Please note this is not for a book cover, but rather for a bookmark (principal use) to be offered as SWAG incentive for a pre-order campaign (inter alia) and potentially on the author webiste.

The scene in which the sculpture appears is a prelude to a racially motivated murder. The Time is Running Out title has multiple sub-textual meanings. The sculpture should be treated as a serious subject.

I hope I captured your vision with my entry Design Id #36917990, check it out, leave a feedback or comment, available for any changes.

Hi project owner! Could you extend the contest deadline? I'm working on a design for you, but I need more time to finish my detailed sketch. Thanks

The project deadline has been extended to Wednesday, 4 March 2026.
Please submit your designs by this date.
Thanks.

Unfortunately, the designs received did not meet the requirements. I have agreed with DesignCrowd to extend the project for 8 days.

I have set out below a summary of the Process, Design Brief, and requirements. Please read the Brief and the description below carefully (to the extent of any conflict or contradiction, the description below supersedes the Brief).

Process:

This Brief is to submit a well-developed sketch illustration of the sculpture (Phase 1 - Competition Phase). I expect the submission to be accompanied by a summary of Hex colour codes and work to be completed to achieve the realistic/photo-realistic digital illustration, with an indication of the incremental payment to be made to complete that (Phase 2 - Commission Phase). Of course, if you are comfortable completing the realistic/photo-realistic digital illustration at the Competition Phase, please do so.

Design Brief Summary:

The description of the sculpture is below:

‘[A] large hourglass leaning about ten degrees off the vertical cradled by an androgynous being, who must have been fifteen feet tall, its hand grasping the sand clock at its throat. A life-sized bronze child of about ten, judging by his size, with blueberry-coloured semi-precious stones for eyes, knelt in the large lower ampoule (bulb), his hands pressed against his glass prison. He was covered in blood-red sand to his chin. The sand continued to flow onto his head, but the ampoule didn’t fill. The boy was caught in a state of equilibrium, almost but never quite drowning in the sand.
Unquote

- The illustration will be printed on a card (physical, approximately 70 mm x 120 mm and potentially on the author’s website and social media accounts.

- Key requirements/specifications/elements:

- The design should be simple and elegant.
- I expect your proposal to be illustrated, not generated by AI (this, I understand, is prohibited on DesignCrowd).
- An androgynous being (entity) cradles the hourglass, grasping it at its throat (the narrow part between the two ampoules/bulbs)
- The lower bulb of the hourglass contains a kneeling child (about 10 years old), not a dismembered head of the child.
- Only the child’s head is visible above the red sand, but it should be proportioned so the viewer may infer the child’s body buried in the sand.
- The child is imprisoned in the ampoule, hands up, pressed against the glass, sand flowing onto his head.
- Please respect the principles of how a sand clock works. There should be no sand outside the hourglass. The sand flows through the narrow gap (neck/throat) between the two bulbs (In this case, onto the head of the boy).
- There are no pillars, posts, or frames for the hourglass; it is cradled and held by the androgynous being, which effectively is its support.
- This is not science fiction or a magical realm; it’s a sculpture developed by a human concerned about climate change, loss of biodiversity, war, and human extinction (Time is running out).
- The boy’s eyes are coloured blueberry, but they do not radiate or glow.
- The setting/backdrop can be in a gallery or in the Ingalls Mall in Ann Arbour.
- Colours for sculpture: Aluminium bronze for the androgynous figure. Bronze for the child, with blueberry-coloured eyes. Red sand.

Hi Project Owner, thank you for the invitation to this contest. To finalize my design concept, I need one specific detail: what kind of expression should be depicted on the child’s face? Should it be a blank stare, sadness, or panic? Thank you

Thanks for your question. The sculpture is called ‘Time is running out’. The artist describes its meaning thus: ‘It started as a statement about man’s destructiveness—environmental, climate change, loss of biodiversity, war. The idea that time is running out for our children. For us as a species. The boy drowning in the bloodied sands of time, bloodied by us ….’ The boy’s expression should reflect this: despair, understanding that he’s doomed.