Weekly Updates & Estimated Challenge Calendar

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Thanks for stopping by to read the projected Current Estimated Challenge Calendar for the next two months! Please note that this schedule is subject to change. We will update this page every Friday.

Calendar	Files	Launches	Tech & Payments	Community
2+	0+	1+	2+	2+
upcoming challenge timelines	file request deadlines and file prep updates	recent product & assortment launches	tech updates & upcoming payments	upcoming events, deadlines, & news

Challenge Calendar

Challenges are made up of (i) a Submission Period, during which artists submit designs, (ii) a Critique Period, a minimum of 24-hours of dedicated time for giving and incorporating peer feedback, (iii) a Voting Period during which Minted artists and customers cast their votes on submissions, followed by Minted's voting analysis & editorial review — analysis and review tends to take longer for Art and Partner Challenges, and (iv) Winners Announcements and File Requests. Below are current Challenge states.  

[New 10/18] Changes made to the calendar this week:

• We hope to launch our Graduation Challenge in November, but are still finalizing the details. We do not have an exact time for this launch, and there is potential for change.

• We originally expected to launch our Everyday Greeting Card Challenge late this month, but we need to complete more customer analysis before we feel confident in the Challenge description. We now expect it to launch at earliest in mid November. 

Add Challenges to Your Calendar >>    Submit to Challenges >>    Vote on Submissions >

Files

Top-rated winners and Editors' Picks receive a request for final Adobe Illustrator files (fine art is accepted in other formats). Requests are typically sent within a week after each winners announcement, with the exception of Holiday challenges where requests are sent before winners are announced. This gives our Production team time to prepare the holiday assortment to launch before our big reveal in the fall. Below are final file submission deadlines. 

Brushstrokes and Beyond: Minted x Pottery Barn Kids x Pottery Barn Teen Challenge	Pottery Barn Teen: Early review requests for pieces being considered have been sent. Pottery Barn Kids: We'll send requests for pieces being considered by Pottery Barn Kids as soon as they have been finalized.
Deck Your Desk Personal Stationery & Notebooks Challenge	File requests: Sent Due Dates: There are 2 different due dates for this assortment — either 10/15 or  10/18. Please reference your file request for your specific due date.

Launches

Below we've listed recent or upcoming launches of designs from Challenges. Keep in mind that late or incompletely submitted files, the need to acquire licenses for non-Minted fonts, investigation of clip art usage, and technical difficulties can cause delays in the launch of specific designs.

Wall Murals and Art Prints from the Dream Big: Nursery and Kids Wall Mural Challenge		Wall Murals: Launched Art prints: Continuing to launch through early/mid October*
Art Prints from the A New Perspective: Minted x West Elm Challenge		Minted Assortment: Launched West Elm Assortment: In progress, after experiencing delays. They expect to complete the launch by end of October.
Holiday Designs		Non-Foil-Pressed Holiday & Religious Christmas Photo Cards: The majority have launched. We are continuing to launch holiday designs from remaining categories on a rolling basis.
[New 10/17] Eligible Retired Holiday Designs		All eligible retired Holiday Photo Card, Christmas Photo Card, and New Years Photo Card designs are now available in artist stores.

NOTE ON NOT YET LAUNCHED HOLIDAY DESIGNS: We're prioritizing designs that were submitted by the due date. If your files were submitted past the due date or have font/file issues, these will launch soon.

Tech Updates & Payments Schedule

All payments are processed through Payoneer. Commission Payments are paid monthly — with the exception of some sales made through partners, which are paid quarterly. Prize payments are sent every two weeks, at the end of the week, for all files received before that date.

Latest Round of Prize Payments Sent:

October 11

• [New 10/17] We released the following fixes:

  • The issue causing intermittent error messages on the Minted site has been resolved.

  • Foil-pressed thumbnails in Artist Sores have been fixed. There are some issues with postcard designs that we are investigating.

  • We have fixed the issue with viewing “Sales & Scores by Product” reports in ‘Grid View’. We will update this page when issues with exporting the sales report has been fixed.

