Thank you again for all your AMAZING submissions! I never dreamed there would be this many (96!), and of such high quality. It's been very difficult to narrow down the options, but I launched a poll for my fans with the four 5-star designs, and eliminated the rest. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your hard work.

16 hours remaining, and I'm off for the night. I'll review any last-minute submissions tomorrow morning, most likely around 8 a.m. PST.

I think we've more than met our quota on designs featuring hands! ;) Let's try to stay away from that unless you've already started on one.

The six current 4 and 5 star designs set the bar quite high, far exceeding my expectations when I launched the contest! As a result, I'm quickly eliminating designs that aren't up to that standard. My apologies if it comes off as harsh! I will of course continue to provide feedback on each and every submission. Thanks again!

Eliminated a few more designs (sorry!) and adjusted star ratings based on further feedback and discussion.

Rejiggered the star ratings based on fan input (not to mention staring at the designs all day).

Thank you again for all your hard work! I'm truly blown away by the quality of submissions, and would be perfectly happy with several of the designs. I feel bad (even guilty, really!) that I'm only able to choose one.

One more reminder: the image should be square. Lots of great submissions today!

I want to again stress the importance of the design relating to the song lyrics, and fitting in with my previous album artwork. Thanks for all your submissions!

Yes, you should feel free to use the Color Theory logo (jumble.eps) in the cover.

It won't let me do that until there are 10 submissions, but I can personally assure you that I will award the prize regardless of the outcome. As soon as I am able to guarantee it, I will, promise!

I'd like to clarify a few things based on our discussions so far:

Logo/Song Title - I included the band logo (jumble.eps) in the brief, so that you could add it along with the song title, like on my previous album covers. But if you think the logo and title would detract from the image, don't feel obligated to use it.

Relatedness - I'm looking for something that relates specifically to this set of lyrics. The listener will relate your image to the song forever, so the connection needs to make sense. The first entry may be a little on the abstract side, but it's immediately apparent that it was designed for this song, and this song alone.

Thanks for taking on my project! I really do appreciate it, and value your time and effort.

Brian.