in progress

[tinny]

After the poll at icontalking was unanimously in favor of creating a community where we could enjoy old icon challenges again, I've created this comm for this purpose.

I'm currently in the process of setting it up, so please bear with me.

Rough idea: monthly challenges from all over the place, mostly/preferably from very old, dead LJ icon challenge comms. We'll adapt the rules (specifically voting: none, number of icons: unlimited, and allowed fandoms: all) for each challenge so we have the same rules for every challenge here in this comm, overriding the restrictions of the original challenge comm. This is done so everyone can enjoy our challenges without the rules changing too much from month to month.

The main goal of this comm is to celebrate the iconmaker community and the immense creativity of its members over the last 25+ years.

1) If you are an administrator of an active icon challenge comm, or used to run one that is now closed, feel free to let me know if you would allow us (or not allow us) to reuse your challenges in the context of retro_icontest. That will save me the trouble of coming to ask you separately. :)

2) If you would like to be a co-mod, please let me know.

3) If you have any questions, please comment to this post.

Source Communities

[tinny]

Here's the list of communities and admins who have granted us permission to their challenges, or who I've contacted and didn't get a response. Feel free to browse and look at their inspiration posts!




Mods who responded to my question and allowed us to use their posts:

comm name	mod name	challenge tag	comments	used
animated20in20	abyss_valkyrie	& themes	closed since 2019	-
capicontest	novindalf	~challenges	closed since 2023; we have permission from novindalf, but the comm has since been revived as screen_icons so we won't interfere with that	-
comics_ic	sietepecados	!challenge post	Comics fandoms - closed since 2019	-
flarrow_stills	sietepecados	!challenge post	The Flash and Arrow - closed since 2019	-
iconsomething	applepips	!challenge post		#1
island_rumble	luminousdaze	no tag	closed since 2013 - very different types of challenges between rumble rounds	#24
itshorrific	naginis	!challenge	12 horror-themed challenges. Closed since 2016.	#20
oddlyspecificon	naginis	!challenge	everyone makes icons anonymously, and there is guessing who made which icons. we have permission for challenge posts by naginis	#18
perioddrama_ic	ella_rose88	!challenge rules	permission for all challenge posts made by ella_rose88 to lj - but this comm is in fact still alive (perioddrama_ic), so feel free to participate there	#5
pll_stillness	sietepecados	!challenge	Pretty Little Liars - closed since 2015	#13
shire_icontest	luminousdaze	no tag, but a masterlist	closed since 2017	#10
the7days	novindalf, naginis	!challenge post	permission for challenge posts by novindalf and naginis	#7, #23
theiconthrone	sietepecados	-challenge	permission for all challenge posts made by sietepecados	#2

Comms where I've contacted the mods but didn't get a response/couldn't contact the mods because they've deleted their journals. I waited for at least six weeks before adding them to this list here. If you are one of these mods and are against us using your inspiration posts, please let me know in comments or via PM and I'll remove your comm from the list.

comm name	mod name	challenge tag	comments	used
10in30	starkwars	*inspiration%20post	Closed since 2018.	#19
20muses	akilah92	!inspiration	closed since 2019	#6
a_mused	endearest, spittingfish	~challenge	9 zodiac-signs. Closed since 2012	#14
au_rooms	phaust_	!challenge	Make AU icons. Closed since 2013	#22
calendarsquares	cool_spectrum	-color of the month	every month all icons are used to fill a calendar - closed since 2018	#3
character20n20	neatmonster	%21info		#12
createandshine	neke	!challenge	Closed since 2012	#16
episodes20in20	crazycordy	!themes	Claim an episode and icon 20 given themes. Closed since 2018.	-
icon_games	danseur_lion	.challenges	Two thematic (loosely LOTR-inspired) challenges from 2019.	-
lookingback_ic	djmustangsally	entry post	only period images allowed to be used - closed since 2012	-
nonstopicons	akilah92	!challenge post	closed since 2016 - but challenges (7) explicitly stay open forever	#21
paintedpixels	starkwars, poisonfield	.challenge%20post	Icon different art styles. Closed since 2016.	#11
pokicons	poisonfield	.battle	Try to catch a pokemon every week. Ran only in 2016.	#8
somein30	neonspider	!challenge post	20 awesomely creative challenges, ran from 2020 to 2022.	#26
technique20in20	technique_mod blackberrypies	~~info	closed since 2016	#4, #25
turbo_rumble	absolutelybatty	!themes	Make 12 icons and compete against other makers in 12 rounds until only one maker is left. Closed since 2016.	#17
watchnicon	watchniconmods, anassa_anemou	-challenge%20post	Watch/Rewatch a tv show and icon each episode as you go along. Closed since 2015.	#15

Plus some comms that had interesting ideas - but no challenge posts (+theiconquest!).

comm name	comments	used
guesswho20in20	closed since 2016; sign up and get assigned a random celebrity from whom to make 20 icons	-
icon_alphabet	closed since 2008; make 26 icons in four weeks, one for each letter of the alphabet	-
theiconquest	closed since 2013; one of the largest iconmaking community efforts ever. The comm explicitly states that all quests stay open forever.	#9