With so many online art and design competitions at our fingertips, entering the top contests each year is a must for any artist looking to grow their career. There are so many benefits to entering competitions beyond getting your work in front of the right people. Here are just a few:
- Develop a community
You meet other artists and peers that can serve as a wonderful resource long after the competition ends.
- Express yourself
You’re free to push boundaries and create work that’s uniquely you.
- A place to learn
A place where everyone from fledgling to established artists receives constructive critique and support from talented peers and judges.
- Have fun
Entering contests gives you the opportunity to experiment, have fun and connect with other artists.
- Win amazing prizes
Prizes run the range from winning money and trips to your own product lines with major distributors.
To get you started we’ve compiled the a list of our top 5 annual art and design competitions. You’re welcome!
Gain worldwide recognition for your work by entering the most prestigious juried competitions in visual communications. Since 1959, Communication Arts has published the best in visual communications from around the world. Ask any creative director which competitions rank as the most influential, and they’ll place Communication Arts at the top of the list.
Communication Arts has six juried competitions that cover the entire field of visual communications. With winning entries published both in print and online, art and creative directors, graphic designers, Web designers, copywriters, photographers and illustrators find these competitions a priority for worldwide promotion and a valuable resource for potential clients and colleagues.
HOW’s In-House Design Awards recognize the best creative work produced by designers doing in-house work for corporations, associations and organizations. Submissions are evaluated by business category to ensure that a broad range of design work is represented.
PRIZES:
- BEST OF SHOW Winner scores a free trip to HOW DESIGN LIVE 2016 (includes: round-trip airfare, hotel and conference registration), plus an award to be presented at the conference.
- BEST OF SHOW Winner will enjoy a 2-page spread in the Winter Issue of HOW.
- All Outstanding Achievement and Merit Winners will receive a $100 discount on any HOW Design Live 2016 registration.
- All Winners (Best of Show, Outstanding Achievement and Merit Winners) will:
– See their work in HOW’s Winter 2015 issue
– Be announced in a feature article on HOWDesign.com and featured in its online gallery
– Be formally announced in the HOW eNewsletter
– Be announced via social media
– Be featured on Pinterest throughout the year
– Receive an exclusive Digital Seal to be used to promote your win
– Receive a press release template for use in promoting your win
– Receive a complimentary copy of the Winter 2015 issue of HOW.
Lilla Rogers’ Global Talent Search
This competition has generated huge excitement for the past three years. With entries from all over the world, the variety is fantastic and entrants often get spotted by agents and art directors long before the winner is chosen.
The winner of the 2015 Global Talent Search will win a package of development and income-generating opportunities guaranteed to put a rocket under their career.
PRIZES
- FROM LILLA ROGERS STUDIO
Two years’ international representation by Lilla Rogers Studio
- FROM MIDWEST-CBK
A segment of the artist’s own product in either CBK (our Home Decor line) or Midwest Seasons (our Gift line), for distribution to retailers across the US.
- FROM STUDIO M
A license for Garden Products with Studio M, the new artful home and garden division of Magnet Works, Ltd. The Director of Product Development will personally work with the winner throughout the development process to give them a better understanding of how a product line is conceptualized, developed, and marketed in the Specialty Gift Industry.
A special feature in the fantastic Where Women Create Business magazine for the winner. This is a fantastic opportunity for the winner to raise your profile and get noticed.
- FROM DEMDACO
The chance to develop a unique image to reproduce as an ArtHeart. The winner’s name will be marketed on the hang tag and in Demdaco’s wholesale catalog.
- FROM GALISON
Five products of the winner’s choice from Galison or Mudpuppy.
- FROM BADGE BOMB
1:1 consultation (via Skype) with Lauren Hay on on how to create both button and magnet art as small as 1” round. Lauren is co-owner and creative director of Badge Bomb, who manufactures tiny pieces of art in the USA and sells them around the planet. The winner will also receive a free button magnet set from Badge Bomb featuring their own art with the possibility of a licensing opportunity.
- FROM BLUE Q
goodie bag of lovely fun things from Blue Q!
- FROM NICKELODEON
1-1 creative career consultation (via Skype/telephone) with Noël Claro, Creative Director at Nickelodeon (Noel is also a Professor at Parsons).
- FROM OOPSY DAISY
3 year license with Oopsy Daisy for a collection of 6-15 designs by the winner, to include products in wall art, growth charts, night lights and wall decals categories.
An incredible opportunity to design a gift wrap collection for Madison Park Greetings!
- FROM PRINT & PATTERN
A major feature on the Print & Pattern blog. The winner is sure to get noticed on this prestigious site.
You definitely don’t want to miss this competition! With a low entry fee and the chance for your work to be seen by agents and art directors everywhere, you have nothing to lose.
Print Magazine hosts a variety of annual contests in different categories. One of the most exciting competitions coming up soon is the Wearable Design Awards.
That T-shirt you designed and now sell in your shop. Those buttons you created as part of a client’s brand campaign. A health and fitness tracking device you designed for a company.
What do all of these have in common?
You can wear them.
And you can enter them into Print’s all-new Wearable Design Awards.
Whether it’s a wearable you created for yourself, for self-promotional purposes, or for a client, if it represents your best work in wearables (and you can bear to take it off long enough to snap a picture), Print wants to see it. Send them your most eye-catching, innovative work today!
PRIZES
- The Best of Show winner will be featured in Print magazine.
- The Winners from each category, including the Best of Show, will be recognized in a public gallery on PrintMag.com, a site that receives over 3 million visits annually.
- The gallery containing the Winners will be promoted in Print’s design newsletter, which reaches nearly 80,000 subscribers.
Minted has a ton of ongoing competitions, such as the fabulous For Art’s Sake, which invites all artists to submit their work with no artistic restrictions as long as the work is reproducible on paper. A dream come true!
PRIZES
1ST PLACE: $3000, 2ND PLACE: $1500, 3RD PLACE: $750, 4TH – 20TH PLACE: $200
Special Awards: $500 – $250 each. Editor’s Picks: $150 each. All winning designs receive a 10% commission on top of the cash prize!
We hope that this helps get your creative juices flowing. By entering one of these life changing competitions you’re sure to take your art and design to the next level!