I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo ever since the late 90s when my dad told me that the only people who actually get tattoos are criminals in prison and salty sea dogs.

Some years later, my cousin got wild and crazy (she's one year older than me) and moved to London and got Jack Skellington tattooed on her leg. My cousin is neither a criminal nor a seaman. She proved that getting a tattoo is not at all only for rough men.

So I’ve decided that I want a tattoo too. However, there is a problem. I'm useless when it comes to anything concerning drawing - I can't even draw a hangman without my friends wondering if I'm a retard or a freak pretending to be a retard.

It's therefore necessary for me to get some help with designing this first tattoo of mine - and you can be the artist who will mark my body for the rest of my life!

Here are some guidelines:

1) Don't use more than three bright colours that would suit the skin colour of a blonde lady (my skin tone is a bit yellow). Although, colours are not a must.

2) Get inspired by the sea - my granddad was a fisherman and my dad was a sailor and they meant a lot to me. However, dolphins are a big no no for reasons I'm sure you understand.

3) Music is my weakness, so If you're able to do something cool with musical vibes, that would be amazing!

4) Try to be as original as possible. Butterflies are banned!

5) If you want to find out more about me and my persona, you can stalk me on Twitter or read my blog where I'll update you with some of my thoughts.

6) Technical bit:
For the purposes of voting and previewing on this website, entries uploaded should be:
    * File Format: JPG or PNG
    * Resolution: 72dpi
    * Max Filesize: 2mb
    * The final tattoo will be no bigger than 20x15cm
    * Your entry will be auto-resized proportionately by us to fit our website. If your design is chosen as the winner, you will be contacted again to send over a high-res version (if applicable) of it.

Expect from these (so-called) rules the only limitation is your own imagination!

The winner will get the honour to have his or her design tattooed by our friends at The Pure Ink on the side of my RIBS (!) for the rest of my life.

Good luck!

Listen. The Sanctuary of the redeemers on Shotover Scarp is named after a damned lie, for there is no redemption that goes on there and less sanctuary.

Don’t Panic has teamed up with Penguin books for the chance to design artwork for their biggest fiction launch of the decade, The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman.
Already receiving rave reviews, the book centres around a mysterious, secretive, charming and violent young boy, Thomas Cale, an occupant of the desolate Sanctuary under the brutal regime of the Lord Redeemers.

So used to the cruelty bestowed upon him that he seems immune to it all, soon he will open the wrong door at the wrong time and witness an act so terrible that he will have to leave the place, or die …

To celebrate the hardback publication of this must-read book, we have launched a visual design competition, for which the winner will have their artwork printed on the infamous Don’t Panic poster and also the chance to have artwork featured in association with Penguins promotion of the LHOG paperback.

What we are looking for is artistic representation of the lead character Thomas Cale. There are three excerpts to choose from, all giving a sneak peak of the character and his surroundings. We want you to use your artistic knowhow and design skills to create your interpretation of Thomas Cale using the text provided.
Each excerpt is different so please only choose one to base your design of Thomas Cale on.

Download excerpts here

We’ve also got an exclusive clip of the author himself talking about the atmosphere of the book, which might help you to imagine the world of Thomas Cale.

Its peer-to-peer, folks, so vote for the ones you like (or hate!) and the top ten will be put to a shortlist. The top three can win some fantastic prizes with the winner having the ultimate chance to be a part of the history of The Left Hand of God, and have their artwork featured in one of the most exciting fiction releases ever. You’ve got until 7th April to submit your artwork