There are several ways to browse the bottle designs. First, you should choose whether to browse the bottle designs or the mashup designs. Once in either the Bottle Design Gallery or the Mashup Design Gallery, you can refine your search by Country, Date Added, Theme or Passion. Be sure to click the Submit button once you have made your refinement selections.
How do I sort submitted designs?
Once you have a result set of designs, you can sort these by Newest, Highest Rated, Most Favorited, and Most Mashed Up (for bottles) or Most Viewed (for mashups). The sort options appear in a drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the result set.
How do I find my friend's bottle?
In order to find a bottle design by one of your friends, you will need to know your friend's screen name. A screen name is a name used to represent you on the web site without giving away your actual name or identity. From the Find a Designer page, or the Find a Designer module on the Explore page, enter all of part of your friend's screen name to display designers with screen names including that combination of letters. A results set of designs by designer will appear and you should be able to find your friend's bottle design.
To start designing, first choose a background. This can be an image, a surface, or a pattern, which you will see under the Add Background section in the left menu. Depending on the type of background you choose, you may have additional options to select colors or set other preferences. Where applicable, these additional options will appear below the selected background after you select it. After you've edited your background surface or pattern to your satisfaction, click Submit. If you decide not to keep the background edits you've made, click Cancel.
What if I want to change the background after I've picked one?
No problem! Just re-open the Add Backgrounds section and select a different background. It's as easy at that.
Okay, I've selected a background. How do I add elements?
Elements work in much the same way as backgrounds, but you have a few extra features. First click on the Add Elements section in the left menu. When you click on an element in the left menu, it will appear on the design canvas. Surrounding the element on each corner of the bounding box, you will see several icons, which each cause the element to do different things.
= Deletes this element
= Rotates this element
= Scales (re-sizes) this element
= Moves the element to the front or back of other elements on the canvas
How do I select elements?
To select an element, all you need to do is click on it on the canvas. If an element is located beneath other elements, you may need to first move any elements on top of it to the back by clicking the ? icon on its bounding box.
To select all elements on the canvas, click Shift+A.
To select multiple (but not all) elements on the canvas, click on the desired elements while holding down the Shift key.
How about applying effects?
To apply effects, you first need to select one or more elements on the screen to which the effects should be applied. Read the "How do I select elements?" question above to learn how to select multiple elements.
Once you've selected the elements to which you want to apply the effect, click on the effect thumbnail or name in the left side menu and explore the options available for that particular effect. After you've edited your selected effect to your satisfaction, click Submit. If you decide not to keep the effect edits you've made, click Cancel.
How about adding a signature?
Artists should always sign their work! You can choose whether or not to add a signature in the Add Signature section. If you decide to add your signature, your screen name will appear on the bottom of the bottle after it is submitted. If you decide not to add your signature, just select that radio button option and your bottle will not be signed when it appears in the Design Gallery.
How do I undo or redo an action I took?
You can undo or redo your last action by clicking the undo and redo buttons at the bottom of the page. Clicking these buttons multiple times will continue to undo or redo actions in the order in which they were originally completed.
= Undo last action
= Redo last action
How do I change an element's color?
The color picker at the bottom of the page will apply a new color to any elements that are selected on the canvas. In cases where the original element is a solid color, the color picker will paint the element with the newly selected color. In cases where the original element had multiple colors, the color picker will simply tint the element with the color selected so you may find that you can't change the color of certain multi-colored elements as specifically as you'd like to.
How do I change an element's transparency?
The Transparency slider modifies the transparency of any elements that are selected on the canvas.
How do I flip, clone, tile, or sprinkle an element?
First, select the element or elements you wish to modify. Then click the following buttons at the bottom of the screen:
= Flips the selected element(s) horizontally
= Flips the selected element(s) vertically
= Clones the selected element(s)
= Tiles the selected element(s) in a symmetrical, rectangular pattern
= Sprinkles the selected element(s) in a random pattern
What if I want to start over or quit?
If you want to clear an entire design from the canvas and start over, click Start Over (FR = Refaire, SP = Borrar Todo). The system will prompt you to confirm that you understand you will lose all of your current design work up to that point.
If you want to quit designing altogether, click the Quit button. Here, too, the system will prompt you to confirm that you understand you will lose all of your current design work up to that point.
Can I save a design without submitting it?
If you have started a design and you aren't quite ready to submit it, but you don't want to lose your work, you can choose to save it as a draft by clicking the Save as Draft (FR = Sauvegarder, SP = Salvar) button.
