Bitcoin Forum

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 kittens
No, 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 win
Feel 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 contest@bitaurum.eu. 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!

Casacius has allso had a contest like this. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=92969.0

The bounty was 100 BTC at the time I think.

I think the winner was http://ocantinhodadama.clinicadosom.com/2012/07/20/bitcoin-note-design-psd-file/

You can see how it looks with QR code on http://zen.gdsl.no/bitcoin/wallet-14ceber67effwcmazawxfhquu7ug4d8e6o.png.html?sizes=1

Maybe you can work off this template or one of the others in the first competition ?

Thanks for the reply and yes: The idea isn't new, luckily I mentioned the result of Casascious' contest in my original post :D (as a hint to bitaddress.org).

I didn't know the reward was 100 BTC, but then again, a BTC was around 8$ on July 2012, so my bounty is in the same order of magnitude.

Just for further inspiration, one might take a look at ebay and search for "BitNote".

[edit:]
Turns out the prize was 200 USD which got split 3-ways. Also, seems that every commercially used design for bitcoin paper notes comes from the work published in the thread mentioned by gdsl. People are so lazy...

I did some thinking and decided that, since no work has been published so far, we should probably talk about licenses. I believe in order to avoid misuse of the designs in this thread but allowing the ideas to be used for the greater good of the community, it is a wise move to declare all the artwork published in this thread as Creative Commons V3.0 BY-NC-SA, meaning that the artists need to be credited when using the work presented here, derivative work is possible under the same license but commercial use is not allowed.

The finished design used for my shop will be "closed source", but I will offer a second, slightly modified (different color scheme or so) version that can be used freely under CC BY-ND, allowing commercial use but no "derivative works" (addition of 3rd party logos etc.). The idea behind this is my wish for genuine bitaurum-notes that can only be issued legally by my company.
If people decide that the bitnotes might be useful, nice to look at or just really good toilet paper, they will have the second design to use freely however they please.

If this collides with forum rules (didn't find them anywhere), please have a mod tell me so within the next day, otherwise I will consider this proposal accepted and will amend it to the tender.

Lol.

I have done work for BitAurum before and he's a nice guy and easy to work with. Sorry to hear about people taking advantage of your service in your first post. I may drop in last minute with a design for this depending on how things are looking and if I have the time to do so.

Can you explain this a little more, or make a quick illustration of what you mean? Just how small do you want this section?

Sure,
https://i.imgur.com/vcPURhpl.jpg
Here in the top left corner, one might also include a second base10 multiplier so that values of centi- and millibitcoins are possible. All the other doodles are just to give you a sense of size. Again, this should not be a predominant feature but maybe just hinted at. Feel free to explore.

While i'm spamming the thread with pictures, here is one thing I noticed when I made a prototype on the new paper:
https://i.imgur.com/LWLmbXBl.jpg
Notice that the backside should contain a obfuscating feature where the private key is placed, because thick paper has the tendency to conduct lots of scattered light, which will present a security flaw when not addressed:
https://i.imgur.com/uWGQYqWl.jpg


Full-Res Pictures:
https://i.imgur.com/vcPURhp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LWLmbXB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/uWGQYqW.jpg

Thanks, that clears things up a lot! Can you post vector art of the bull? Do you want "Bitaurum" on the design?

For the ai-Files of the logo please send me your Email-address.

On the note, there should be a small link to my site, but the logo itself without text is enough, I believe.
I have been thinking about it - of course it would be nice for people to associate the notes with my company, but it just doesn't feel right to make them look like a cheap gift card by putting hyperlinks and brand names all over this thing. It's a physical bitcoin, so the design should emphasize the benefits of bitcoins. The major flaw with physical wallets is that someone once had access to the private keys and can possibly sweep them at any time - I try to address this problem by becoming an exclusive issuing authority that will do everything possible to not get compromised.

