This Week in the Sndbox

Welcome to the 45th State of the Sndbox newsletter! First off, a major announcement - Applications for Cohort 2 of Sndbox are now open! Check the next section for further details and links.

This past week, we had a number of creative competitions with a few partners like @eSteemapp and Everdragons. We saw excellent submissions for the 10th State of the Sndbox thumbnail competition and the eSteem Crypto Art Challenge. Our Crypto Art and Design Challenge elevated to The Real World with Neo. We interviewed Ryu Kim, the Landscape Architect behind Steem Park and gave updates on the Block Mountain Community Project.

To get up-to-date on the major workings of Sndbox, be sure to go through our weekly Sndbox Project Updates post that we publish each week.

Applications Open for Sndbox’s Second Cohort!

If you missed yesterday’s announcement, Sndbox is now accepting applications for the next cohort beginning on August 1. We encourage anyone interested in pursuing creative work, projects, and community development on Steemit to considering applying to work alongside dozens of talented and dedicated practitioners.

To top it off, we’re proud to present the video we’ve been working on with the creative studio Humdinger & Sons for the last few months. We believe it captures the spirit of Steem and the growing impact of the blockchain ecosystem on the world. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Creative Partnering for Steemit Growth

Our collaborations with partners from within and outside the Steemit world has greatly impacted creativity in the blockchain world. We are targeting an emerging crypto-curious audience aronud the world and at the same time, creating engagement and insight into emerging opportunities for a more extensive decentralized ecosystem.

We opened up about why these partnerships are important not only because we get to give away some awesome prizes, but it also highlights Steemit resources and communities while showing how more blockchain startups can be brought to Steemit.

Read more about these partnerships here.

NEO Art & Design Challenge

Will you take the red pill?

We challenge artists and creatives to transform the NEO logo in the likes of Picasso, Van Gogh, David Hockney, Michelangelo or any style that expresses the resilient nature of this upcoming competitor in the platform-token space.

View the guidelines here.

eSteem Art and Design Challenge Winners

The whole Steemit community came together to reenvision one of the most contributing apps on the Steem blockchain. @grivina's spectacular Impressionistic Beard took the top spot. @anomt's Hokusteem Wave, @themonkeyzuelans' Fibonacci Steem, @tkdesign's DanceSteem, and @permanayogi's Grinding Gears got close and scored some nice upvotes of their own. @wgustaman's Too Mucha eSteem and @karenthfer's eLlusions also garnered praise as honorable mentions.

Click here to see the amazing finalists.

Project Spotlight: Local Housing, Music Project Underway, New Crypto Terms

The "Sndbox Project Series" brings you the latest updates on all Steem-powered projects led by current cohort members.

The @urban-thinktank team shares their micro-financing strategy for their projects and developments in South Africa and @kr-marketing published new flashcards of their Blockchain Encyclopedia. @manouche added to the #whisper Gallery while @blockmountain penned a full overview and update on the @sndbox page.

Get the latest info on these project in this post.

The 11th State of the Sndbox Thumbnail Competition

We have had incredible entries for our June Thumbnail Competition where we put the focus on eSteem. @grivina's geometrical concept lands at the top of the list. Another cool animation by @ninjace comes in second this time. The runners-up are @permanayogi's many moons over a futuristic landscape, @louis88's melting ice ice cream on a hot day, and @myaceh's network-powered thumbnail.

See the full winner list and entries here.

Dragon Digital Assets

EverDragons is an Ethereum-based game that lets you own and interact with their ERC721 digital assets. We recently hosted a competition to get your work transformed into an EverDragon digital asset.

Matching High Valyrian standards, @alebert0davila's elegant and peaceful dragon wins first prize. Dragons spawned by @cheongpyeongyull, @jaydi, @aaronhong, and @kristyglas were all fantastic designs that also get our virtual applause.

Check out the EverDragons project details and the new dragon designs here. There’s still time to contribute to the WinYourEverDragon on their website contest so be sure to check it out!

Unlikely Crypto Creative, @mintvilla

Ryu Kim, Landscape Architect, tells us the story of how Herbert von King Park transformed to host the first Park installation funded by Cryptocurrency, also known as Steem Park. A recipient of the creative arts grant by Consensys at their yearly Ethereal Summit in New York City, she also co-founded a design consultancy called Base Fifteen, a design studio that develops cultural plans and programs.

She projects that transformations in the non-profit sector are likely, possibly even through park-based tokens and an ecosystem of public engagement that enables non-profits to become more actionable. Larger NYC institutions and conservancies can be tapped with various strategies to integrate blockchain, further “adapting this technology across the city’s institutions.”

Read about this inspiring woman behind Steem Park and her vision in this post.

A warm thanks to @sndbox's SoTS guest author; @luvabi. Abi is a member of Sndbox's first Cohort. [Guest Authors receive 20% of the SBD rewards, and an opportunity to showcase projects developing within the incubator / broader Steemit community.]

Want to support Steem content and authors like these? Consider joining our curation trail! You can learn more about the @sndbox incubator mission and program here.

Thank you for reading this week’s State of the Sndbox.