If you are not already logged in or registered, you will be required to do so. You will then be required to submit a form stating that you have read the required Terms of Use and Code of Conduct. Also, if you did not select a screen name when you registered, you will be asked to choose one at this stage.
To re-access this draft later, go to the My Bottles section of the site, and click on its thumbnail in the My Drafts area.
How do I submit my design?
Once you are satisfied with your design and are ready to put it on display so everyone can see it, you can submit it to the Bottle Design Gallery by clicking the Submit Design button. After you have submitted a bottle to the gallery, you will not be able to edit it, so make sure you are completely satisfied with your bottle before submitting!
If you are not already logged in or registered, you will be required to do so. You will then be required to submit a form stating that you have read the required Terms of Use and Code of Conduct. Here you can also add a title and an inspiration statement to your bottle, as well as selecting a theme and a passion, and if you did not select a screen name when you registered, you will be asked to choose one at this stage.
Why do you ask me to pinpoint my location?
When submitting a bottle, we will ask you to select your location on a map. We do this so that when other bottle designers mash up your bottle with theirs, and we display all of the mashup connections for each bottle on a map, we will know where each bottle came from to display its location appropriately on the map.
To zoom in on the map, use the zoom tools on the right side. To move the map left, right, up or down, you will have to use the arrows on the right side above the zoom tools.
The next time you submit a bottle, we will retain the map location you entered previously, and we will let you know that you can skip this step if you wish to use the previously selected location for the bottle being submitted.
After you have designed a bottle, you can start connecting it with other bottle designs around the world through the mashup tool. Click Mashup on the main navigation to access the tool. You must be logged in to mashup your bottles.
On the Mashup screen, you will be able to select which of your bottle designs you want to mash up on the left side of the screen. On the right side of the screen, you can choose from other designers' bottles according to various criteria, such as a random selection of bottles, the bottles you’ve selected as favorites, by designer's screen name, or by country, date added, theme or passion.
Once you have a set of bottles to choose from, you can navigate through the set with the left and right arrows. When you find a bottle you'd like to try, click on it and that will move it into the larger "Bottle to Mashup" area. You will then see that bottle's design mashed up with yours according to the selected mashup template, shown below the mashup. The mashup template simply shows how your bottle design will be “mashed up” (such as horizontal or vertical stripes or swirls) with the bottle you selected. You can change the mashup template at any time by clicking on the template icons. You can also switch which portion of the mashup template your bottle occupies by clicking the icons (
and 
) below the mashup templates.
Finally, when you are satisfied with the mashup you have created and you are ready to submit it to the Mashup Design Gallery, click Submit.
There are two types of maps on the Design the World a Coke web site.
The Bottle Designs by Country Map shows how many bottles have been created in each country. You can access this map from the Home page or the Explore page by clicking the "View worldwide activity on a map" link in the lower right corner of the screen. By hovering over countries on the map, you will see the number of bottles created in the selected country. To view all of the bottles created in a given country, click on the country while you are hovering over it. This will display all bottles from that country below the map in sets of eight. To navigate through these bottles, click the left and right arrows.
The Mashup Connections Map shows a different view. Each bottle which has been mashed up with at least one other bottle has its own specific Mashup Connections Map. You can access this map by clicking the map pin (
) icon on the rollover detail or on the "Map of mashup connections" link on the bottle detail page. All of the bottles that are mashed up with the selected bottle will be displayed as icons connected to the original bottle. The connected bottle thumbnails will also be displayed underneath the map in sets of eight. To navigate through these bottles, click the left and right arrows. Clicking any one of the bottle icons on the map will highlight that bottle in the set of eight below the map. Clicking any of the bottles below the map will highlight that mashup connection on the map itself.
On the left side of the My Bottles screen, you will notice that your screen name is displayed next to a bottlecap icon. This bottlecap will either be red, bronze, silver or gold depending on how many Medal Points you have accrued. You will accrue Medal Points each time you submit a bottle design to the gallery (1 point) and each time a mashup is created with your bottle (1 point), regardless of whether you create the mashup or someone else does.
Medals are then earned according to the following scale:
= 0 points (Red)
= 1 - 24 points (Bronze)
= 25 - 49 points (Silver)
= 50+ points (Gold)
As soon as you submit your first bottle design to the gallery, you will immediately earn a bronze medal.
On the My Bottle page under your profile information, you can subscribe to RSS Feeds so you can keep track of the activity happening with your bottles. This RSS Feed will let you know when anyone rates, favorites, comments on, or mashes up with one of your bottles.