Maybe the QR-Code with the public key should include a link in the background with a low-contrast pastel colour, so that it doesn't interfere with functionality. Maybe it will say bitaurum.eu/note next to the artist's signature in a thin 8px sized font, so you only find it if you look for it.

But for the time being, no text next to the logo, and I will keep grinding my teeth.

Emailed you.

Here is the front page.
Please tell me if you like the design, if I should change something or if you think it is useless! :D
https://i.imgur.com/3M27pFY.png

Just a heads up :)

QR Code specs require a "quiet zone" around the code.

The border should be 4 modules. As a reference, the large allignment squares are 6 modules wide.

If the quiet zone is missing the QR code will not be universally readable.

Is that Osama bin Laden?  :P

Lol, no! It's my version of Andreas Hofer! It became a little bit unclear after converting to vector...  ;D

I like your avatar :P

I was testing scripted QR-code placement, hologram endurance and printing quality with this thing. The readout works fine on android because of the light background, but I can confirm that there are problems when you put a qr on a black background without those borders.

The final design should and will respect these guidelines. It's work on my part though.

http://s22.postimage.org/uohksqhip/bitbill.png

I have a higher resolution up to 5000X3000 if needed.

If you have anymore suggestions I can add more things.

Update

http://s16.postimage.org/cq6ut825h/Bitbill2.png

If you do like it my add is: 13cjE1VDsiF5SjFEt5kg2izYmcvUmpwTi5
I will take all consideration, and any suggestion will lead to more improvements.

Best regards
Lightlord

Here is my first try. Feedback always welcome.
Also if you could pm me a high res version of your logo I can add it to the design  :)

https://i.imgur.com/hASVCKT.png

This is no simple task, but it sounds like a lot of fun, and it's an awesome idea. Still not sure if I'll be contributing or not, but I'm contemplating it!

Doing another update, making the sides less profound, and changing the hex style.
Also changing the red circle around the bitcoin. A few updates.

OP, can you PM me your hi-res logo, please?

Need to submit an entry but need the logo.

I would also like the logo please :)

lol.

(jokingly)

let's burn all paper currencies!
to h3ll with notes - long live the bitcoin!

(/jokingly)

to each its own, but as a professional graphic and web designer i would prefer to do serious work for serious btc, no bounty business, 50% deposit in advance or no project.

@BitAurum: if you need anything done please pm.

with amused regards and wishing good luck to everyone!

layer1gfx

layer1gfx.com

http://i48.tinypic.com/2uynkuu.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/1zbh08i.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/63rcm1.jpg
Close-up of "AURUM" waved microscript along bottom of the note.

Will PM higher resolution, un-watermarked version upon request.
Note: there's a 3D model there.. it's unfinished. I'm making a 3d representation of the SHA-2 compression function. Also, the logo looks like crap because I still need a hi-res version from OP.


Edit: I have updated the image so that the private key is now on the right side, to prevent accidental scanning (they QR codes were too close together before).

my effort so far (i'm liking acorns better :D):
http://www.silicondroid.com/btc/note_10_800.jpg

Both of you guys came up with really good designs. You don't feel taken advantage of if your design isn't picked and you aren't paid after you obviously put so much time into the project? No offense to the OP, by the way. I think the way to go about something like this though is to hire someone who has some sort of profile. Give them half up front and the rest if you decide to use their design. If not, let them keep the half payment-they put a lot of work in. I just feel bad when I see bounties offered and people essentially working for free.

I just enjoy being an asshole, so I came up with this new and ground-breaking idea on how to make people suffer. I shall name it "call for bids" or even "open tender", and nobody has ever done it before, especially for graphic designs. Disregard my first post (on how you don't have to enter a finished design to win, but just a conceptual piece that shows how you are up for it), disregard my attempt at licensing this under CC so non-winning contestants still earn the necessary attribution for derivative works. Disregard the fact that it's everyones free choice to participate, when you boil it down, it still is slavery, amirite?
Sorry for the sarcasm, but I believe it's a bad habit to feel victimized or offended in someone else's place. These are all smart people, let them decide if it's worth the effort. It's neither a publicity stunt nor a tease with a predefined winner. I want the best design that fits my requirements and this method will show me what's out there.

