My work with The Open Clip Art Library continues to flourish this month. I designed and implemented the new Activities section that can be seen, front-and-center, on the home page of OCAL.

The Activities Section will alert users of the Community to the newest incentives for content. Contests and Community-created Packages are just some of the events visitors can expect to come across.

The newest incentive comes in the form of a new Themed Clip Art Package. Everyone should upload some Fall 2010 content for next months OCAL 2.5 Release!

We are also planning on putting together a larger Holiday Package for Halloween 2010 at the end of September, so be sure to tag “halloween2010″ work through the end of September.

Check out the Fabricatorz post for more info!

Through my work with Fabricatorz, I have become actively involved in The Open Clip Art Library. Many of my responsibilities have included leading and spreading Community-driven incentives, like the recent Themed Package Releases and the just-announced FCRC Logo Design Contest winner.

Yesterday, I helped launch Version 2.4 of OCAL! Several new updates set this release apart from it’s contemporaries. Firstly, the RSS Feed that features the latest uploads from the Community now displays the images, along with the information they hold. It’s incredible to see the newest additions to OCAL in a steady feed that can be included in your own personal streams!

Another addition to the 2.4 Release is the inclusion of a new themed package of content. The Sports 2010 Package contains original and recent uploads from the OCAL Community. I have contributed several works to this collection of over 75 unique images. Per OCAL standard, all works in the Package are free to use for any purpose, commercial or otherwise.

Another notable element to this OCAL release include colleague Bassel Safadi’s upgrade of his Aiki Framework (the platform that enables OCAL to function) to Version 0.35! Speed and usability continue to drive the progress of the fast-rising Framework, as it adds a few new sites to it’s portfolio, including Sharism and Open Colour.

Congrats to Bassel, the Fabricatorz Team, and the Open Clip Art Librarians on a solid August Release!

During the contest, I was tasked with the duties of spreading the word. Beginning, I created an official press release that called for submissions. Next, I was asked to style and fill the official announcement page on OCAL’s main site with content.

Submissions were trickling in, but the floodgates didn’t fully open until a link was placed on the home page of the Library. As the contest drew to a close, we had received over 240 submissions!

After a 2 week judging process, hank0071 was announced as the winner of the contest! The heading graphic of this entry is the winning selection.

Up next for my work at OCAL, I’ll be organizing the new 2.4 Release, in which we’ll be included a Sports-themed clip art collection. Make sure to contribute your sports clipart, and tag it appropriately (sports2010). I’ve been surprised and encouraged by the turnout of this contest, and I’m very much looking forward to future Open Clip Art Library Community Contests!

This month in Open Clip Art Library events, I’m in charge of organizing the next package release. In previous 2010 releases, the new original works have all dealt with Seasonal themes. For this new batch (to be released on Monday, August 2nd), however, the Community have agreed upon a game-changing Sports theme!

Work within the Community has already begun, so if you’d like to contribute to this new release, please register and upload any original work to OCAL by Sunday, August 1st.

Have a look at our Fabricatorz blog post for more detailed info!

In 2010, I have been actively involved in promoting the expansion and development of The Open Clip Art Library. I believe some key things are being set in place to exponentially increase the potential of this platform. Last month, the Spring 2010 Release set a new precedence, by incorporating a themed clip art package.

This month sees the arrival of The Open Clip Art Library: Version 2.3. This release continues building off of the last release, by including a Summer 2010 Clip Art Package. Version 2.3 also expands on it’s predecessor by adding a fresh Logo Design Contest into the mix.

The inclusion of these new elements are a great start toward really encouraging users of OCAL to register and contribute original works.

To learn more about Open Clip Art Library: Version 2.3, head over to the public wiki to read the latest official announcement.

This month’s package called for Spring flavored clip art, and our Community answered with some dynamic and elegant work that can be downloaded in it’s entirety or individually, using the key term spring2010.

The images found peppering this article are all works created by me, specifically to be included in this awesome set of work. My Open Clip Art Library username is pianoBrad. I’ll be creating around 10 new images each month for these themed releases, so check my OCAL account often, if you like the work, to see what’s new!

As always, The Open Clip Art Library is reaching for higher ground with a new release targeted in one month. Any artists interested in contributing to a summer package release should register and upload their work tagged with “summer2010.” The Librarians send out a special thanks to all involved in this incredible Spring 2010 Release and look forward to the fun and creative new work underway for the next one!

For more information, please have a look at the official press release.

On March 8th, 2010, the web graphics community was pleasantly surprised with the announcement of Open Clip Art Library, Version 2.0. Following the release, OCAL experienced a creative Renaissance, posting some of it’s best numbers ever, including 1300 new registered users and nearly 1000 new clip art submissions!

Building off of the success of the new format, The Open Clip Art Librarians have quickly followed up with The Announcement of The Open Clip Art Library, Version 2.1!

The increased user base and a community focus on bug reporting has helped the next iteration make necessary improvements. Open Clip Art Library 2.1 increases usability and functionality in a few key ways.

The ability for users to delete existing work allows artists to improve on their existing work without creating duplicates as the image iterates. Password recovery options now exist for those who’ve forgotten how to access their user accounts. Multiple simultaneous uploads are now possible with OCAL’s new Multi-Upload feature. Also worth noting, a Remix button has been added to the details page of all submitted work that creates a convenient gateway for users to build off of existing work!

As a member of Fabricatorz, I was able to work with the Librarians directly, while contributing to the growing library of images; a collection that boasts over 30,000 clip arts! I would like to extend my thanks to everyone involved in this project, including the awesome OCAL artists and supporters. Head over to the Open Clip Art Wiki to read the official press release.

My latest “Clip Art of the Month” post is up on Worldlabel.com.

With so much attention directed at Apple and their highly anticipated tablet technology, I thought it would be interesting to discuss Apple’s approach to content regulation and how it might impact the open source community. As you read the full blog post, feel free to share your thoughts.

Visit Open Clip Art Library to view and contribute work of your own!

For the first Clip Art of the Month entry of 2010, I chose to take a look back at the preceding year in the Clip Art Community. Doing so may offer some insight into what to expect in the coming year.

Visit World Label’s Blog to read the whole post and to view more outstanding Clip Art submissions from this past year!

December, 2009 honors are grouped around New Year’s Celebrations.

Visit World Label to view the post in it’s entirety.