For artists
Artwork guidelines
The short version
- One 5 × 7 inch artwork, the front of a walk's postcard.
- We're open to any artistic medium, but your deliverable is a digital file.
- It has to be about the walk, and it has to leave room for a QR code.
- You keep your copyright. We license it.
- No generative AI, in any part of it.
What the piece is for
Every mission has a postcard. On the front is your artwork with a QR code that starts the walk; on the back are the printed instructions and a pattern the app's camera uses to place the planets at true scale.
People buy the card two ways: before they walk, as the thing that gets them started, and after, as the thing they keep. The second one is the reason the artwork matters. It ends up on a fridge or a wall, and it's the only physical record of a day somebody spent walking twelve miles to reach Neptune.
Design brief
Make something about the walk. That's it. Ideas include:
- The stops, the corner where Mars lands, the diner at Jupiter.
- The neighborhood: its buildings, its light, its people.
- Its history, or the part of it people there actually talk about.
What we're not looking for: generic space imagery that could be any city; a literal map of the route (the app already is one); anything that reads as an advert for a business.
The spec
| Trim size | 5 × 7 in (127 × 178 mm). Portrait or landscape. |
|---|---|
| Bleed | 0.125 in (3 mm) on every side. Artboard is 5.25 × 7.25 in. |
| Safe area | Keep anything that must not be cut 0.25 in (6 mm) inside the trim. |
| Resolution | 300 DPI minimum at final size. 600 is preferred. |
| QR clear area | A 1 × 1 in square in a corner of your choosing. |
| Color | Work in RGB or CMYK, whichever you prefer. |
| Deliver | Layered source file, plus a flattened PNG or TIFF. Physical work: a flat scan at 600 DPI or better, not a phone photo. |
The QR code
- Leave a 1 in square inside the safe area.
- We will provide the QR code. You can choose to integrate it into the artwork, but it needs to remain high contrast.
We'll also provide the walk's name and a small project mark — usually along one edge. We'll show you where before anything is printed.
Typical process
- We send the route, the stops, photos, and the terms sheet.
- If we both decide to work together, we pay half up front as a deposit.
- You send a concept — a sketch, a rough, a paragraph. Enough to check we're imagining the same thing.
- First full draft. We'll respond within three working days.
- We try to keep it below two rounds of revisions. Our feedback is usually technical, aimed at making the print and the customer experience work. The artwork and the art style are your own.
- Final files. We'll keep you informed of the printing process and progress as it proceeds.
- Printed, listed with your name and a link on it, and you get copies.
Payment cadence
A flat commission
Decided upfront together, half on signing and half when we accept the piece.
No generative AI
No part of the artwork may be generated by AI. Not a background, a texture, a generative fill, or an upscaler. Ordinary digital tools are entirely fine. The full policy has the details.
If you're unsure whether a specific tool counts, ask. Asking is never held against you, and we'd much rather answer a question in advance than have this conversation about a finished piece.
Getting in touch
Send a portfolio link. Tell us where you're based, and if there's a particular city or walk in mind, mention it.
We read everything ourselves and reply to everything.