If you click on the RSS button, and you have an RSS reader built into your web browser, the site will automatically add the RSS feed link to your reader. If you do not have an RSS reader built into your browser (or you are using Internet Explorer 6), a message will be displayed with instructions on how to copy and paste the RSS feed URL into your reader.
Rating bottles and mashups is easy, and similar to the way you've probably already rated other web content. In the bottle detail page, under the Rate tab on the right hand side of the page, just roll over the stars, and select the number of stars you wish to give to a particular bottle or mashup. Keep in mind that you must be logged in to rate, that you can only rate a bottle or mashup once.
Can I rate my own bottle?
You cannot rate your own bottle, but you can rate a mashup made with your bottle.
Why should I select bottles and mashups as favorites?
By selecting favorite bottles and mashups, you will have immediate access to these bottles and mashups from your My Bottles page. This can save you time because you won't have to search for them again later.
There is also another benefit to selecting bottles as favorites. When creating mashups, one of the ways you can filter various bottles you wish to mash up with is by your favorites. Therefore, as you browse the bottle gallery, selecting bottles as favorites will give you a good starting point of bottles that are good candidates for mashing up.
How do I select bottles and mashups as favorites?
To select a bottle of a mashup as a favorite, click the red heart icon with the plus sign inside of it (
).
When a bottle or mashup is already selected as a favorite, the red heart icon will appear solid (
).
To remove a bottle or mashup from your favorites, hover over the solid red heart icon and you will see a red heart with an X (
). Click this icon and the bottle or mashup will now be removed from your favorites.
From a bottle detail or mashup detail page, click the Share tab in the upper right corner of the screen. On the Share tab, click Email and submit the resulting form.
How do I bookmark a bottle or mashup?
From a bottle detail or mashup detail page, click the Share tab in the upper right corner of the screen. On the Share tab, click Bookmark, and a new screen will pop up giving you various bookmarking sites to choose from, e.g. del.icio.us, digg, Google Bookmarks, etc.
How do I post a 3D bottle or mashup widget to my MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, Bebo, hi5, or Friendster profile?
From a bottle detail or mashup detail page, click the Share tab in the upper right corner of the screen. On the Share tab, click on the desired social networking site, and submit the resulting form.
When finished, 3D bottle and mashup widget(s) will now appear on the selected social network profile page.
How do I post a 3D bottle or a mashup widget to my own website?
From a bottle detail or mashup detail page, click the Share tab in the upper right corner of the screen. On the Share tab, locate the copy code area directly below the list of Social Networks. Copy the code in that text box, and paste it into your own web site HTML.
How do I link to a bottle detail or mashup detail page?
From a bottle detail or mashup detail page, click the Share tab in the upper right corner of the screen. Locate the "link to this page" code at the bottom of the Share tab. Copy the URL in that text box, and paste it wherever you wish to provide a link to this page.
We ask you to enter a random, numeric code to verify that you're a real person. This helps protect against spammers who use computer programs to stuff their ads into blogs and other web sites that accept user-submitted content.
What if I can't make out the code?
If you can't make out the code in the image, try clicking the "Get new code" link to generate another code that may be more readable. We have to obscure the image somewhat to make it harder for spam-bots to read the code.
As the Olympic Games come to Beijing, China this year, we are inviting youth from around the world to express themselves creatively through our Design the World a Coke digital experience and share with the world. We're psyched for you and your friends to be a part of it!
It is our hope that by participating in our design community, each of you will have the opportunity to share your ideas, aspirations and creativity openly with one another. This experience is about individual self-expression, but at the same time, it's also about learning and understanding about one another across cultures and geographies too. So what you say and create counts! As we're a planet of nearly 6 billion carbon-beings, understandably a few ground rules are in order….
We've put together this Code of Conduct Guidelines to help ensure everyone has a voice in a safe and hospitable environment. We've defined the things we care about, what you can expect from us and what we expect from you. Also, always check the Terms of Use of this site for all that legal stuff you need to know about using this website.
Things We Care About
Through the Design the World a Coke experience, you have the opportunity to be creatively inspired, self-express and connect with others – whether in your own backyard neighborhood or one in a foreign land. While this experience is for your enjoyment, we take this opportunity seriously and so should you.
Please keep in mind that the following types of behavior are absolutely NOT COOL and will be considered as abuse in our community:
Obscenity – refers to any statements, images or actions that depict pornographic, sexually explicit, graphic or gratuitous violence. Put it this way, if it would make your grandmother or mother blush – don't do it.
Hate Speech/Imagery – refers to any statements, images or actions that make threats of any kind or that intimidates, harasses or bullies anyone on the basis of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and etc. You remember the Golden Rule: treat others as you would want to be treated.
