we do not sell or distribute contact information.
• Thanks and Good luck! There are more giveaways to come!

effectively using a 404 error message

It's hard for artists to truly feel "finished" with a piece. Especially for a pet project. Every time we open up our site for review, we want to add more details, whether they are great or small. This also applies to how we work, we like to keep adding even to the minor element of our website, even if no one will see them or notice.

The "404 Error" page is an example. When someone has a type-o in entering a directory name in our site, (or any site, for that matter) an error page or notice will usually pop up. These are typically bland, with default type stating "error" on a white, and otherwise blank page.

We didn't leave it as such...here's what we did:

(ABOVE: the graphic. BELOW: the graphic in context. Click for close up.)

So if you were to manually type in "www.bearbearcreative.com/services" instead of what it should be ("www.bearbearcreative.com/services.shtml" - [note the ".shtml" at end of the word "services"]), it would take you to this specially designed 404 error page, and more clearly orient you around our site. We made it functional and easy to understand that the page is an error/non-existent, while staying thematically cohesive to the site theme. Go ahead and try it out!

Also, isn't this just much more friendly than seeing "404 error" in 24 pt Arial? I know when I see just "404 error" I feel a little startled. "ERROR" --- It just looks like a word that wants to bite you. (Yes, I know that real bears can bite too, but in this case we're talking about cuddly bears...and anyways, sometimes biting isn't so bad. Hehe.)

Look in the future for these kinds of details and additions on top of new site content. Who knows, we may quiz you on it and you can win a prize!

new site vs. old site

For those of you who did not get to see what the old site looked like, here is a screenshot for comparison:

And yes, the old site design did NOT have a background color. It was sitting in white like that. We had not implemented a consistent grid structure then, and with the expansion of new and plentiful content in many different sections, (such as our store, services, and webcomics) a redesign was in order. This resulted in a solution that combined interactive and animated Flash, javascript, php, html, css, e-commerce elements working like organs in a body for cohesive functionality, accessibility, security, and entertainment. Ta-da! The new site (generally - updates are constantly taking place for freshness):

Graphically and conceptually, it is a tribute to pop-art, comic art, and Japanese pop culture with the boxes, borders, comic lettering for headers, high chroma colors, benday dot pattern background, and cute images. After all, it was comics, sequential art, and cute bears that inspired our business in the first place as well as much of our personal art works and design philosophy of "Story Meets Design." (see our "about" page on the official site)

When you look at it, we want you to think about HAPPY COMIC BEAR STORIES and DESIGN GOODNESS! Warm and happy fuzzy cheerful feelings! We have fun doing what we do! And we'll have fun with you!
Check it out in full size in all it's cuddly splendor!