Samsung launches ArtCover service in Australia – and we’ve got two to give away!

Samsung this week opened ArtCover in Australia, a service that allows you to create custom back covers for your Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note II or Galaxy Note 3 handsets from your own artwork (or someone else’s, if you’re so inclined).

Be sure to read to the end of the article for your chance to win an ArtCover!

The service appears to be a collaboration between the Korean giant and Singapore-based iPortal Asia, which explains the apparant soft-launch of the service in the latter throes of 2013 around south-east Asia.

The ArtCover website allows you upload your own artwork and order a cover for one of the above-listed devices with your art on it for US$25 (after currency conversion it’s about AU$28). Samsung’s sweetening the deal with free shipping but you can also pay a bit extra to get your cover faster.

You can also share your design with the world so that other customers can order it – watch out for an Ausdroid cover on the site soon! 😉

If you don’t feel particularly inclined to design your own cover, ArtCover also features hand-picked designs by featured artists, or lets you choose from popular designs. For the launch of the service in Australia, Samsung selected four local artists – George Nova, Hayley O’Conner, Candy Ng and Kayle Whitham – to provide cover designs for the site. You can see some of their work below:

If you’re curious to see how an ArtCover might look on your phone, Samsung sent over a picture of a kitted-out Galaxy Note 3 – check it out below:

It’s nice to see some more interesting and artistic covers for these phones out there – Android devices usually end up with short shrift when it comes to cases, covers and other accessories due to the sheer volume of them out there. There are covers and cases out there for these devices that cost a lot more and don’t allow you to use your own artwork, so it’s worth taking a look at the service if you’d like to personalise your device for a reasonable price.

Giveaway!

Samsung kindly gave us two voucher codes for free ArtCovers (with free standard shipping) to give away to two lucky readers to celebrate the Australian launch of the ArtCover service!

Given it’s the Australia Day weekend, we thought we’d go with a theme of Australian artists, so the winners are:

Paul Balkos, who suggested famed Mambo artist Reg Mombassa,
and
Michael Kashro, who suggested Australian icon Pro Hart (what a mess!)

Thanks for entering everyone – keep your eyes on the site for more giveaways in future!