In June 2008, the Jem Community Newsfeed went live across 9 top-ranking Jem-sites and interest continues to grow with a numbers of other potential takers with websites currently under reconstruction.
The newsfeed is maintained and updated by all the WebMasters in the newsfeed syndicate. As more join, more will have access to the newsfeed too, to add information of their own site updates and any official juicy Jem developments. You can read more about the newsfeed here.
Once the kinks in the workings of the newsfeed were ironed out we decided to hold a public competition to find a design for the new Jem Community Newsfeed logo. The logo shows while the newsfeed loads on every participating Jem-site so we were looking for something attractive and eye-catching. Something which would appeal to the Jem Community as a whole.
The entries were collected and an annoymous vote was cast by all syndicated WebMasters who rated each entry out of 10. Averages were calculated and this entry rated highest...
The entries were collected and an annoymous vote was cast by all syndicated WebMasters who rated each entry out of 10. Averages were calculated and this entry rated highest...
The winning entry was designed by Denise from Nottinghamshire in the UK.
What was the inspiration for your design?
"I wanted it to represent the Jem community so I chose a globe as the base because to me, Jem fans are a global community anyway (literally around the globe too!) Many of us are "faceless" as we don't have fancy websites or know of fellow fans locally - I don't think any of my family even remembers Jem and I know my friends are all clueless - hence, Jem in shadow."
So how did you first discover Jem?
"I'm 23 so I missed Jem the first time around. A few years ago, I was looking at a car boot sale for cheap dolls for my niece and I found one that was bigger than the rest with dark pink hair. She had a pretty face so I bought her for 50p. The lady handed me a "Truly Outrageous" video to go with her so I took it home and watched it with my niece. It was really crackly in places but we thought it was brilliant! I then started looking on the internet and found these great sites - Totally Jem! and Jem Things are the best - there's so must to learn! My niece has grown out of Jem now but not me :-)"
What was the inspiration for your design?
"I wanted it to represent the Jem community so I chose a globe as the base because to me, Jem fans are a global community anyway (literally around the globe too!) Many of us are "faceless" as we don't have fancy websites or know of fellow fans locally - I don't think any of my family even remembers Jem and I know my friends are all clueless - hence, Jem in shadow."
So how did you first discover Jem?
"I'm 23 so I missed Jem the first time around. A few years ago, I was looking at a car boot sale for cheap dolls for my niece and I found one that was bigger than the rest with dark pink hair. She had a pretty face so I bought her for 50p. The lady handed me a "Truly Outrageous" video to go with her so I took it home and watched it with my niece. It was really crackly in places but we thought it was brilliant! I then started looking on the internet and found these great sites - Totally Jem! and Jem Things are the best - there's so must to learn! My niece has grown out of Jem now but not me :-)"
Why do you like Jem?
"She's great! So dynamic and the episodes are really well written. I haven't seen them all so I really hope they come out on DVD. The Rhino ones are so expensive and it seems there are lots of fakes on eBay so I don't want to risk it at the moment.
I love the songs and I have them all on my phone to listen to on the bus to work. I really wish there was a cartoon like it out now as I'm sure kids today would behave better for it. They need a good role model like Jem."
Your design is lovely - very professional - have you done any Jem art before?
"No, this was my first try. I would like to do more but I never knew how to show it because I don't know a thing about websites. I saw your message board (The Kool Trash Journal) with the uploads so maybe I can put any future art there."
Well you could, but Jem Things & Stuff and maybe other Jem-sites might be able to use your talents in a more productive way. Would you consider doing a collaboration?
"That would be excellent! I'd love to be involved more with everyone."
Thanks to Denise and everybody else who entered the competition.
Denise will be involved in a future project on Jem Things & Stuff so there will be more of her work on display soon.
"She's great! So dynamic and the episodes are really well written. I haven't seen them all so I really hope they come out on DVD. The Rhino ones are so expensive and it seems there are lots of fakes on eBay so I don't want to risk it at the moment.
I love the songs and I have them all on my phone to listen to on the bus to work. I really wish there was a cartoon like it out now as I'm sure kids today would behave better for it. They need a good role model like Jem."
Your design is lovely - very professional - have you done any Jem art before?
"No, this was my first try. I would like to do more but I never knew how to show it because I don't know a thing about websites. I saw your message board (The Kool Trash Journal) with the uploads so maybe I can put any future art there."
Well you could, but Jem Things & Stuff and maybe other Jem-sites might be able to use your talents in a more productive way. Would you consider doing a collaboration?
"That would be excellent! I'd love to be involved more with everyone."
Thanks to Denise and everybody else who entered the competition.
Denise will be involved in a future project on Jem Things & Stuff so there will be more of her work on display soon.