This brings me to the main reason I was stopping by: You can't just take an already existing design (mainly those published in https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=92969.680), put my logo on it and call it original artwork. If it's clearly a derivative work to something that was not published under a compatible license before, I can't use it for my purpose, because everyone else will be able to use the original design. Again: There are no rules in place that say that someone else can't print bitnotes, so I will need to use copyright as a basis to make a genuine bitaurum-note a potentially expensive thing to copy. So sorry, if it's not original artwork, it doesn't qualify for the contest.

That being said: I appreciate everyone's effort so far and I am amazed by what people can do. There have been very good entries that have only been emailed to me and which I will not disclose until the contest is over (as per the artist's wish). There also were several requests for the vectorized logo, so I am hoping for some more entries by next week.

I don't understand the sarcasm, I was not trying to fault you. I've just seen tons of bounty posts where the OP ends up choosing a design they like and not paying (since it was already made public). Perhaps I posted what I had to say on the wrong thread-you seem 100% good intentioned. But you have to admit, some people take advantage in similar situations.

Yeah, and we have scammer tags for them if they do it. :P

Hello everyone, I'm just warming up the thread to remind everyone to submit their designs by tomorrow. The winner of the contest will be announced on Saturday.

Good luck!

http://i49.tinypic.com/10cj0k4.jpg
Updated: I completed the SHA-2 compression function model and added it to the bill.

wow acorn. nice work.

Not a completed design, if it wins I will spend much more time polishing the design. Anyways, here's my entry.

https://i.imgur.com/J4ssIj9.png

Hello everyone,

As promised I will now announce the winner of the bitaurum bitnote design competition. Sadly, if you check the first post, you will see that only entries that were sent to me by email could be considered, which disqualifies the designs by psy and acorn although I enjoyed them very much :-\
(The reason for this rule is the irreversibility of email and thereby the lack of 1984-like effects. You can always manipulate externally hosted images on a board and then fight about who did what in reference to what was posted before...)

Back to the story: About one day after announcing the competition, I received a design by BitcoinLady (Mark and Barbara Messer, to my understanding), who obviously had been working on a project like this for some time. They quickly adopted to the requirements and within the last 2 weeks created a 90% finished design that only needs some more refinement. They wished not to be published before the contest is over, so I honoured this wish.

Here it is, the front of the winning design by BitcoinLady:

https://bitaurum.eu/images/bitnote_win.jpg

There are some refinements necessary, such as colour balancing the front and backside, implementing the byte-based denominator (there seemed to be a misunderstanding about it being a base-10-divisor to give Satoshis, milliBTC...), changing the image of John Locke to someone who was pro-paper-money (or at least not completely opposed :P), adding some security features (will be made public when the final design is available), ...

If these requirements are filled, I will wholeheartedly pay the 10 BTC as promised. Should there be any problems (which I of course don't expect), I would like the second and third place (2nd: psy; 3rd: acorn) to stand by for about 2 weeks before they publish the designs elsewhere, because I would like the option to commission your work without having to worry about licensing. After this period, I highly recommend making your designs available for the public under a CC license. They are nice to look at and might convince the odd stranger of your talent. All of this is optional for you, of course.

I would like to end by thanking all of the artists that participated. I hope nobody felt like their time was wasted and even thought only one of you could gain the "grand" prize, I hope that everyone has gained a bit of experience. Also, I learned that there is a lot of creative potential within the bitcoin community and I will gladly recommend you guys to any outsider that happens to pass by: It has been fun to be in contact with so many talented people and I know where to look when I have some more designing to do.

It has been a pleasure!