• [New 10/15]  We are experiencing issues around the foil offerings for each colorway across our foil-pressed holiday assortment. A number of designs are currently only displaying one foil option, when multiple options should be available. Our team is currently working on resolving this for affected designs. 

• [New 9/30] We released a fix for those artists experiencing issues loading their "Sales & Scores" or in grid view. A few notes on what changed:

  • Instead of loading all results at once, we default to 25 (but you can opt to see up to 250). You'll see the ability to go to the next or previous page.

  • Instead of using the arrows to sort, we added a "Sort by" column.

• The Self-launch Tool is experiencing some issues. We've listed the most common situations below.

  • Stationery
    

    • Product Dimension Issues (e.g being asked to submit a landscape template for a portrait card) - If you experience this problem, please exit the project. When you progress through the steps again, you should see the orientation update. If you do not see it update to the correct dimension within 48 hours, please email [e-mail]

    • Image on Product Details Page Doesn't Reflect Update - If you upload a new version of your design during self-launch, the image doesn't always update right away on the Product Details Page. If it still has not updated after 24 hours, reach out to [e-mail]
      

    • "Unknown Error" - Make sure your design is using fonts from our Minted Font List. If you are not using any non-Minted fonts, but are still experiencing issues, please email [e-mail]

  • [Updated 10/9] Art
    •  [New 10/9] Due to recent system updates, you may experience longer wait times than usual when self-launching art. We are working on updating the self-launch feature and will post here when this is resolved. 

    • The self-launch tool is functioning, but we have been seeing delays and bugs affecting some pieces. Launching and fixing any bugs related to winning pieces is priority over launching self launch work. We will begin to notify and update artists with self launch pieces that we see are affected by a technical issue.

    • Due to the number of winning art prints that have been launched recently, we have seen some projects take over a week to process.  Please email [e-mail]  to let us know if your piece has not processed after seven days so that we can help move it forward. There are technical issues impacting pieces that can take longer to resolve and we will keep you updated if your piece is affected. 

    • We are continuing to move art prints to our new product page. If you see a previously launched piece moved to the "processing" status on your My Projects page, please check your store as it may be live there.

View the Commission Payment Schedule >>

Community

 We encourage you to get to know your like-minded peers in the community by joining the Minted Community Facebook group, attending conference calls, and going to meetups — get-togethers for Minted artists.

Artist-Led Dallas Meetup
Date: November 9, 1-3pm CT
Led by Katie Craig
Location: Flea Style, Dallas, TX
RSVP here

Artist-Led Pittsburgh Meetup
Date: November 2, 3pm CT
Led by Loree Mayer
Location: Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, PA
RSVP here

Add events to your Calendar >>     Join the Facebook Group >>    Host a Meetup >>

Office Hours

We host weekly Office Hours using the chat feature below. Office Hours are every Friday from 11am - 12pm PT. 

Office Hours Recap

We update our Weekly Updates page every Friday. Please view above for the latest Minted updates. Here’s an overview of key topics discussed in Office Hours 10/18:

• Product Launch Timelines. Some Holiday Letterpress designs have launched. The remaining will launch when our printers give us the green light. We expect to launch Holiday Wrap & New Years Cards in November.

• Pottery Barn Requests. PBteen early review requests have already been sent but the Pottery Barn Kids team is still finalizing their selections. We will update the Weekly Updates page once requests have been sent.

• Wedding Timelines. The wedding team is finalizing the Save the Date assortment. We are not ready to launch the Foil Wedding Challenge yet but will update you when we have more information.

• Tech Issues. Foil-pressed thumbnails in Artist Sores have been fixed. There are some issues with postcard designs that we are investigating. We have fixed the issue with viewing “Sales & Scores by Product” reports in ‘Grid View’. We will update this page when issues with exporting the sales report has been fixed.

• Friends & Family Codes. We plan to send Minted.com holiday friends & family promo code for you to share in early November.