Wapuu Design Contest: What Will WordCamp Halifax’s Mascot Be?

Wapuu is a cute little critter designed by Kazuko Kaneuchi in 2011 for WordPress Japan and is the official mascot character of WordPress.

It’s distributed under the GPLv2 or later and can be modified by anyone to add regional flair or personality. This means that a new Wapuu design can be considered a ‘forked version’ of the original Wapuu as a symbol of the larger WordPress community. Since its introduction, it has taken the WordCamp scene by storm!

What would WordCamp Halifax be without a Wapuu of our own? We’re looking to local artists to come up with their interpretation of the little yellow creature. Submission deadline is  …

March 15^th. Submit as many times as you wish! Be creative!

General Guidelines for Wapuus

1. Shape of the lips 
   All Wapuus have a distinctive lip shape.
2. Nose
   All Wapuu noses are the same shape, regardless of the species.
3. Eyes
   Eyes must be a solid color, usually black and beady; there can be no white in the pupil.
4. Border thickness of the illustration (depending on artistic style)
   Most Wapuus need a border, depending on the art style. Usually, it’s the same thickness on all internal lines. The outside border is usually double the thickness of the inside lines. This may depend on the style, and it would not apply to 3D designs.
5. Body Shape.
   Typically, wapuus has a rounder shaped figure.

How The Contest Works

1. Download the original Wapuu file to get started. Need inspiration? Wapu.us has an extensive collection of them for you to browse!
2. Submit your low resolution .jpg of a Halifax Wapuu to wordpresshalifax@gmail.com with the subject line ‘2017 Wapuu Contest’
3. All submissions will be printed out and numbered at the March 20^th WordPress Halifax Meetup for attendees to see. The winning designs are determined by those that have the most votes. Multiple designs may be chosen.
4. The winning artist(s) will be notified by WordCamp Lead Organizers to complete/render the final version. They must be able to produce their Wapuu to a similar caliber as the original file mentioned above. Those designs that are not chosen will not be used in any way. All designs submitted remain the intellectual property of those that create it.

Use Of The WordCamp Halifax Wapuu

The final design(s) will be:

• Made into stickers for WordCamp Halifax 2017 attendees
• Used to promote WordCamp Halifax 2017 in items such as Tweets and newsletters
• The final design(s) will not be for profit or to sell swag, and will not be used after WordCamp Halifax 2017 without the permission of the designer(s).

Both WordCamp Halifax and the WordPress Halifax Meetup are run exclusively by volunteers, and WordCamp Halifax is a non-profit under the larger WordPress Foundation. We deeply thank all artists who volunteer their time and talent into submitting a Wapuu design and look forward to seeing your creations!