PS: That image of Hofer everyone keeps using is dreadful, I guess he didn't bring the best painters when doing guerilla warfare against the French ;D. Thanks very much to Mr.No who found this sculptor (http://jimsfigs.blogspot.de/2013/03/andreas-hofer-completed.html), some other paintings, as well as tools for exactly the job we try to get done here (http://www.guard-soft.com/strokes_maker.html).

Good thing we were disqualified. That way your "licensing" for designs posted in the tread is invalid and my company retains 100% of our design copyrights.

Thank you for playing!

Thank you very much, we really feel privilidged and happy!!!
Barbara and Mark Messer

I have to say, that there is some truly amazing work being done here, and whilst I preferred Acorn's design, the final one is also excellent....I was thinking I could enter this, but I'm clearly late to the game..

Out of interest, Acorn (And BitcoinLady)...what plugin/app were you using to do your Guilloches?  I know it can be done straight in Illustrator, but I'd love to know how you did it...I have a client looking for something similar...

As to guilloches - as we make mainly 3d designs in Rhino, we use it for this purpose. Rhino gives a lot more possibilities to manipulate curves and stack them in series. At the end we simply export it to Illustrator. The guilloches here are not very complicated - can be far more "baroque".

very nice

Thanks World! ;)

Hi,
...I'm the person who designed the note posted by psy...
Thank you for the feedback about our work.
I understand we've been disqualified for not sending you the image by email, and that's absolutely fine.
But now I'm curious, doesn't the winner work have a backside as per the requirement? I would like to see it.
I would also like to know what is the meaning of the binary code around the image, because I can't decode it and I'm very curious to know it's meaning.
I also noticed one of your hard requirements was that the note author, if he so wished, could include his/her signature on the bottom right of the note backside, yet I'm seeing it on the bottom right of the frontside. Shouldn't that be also a reason for desqualification?

I really wish to understand your line of reasoning for the outcome of this contest.

75Rtuga

Well, you didn't qualify in the first place, so there is no disqualification - I might have phrased that wrong. The problem is that once you create a challenge with equal rules for every participant, you have to stick to them. Consider giving you the 2nd place bending these in your favour, the right thing to do would have been completely ignoring it.
I was sore for a day or two because I would have preferred to have the winning design posted in this thread the moment I received it. It wasn't in the rules, so I couldn't force it. Bad for me, because a sore loser might call this "unfair" to the other contestants. In hindsight, it was quite in my interest though, because now I see what everyone is capable of.

About the other points: There is a backside (or maybe it's the frontside, so that the signatures are now on the backside?), it was made as per my requirements within the first week the challenge was put online. It still needs some refining, so I didn't post it, if you are interested then write me an email and I will send them to you. About my reasoning for choosing a winner: BitcoinLady showed that they were keen to win this. They produced several drafts, a 3d render of the SHA256-function, a novel idea for the denominator (which I didn't choose to implement, partially because they wanted a 2% interest in future earnings of bitnotes, which I am not up for because they will be mostly promotional for the first year or so...). Sure, the contest stated that you don't need a finished design to win, but not that I wouldn't merit the distance between what I have and what still needs to be done. My only concern now is that they will start charging me extra when they are 98% done, and I guess they are afraid that I might be moving the goalpost, which I will try to avoid.


You really shouldn't do that. Change the rules in hindsight, I mean. You didn't even have to accept them for entering: All you needed to do was specifying a different license when you posted the artwork. Still, to anyone getting inspiration from psy's design: Use a long pole if you want to touch it.

Until another license is given to the design, and that will only happen when she removes your logo, slogan, the binary with your company name and the Andreas image from it nobody should touch it even with a long pole.
When every reference to your company is out of the design, then the license will be changed and the design distributed as we see fit, which will most likely be with a very open license. I would risk to say much more open than the one you defined in the OP.
So, thank you very much for not even qualifying our work for your bounty. That settles everything.