Disrespectful – refers to any other statements, images or actions that are derogatory, demeaning, malicious or defamatory. In other words, treat others as you would want to be treated, the Golden Rule again.
Irrelevant – refers to any statements, images or actions that are obviously commercial or otherwise spam-like. If you want to promote your antique collection of He-Man or Star Wars action figures or any other start-up enterprise, please use other more suitable channel. Don't expect to fund your college tuition here.
Other – refer to any statements, images or actions such as impersonating any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity. Also, engaging in predatory or stalking conduct is a no-no. Mind your "p's" and "q's" and everything should work out fine.
What We Expect From You
The Design the World a Coke community is just that – about community – about you! So, do your part to make sure it's a great experience for everyone!
Check it Out First – like any new community site, when you show up, take some time to check out what's happening, who's here and what's being said before jumping in with both feet. Get a feel for the place and the conversation before you start your design or throw your comments around. We suggest browsing the bottles to see what your peers have already designed. Please also make sure you will produce a true "original" design.
Be Honest and Positive – we want you to be true to who you are – so if you have something to say – express it. But at the same time, inspire others in a positive way. Passionate about saving the earth? Awesome! Get people on the green train without calling them litterbugs. Down with war? Okay – inspire people to think and act peacefully without calling them militants. You get the picture….
Keep It Constructive – okay, so maybe you don't agree with something that someone else created or commented…we love a spirited debate! Just stay focused on smart, passionate discussion and THINK before you press the publish button! The web has a very long memory and so do we.
Think About Others – the platform is ours, but the experience belongs to everybody. Keep in mind that not everyone may get your wisecrack, joke and so on from the text you type. Keep in mind that misunderstandings can and will happen. So, do your best to be direct and clear in your comments and expect that others may have a completely different understanding than what you originally intended. The Internet is a small sandbox – play nicely!
Report Trouble – in case you need reminding, we are NOT mind readers. We're depending on you and your friends to tell us if there are problems in the community. You've got a "Report Abuse" link to let us know if there is a potential issue with a comment or bottle design out there. Our moderation team will stay on the lookout too – but you are our best eyes and ears for catching this stuff. When we share the responsibility for maintaining a positive environment – everyone wins.
What You Should Expect From Us
Our experience tells us that the best communities are ones patrolled by its own citizens. But of course, when there's trouble – you do sometimes need to be able to call the sheriff to take care of business.
Be Responsive – don't you just hate when you report a problem and it seems like ages until you hear anything? Or worse, you get that darling little "thank you for your comment…please do not reply this is an automated robot" kind of reply? Yes, so do we. We promise to review and respond to your potential abuse report within 24 hours of our receipt (unless it's a local holiday…then give us the next day please to recover from our festivities).
Proactively Moderate – we wouldn't ask you to do anything WE aren't willing to do ourselves. We'll keep our eyes peeled for the abuses cited above too. If we see something really blatant, expect that we'll remove part of all of the offending comments/ bottle without hesitation.
Let Your Vote Count – in this community, YOU really DO DECIDE. All voting is by YOU; the actual participant, thru rating. So, don't hesitate to give your opinion by rating designs – no electoral card required!
Bounce People Who Deserve It – hey, if it's good enough for your favorite club then relax and trust us with minding the riff-raff. Anyone we observe blatantly and consistently breaking our ground rules, we will help them find their way out of here.
What are you waiting for? We're done…really…., no Really! If you've reached the end of this – we thank you for your time and attention. Now off with you... Go make many bottles and have a blast!
As described in the Code of Conduct, we want the Design the World a Coke web site experience to be a fun -- but also safe and welcoming -- place for everyone. Therefore, if you see a bottle design, mashup design, title, inspiration or comment that is obscene, hateful, irrelevant, disrespectful or otherwise offensive, please click the Report Abuse link nearest to the offensive content and let us know about it.
Why was a bottle/mashup/title/inspiration/comment removed?
If a bottle design, bottle title, bottle inspiration or comment is removed, it is because other site visitors reported it, and one of our site moderators removed it after deeming it inappropriate for the Design the World a Coke site.
All mashups created with bottles that have been removed due to inappropriate content will also be removed automatically.
Why has my bottle/mashup/title/inspiration/comment disappeared?
If your bottle, title, or inspiration has suddenly disappeared, it may have been suspended from the site pending a content review. In these cases, we will email you to inform you that a content review is under way. We will then follow up with you regarding the status of your submission, to confirm either the reinstatement or removal of your content.