State of the Sndbox is a weekly newsletter that provides the latest in Sndbox activities, projects, and provides the best resources in creative empowerment for the Steemit community. To get up-to-date on all of our development throughout the week, be sure to follow us Hive account@sndbox. This SoTS was guest authored by our very own Hive account@luvabi.

This Week in the Sndbox

Welcome to the 42nd State of the Sndbox newsletter! This past week, our team released the final edit of another Blockchain and Bourbon webisode on dlive, entitled, "Empowering Creative Practice". We gave you a Quick Start Guide on everything Steemit and showcased a handful of exciting ongoing projects. With The Creative Crypto Magazine (Hive account@creativecrypto), we talked Hive account@decentraland, a cryptocurrency - powered virtual realm. We wrapped up an epic Steem Art & Design Challenge, and last but not least - we launched thecreativecrypto.com website!

For a more thorough breakdown of what our members have been up to, be sure to go through our weekly Sndbox Selections of the Week and Project Updates that we publish each Monday.

Decentraland: An Epic Virtual World Powered by Cryptocurrency

The Hive account@creativecrypto discussed Hive account@decentraland's mind-blowing potential as a world where virtual Real Estate and crypto-powered projects can be realized through the utilization of the blockchain technology. Over 90,000 10mx10m parcels of land are available on the Genesis City master plan which can be purchased in exchange with the native cryptocurrency MANA. Prices range from 9,000 MANA or $1,350 USD to a staggering 10,000,000 MANA, or $1.5 million USD!

The future communities, activities, and relationships in Decentraland can be glimpsed in games like Second Life where users create avatars to do all sorts of things, including earn digital money. Could the future of community building and engagement be curated through virtual landscapes and decentralized ownership?

Read this post to learn more.

Blockchain & Bourbon Weekly

Blockchain and Bourbon is a weekly webisode by the makers of The Creative Crypto Magazine streamed LIVE on multiple social media apps such as Rize and Facebook.

A new Blockchain and Bourbon - Empowering Creative Practice episode is now available on dlive! On this episode of Blockchain and Bourbon, we talked about the emerging tools and creative projects in the cryptosphere that are positively meaningful to the works of artistic professionals.

Watch the episode here to know more about these tools.

STEEM Logo Art Winners

Being that everyone loves STEEM, the entries this week were nothing short of spectacular!

The complete summary of entries epitomized various forms of art as the challenge was to re-imagine the Steem cryptocurrency logo through the lens of a famous artist (Picasso, Van Gogh, David Hockney, Michelangelo etc.)

Taking the top spot is Hive account@aaronhong's imaginative Helvetica User Type Faces. On 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places are Hive account@manouche's Escherism, Hive account@crittercrats' Colorful Cubism, Hive account@ceheiberg's Hard Geometries, and Hive account@sumomo's Steemy Silhouettes. Honorable mentions include Hive account@steempampanga's Garden of New Ideas, Hive account@anomt's Out of This World Wonder; Hive account@yani98's Marbled Marvel, and Hive account@katalinaooma's Hand-Made Internet Magic.

Click here to see the entries and winners.

Project Updates on Art Production, Announcements, Collaborative Activities

"Sndbox Project Series" brings you the latest updates on all Steem-powered projects led by current cohort members.

Hive account@djlethalskillz is a known Musicoin and Steem ambassador and regularly presents its use and benefits to musicians and music producers. Learn about his "Blockchain Music" series in his latest post as he gives us a one-of-a-kind production. Hive account@dougkarr's Dwelling The Novel is now on Chapter 20 as he shares in his latest post. The Hive account@hardfork-series film project, another project by Hive account@dougkarr along with Hive account@ericvancewalton was recently published in Forbes magazine, putting a spotlight on the project and their cryptocurrency funding strategies. The Hive account@reddragonfly gallery by Hive account@denmarkguy shares about utilizing blockchain as new registries for artistic archives. Hive account@elizacheng's MyJuniors and MakeMeSmile campaigns in Malaysia also shared with us her recent activities.

Read about the latest on these projects in this post.

Steemit Quick Start Guide

_{What every new Steemit user needs.}

A compilation of what you need to know while getting started on Steemit. Infographics and guide posts made to explain the platform to newbies in a way that is easy to digest. Have you ever had questions about how much your post is worth, what a reputation score is, or why powering up is beneficial, check out this post and start to maximize your Steemit experience.

Hurry and bookmark this page, send it to your new friends on Steemit!

Stellar Art & Design Challenge

We're now on our 8th Crypto Art & Design Challenge! After receiving 1,000+ jaw dropping artful entries, and after last week's focus on Steem, we again challenge artists, graphic designers and creatives to pick a famous artist or style and in that art form, revamp the Stellar logo and let your creativity skyrocket!

An unlikely Crypto Creative Interview

Get up close with Fil Hive account@dunsky, Russian Illustrator extraordinaire, and learn about his 10 years of experience as a freelance artist and his wide range of clientele from big brands to private commissioned work. Get to know about his experiences on Steemit, the influence this platform has done on his career, some advice for newbie artist Steemians and his overall outlook as a contributor of this creative ground.

Read the full interview here.

Official Launch of The Creative Crypto Magazine

It's the launch we've all been waiting for!

The Creative Crypto is a unique publication built on the Steem blockchain, leveraging on relationship based rewards system for media, content, and engagement while striving to present high quality articles and resources.

Hive account@creativecrypto is an online magazine dedicated to exploring the latest in art, design, resources, applications, and innovative people who are impacting the creative world through blockchain technology! Yesterday, our team announced that phase 1 of our website thecreativecrypto.com is now live. Scroll through the articles, check the About section, gather information from the Resources section, and let us know what you think! Learn more by exploring the introduction, here.

A warm thanks to Hive account@sndbox's SoTS guest author; Hive account@luvabi. Abi is a member of Sndbox's first Cohort. [Guest Authors receive 20% of the SBD rewards, and an opportunity to showcase projects developing within the incubator / broader Steemit community.]

Want to support Steemit authors like these? Consider joining our curation trail! You can learn more about the Hive account@sndbox incubator mission and 2018 program here.

Thank you for reading this week’s State of the Sndbox.