Hello again!
…I wrote this message with google translator…sorry my english!... :P

You no need to remind myself that I didn´t win the contest. And yes,  My note and the note´s Acorn were disqualified because you said: "That only entries were sent to me by email Could be Considered by Which disqualifies the designs and psy acorn" Remember?!

Then you said: "I would have preferred to have the winning design posted in this thread the moment I received it", but you don´t prefer that, because you did the opposite, right?!
…you said "BitcoinLady Showed That They Were keen to win this" ... yes I really believe! Because happened to me exactly the same thing, only with the difference that I not sent the numerous drafts to you and just posted the final work minimally complete!

Logically you can´t know my dedication to this work , because you wasn´t beside me to see! And I didn´t bother you for private messages. If I knew in advance that could produce this note with your help - while telling me what you liked and disliked-  I'd do it... simple! :)

You made your choice and I don´t question it. I don´t know how the producers worked in winning note. They are them (´…and are to be congratulated!) And I am me.
Again I ask only the binary language ... what it means?! I'm curious to know!
And yes! I really like to see the back of the note ... if you can send me to this mail: tania_santos_rodrigues@hotmail.com - Thanks!
I wish success for yourself and for your note!
Regards,
75R

ok...no answer...  :-\

I would like to re-use non-winning designs under a CC-SA or other open license, without copyright material.

I am willing to pay the original designers for their work, in BTC.

If anyone is willing to release their design under CC (replacing anything that is not suitably licensed with CC or public content), let me know. I am trying to figure out how to organize a bounty for the overall project, but there's good work here that can be used.

I will pay several BTC for the work already done, essentially.

To 75RTUGA, the lady that tends to edit her messages: you were answered by email as requested.


I clipped the rest of the message (forwarded mail, included designs). If you keep going on, I will post my postfix maillogs. Including hotmail server responses with checksums. Speak your mind, or don't speak. Don't tease. To everyone reading I recommend to avoid those people.


To aantontop:
The designs were meant to be CC-NC the moment they were put online within this thread, but you see what happens. Psy and 75RTUGA have "declared" their designs untouchable,
so I recommend speaking to acorn, yucca and GGGGG instead.

I have found my artist and will not file any claims on the other designs posted here (mostly because I can't :P), but since by definition the public domain includes everyone, your designs will not be protected if they are clear derivatives of the art presented within this competition. Be aware of that.

That said: Just change the arrangement a bit, don't use the SHA256-graphic as a background or the byte-denominator and you will be untouchable, I reckon.

You're being nasty and don´t like discussions. All right! :) You Not yet realized that I am Portuguese and I have difficulty with English. But yeah! No problem! ;) I'll confirm the email's that should be in spam and ignore your antipathy.
Thank you for your availability and arrogance. LOVE IT!

75RTUGA

One More Thing: PSY is PSY... 75RTUGA is 75RTUGA! :P

The designers kept their promise and put a lot of work into finishing the project the way I intended it to look. I suppose it was quite an effort for them since I can be a bit anal at some times, but from my perspective it was fun and very rewarding to work with Barbara and Mark. I will post the finished design once the complete concept is finished and the Bitnotes are up for sale. Until then, mostly to escape the looming scammer tag, I will post the Tx-ID of their payment (377c1c2e3b9bf19f63fde7a9a7fa4dc9db7d2911168cc3e404d36a9d855da541) and hope to see them confirm the receipt. Thanks again for everyone who participated. Bitcoin needs people like you!

 We are happy to confirm, that we have received the bounty. It was a big pleasure to make this project and to cooperate with the owner of BitAurum.
 Sometimes he is pain in the ass but at the end he knows what he wants and knows also what aestethic means. Such client is a dream for every designer.
 Barbara and Mark Messer

   
  Our final Bitnote-design :)

http://i47.tinypic.com/15hzgww.jpg



http://i50.tinypic.com/zy00n.jpg