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Design your own Kindle (and win it) with Engadget, Amazon, and Adafruit Industries!

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 14th 2009 at 12:00PM


Reading isn't just about the text that you're reading, it's an intimately personal experience in every sense of the word -- the way the book feels, the crease of the pages, the wear on the cover, it's all totally unique to your copy at the time that you're reading it. Put simply, it's an experience no one else will ever have. Between three models, dozens of accessories, and countless e-books, no two Kindles are alike, either -- but Engadget has partnered with Amazon and the DIY experts over at Adafruit Industries to hook up five extraordinarily lucky readers with truly unique reading devices. These guys are the laser etching experts -- see one of the Kindles they've done here!

Here's the deal: we're asking you to think of a design that would look great on the Kindle's brushed metal back -- something that means a lot to you, something that'll make passers-by drool with envy when you casually hold up your new toy while reading The Economist from the comfort of your train, plane, or bus seat. Draft up that design (seriously, make sure it's awesome, because you'll be facing some stiff competition) and send it to us. We'll post some of our favorites as finalists and hand the reigns over to you -- our dear readers -- to select five winners who will each have their designs laser-etched into reality on the backs of their very own Kindles!

The rules:
  • Send your design to us by emailing it to contests [at] engadget [dawt] com with the subject "I want my custom Kindle!" (no quotes). Submissions must be in EPS or AI format, must be in black and white only, and must be composed strictly of vector graphics with all fonts converted to curves. We can scale your design as necessary, but keep in mind that you'll be dealing with an etchable area roughly five inches by seven inches. You can find a (very large) image of the back of the Kindle 2 here for your reference.
  • We can't print anything you don't have the rights for, so to be safe, original work is the best!
  • You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
  • Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Five (5) winners will each receive one (1) Amazon Kindle 6" Wireless Reading Device customized by Adafruit Industries. Approximate retail value is $299.00.
  • If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
  • Design entries can be submitted until Friday, July 24th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
  • Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements, Handhelds

Tags: adafruit, adafruit industries, AdafruitIndustries, amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, contest, etching, giveaway, kindle, kindle 2, Kindle2, laser etching, LaserEtching

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