The MarkMaynard.com Headers: an explanation

“So, what’s up with the headers?” It’s a question that I get asked quite a bit. So I thought that maybe it warranted a post… not just because I think that people should understand how the headers came about, but because I think the individual artists behind them deserve to be credited by name… Here’s the story.

At some point in 2012, I got bored with the header of my site and decided to reach out some of my more artistically inclined friends, asking if they might want to take a stab are coming up with something better. The proposition was fairly simple….

“If you make a header for my site, it will be used. Even if it’s terrible. (Assuming it wouldn’t be illegal for me to do so.) It may not be used for long, but it will be used. And, while it’s being used, I will run an ad for anything that you want in the right hand column of my site. If you want for me to link to a local abortion clinic, that would be fine. If you want to write something about how much you hate the site, that would be fine too. You can even sell “I Hate Mark Maynard” t-shirts, if you want. Or, if confrontation isn’t your thing, you could promote an event that you have coming up… So, if you want to promote a non-profit, or get people to tune into your favorite local radio show, or whatever, here’s your chance to do it… I will, of course, also thank you on the site, and buy you ‘one’ happy hour-priced beer at a bar of my choice. All I ask is that whatever you make says “MarkMaynard.com” somewhere in the header (size doesn’t matter) so that people will know that they’re on the right page…”

I don’t think I ever made good on the promise of beer, but I kept my word otherwise, and everything submitted went up. (I’ve since started rotating some off for a while, in order to keep things fresh, but everything given to me thus far will continue to be used. Here are a few of the highlights thus far.

[If you want to see what any of them look like full-size, just click on them.]

Linette Lao::

1_banner

Ryan Groendyk:

ryan_Banner

Steve Hughes:

MMHell-Yeah_banner

Jim Cherewick:

CherewichHeader

Dustin Krcatovich:

Dustin

Chris Sandon:

SandonHeader1

Dave Lewinski:

MarkMaynardLewinski

Josh Chamberlain:

JoshHeader

John Zeichman:

10_banner

Gregory Hischak:

markmaynard2

Jeff Clark:

4_banner

Melissa Dettloff:

6_banner

Leisa Thompson:

2_banner_new

Vinnie Massimino:

markmaynard-4-sec-1-85lossy

Dave Miller:

MaynardBanner_01

Eric Lagergren:

3

Ruth Marks:

8_banner1

Mike Giannouris:

9_banner1

And, of course, not wanting to be left out, I did some of my own:

coalmineheader

ecapeheader

pavingstone2_banner

frankensteinflowerheader

While I can’t make the same offer to everyone in the audience, as I know that a good number of you are crazy, I’m curious to see how others out there might distil the essence of this website into a header. And, with that in mind, I’d like to ask you to submit your ideas… Like I said, I can’t promise to put everything submitted in the rotation, but, if you send me something great, It’ll get up there, at least for a while. And I’ll make you the same deal I made the above friends… If your header runs on the site, so to will your ad for whatever you like.

Here are the specs for both the header and the ad:

The size of the header is 960 x 300 pixels.
The size of the ad is 300 x 196 pixels.

And, once you have something worth sharing, you can send it to me at MarkMaynard11 at Gmail.com. Just be sure to write “header” in the subject line… Now get out there and start shaving “MarkMaynard.com” into the fur of your pets. Or, better yet, have them shave it into you!

Good luck.

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18 Comments

  1. Posted August 13, 2013 at 10:06 pm | Permalink

    I should add that Patrick Elkins also gave me one, but it’s not gone live yet as it requires me to either photograph or scan it…. Soon, though…

  2. dragon
    Posted August 13, 2013 at 11:11 pm | Permalink

    All I ask is that whatever you make says “MarkMaynard.com” somewhere in the header, so that people will know that they’re on the right page…”

    Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily…

    Thomas S Szasz quotes

  3. Aol
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 6:11 am | Permalink

    Late Night with David Letterman used to have some good graphics that they’d use between segments, like a hot dog with mustard spelling out Late Night. It might be interesting to try to knock them off.

  4. Steve Swan
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 8:21 am | Permalink

    If I were the manager of DejaVu I’d stop everything today and focus my attention completely on this task.

  5. Elf
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 8:37 am | Permalink

    AnnArbor.com should do the same thing. I’d love to take a crack at that.

  6. Posted August 14, 2013 at 10:30 am | Permalink

    Fact: Mine is the best. Anyone who doesn’t agree has bad taste.

  7. Posted August 14, 2013 at 10:30 am | Permalink

    http://markmaynard.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/markmaynard-4-sec-1-85lossy.gif

  8. XXX
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 10:33 am | Permalink

    The best at giving seizures.

  9. Ypsi
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 11:05 am | Permalink

    $5 for the first person to spray paint markmaynard.com on the side of a police car, photograph it, and send it in.

  10. double anonymous
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 11:12 am | Permalink

    Mr. X and me will do it for $4

  11. Posted August 14, 2013 at 11:40 am | Permalink

    @XXX: Seizures are a regular theme in my work. Thank you for noticing.

  12. Mr. X
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 12:09 pm | Permalink

    How do I know that you won’t frame me and keep my $2 for yourself.

    As for seizures, when I want one I just call Mary Hart. It’s easier than looking at art.

    http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/strange-case-mary-hart-induced-epilepsy-19918

  13. hater
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 12:40 pm | Permalink

    I call my submission One Maynard Two Cups. You’ll be getting it soon.

  14. stop drop rock roll
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 2:31 pm | Permalink

    I wonder if Steve Pierce might be persuaded to get a Mark Maynard temporary tattoo across his face.

  15. hollister
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 2:34 pm | Permalink

    Turning over your band to a bunch of amateurs who are not invested in the success of the site is a bad business move and will ultimately impact readership. People like Starbucks not for the coffee, but because of the consistency. People want things to be nice, clean and recognizable. They don’t want to see strobe lights in their eyes on visit, and your name spelled out in poop on the next. It’s as though you don’t want to be successful.

  16. Dan
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 2:41 pm | Permalink

    the one from Leisa Thompson always intrigued me. What the hell is going on in that one?

  17. K2
    Posted August 14, 2013 at 5:18 pm | Permalink

    You need some old ladies knitting stuff.

  18. Kristin
    Posted August 16, 2013 at 7:53 am | Permalink

    I love seeing the names behind the art, thank you!

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