Illustration Competition

Deadline: January 6, 2012

Introduce your work to the world. Enter the most prestigious illustration competition for creativity in illustration, the Communication Arts Illustration Competition. Any illustration first printed or produced from January 2011 through January 2012 is eligible. Selected by a nationally representative jury of distinguished designers, art directors and illustrators, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual and on commarts.com, assuring important exposure to the creators of this outstanding work. As a service to art directors, designers and art buyers, a comprehensive index will carry contact information of the illustrators represented.

CA’s Award of Excellence is one of the most-coveted awards in the industry. If chosen, winning places you in the highest ranks of your profession. Ask any creative director which competitions rank as the most influential and they'll place Communication Arts at the top of the list.

View Previous Winners


Download Entry Form


Any illustration first printed or produced from January 2011 through January 2012 is eligible. Entries may originate from any country. Explanation of the function in English is very important to the judges. Submission of entries acknowledges the right of Communication Arts to use them for publication and exhibition.

Illustration Competition Categories/Fees
These categories are judged by the Illustration jury and will appear in the Illustration Annual:
Advertising: (ads, posters, CDs, packaging, etc.) $35 single entry/$70 series
Books: (cover/jacket and/or interior, must be published) $35 single entry/$70 series
Editorial: (consumer or trade magazine, newspaper) $35 single entry/$70 series
For Sale: (poster, print, note paper, greeting card, licensing/stock, gallery sale, etc.) $35 single entry/$70 series
Institutional: (company/association publication, brochures, collateral, etc.) $35 single entry/$70 series
Motion/Animation: (animation for film, television, video or Web) $80 single entry/$160 series
Self-Promotion: (promotion for illustrators, creative firms and vendors) $35 single entry/$70 series
Unpublished: (commissioned but not published, personal or student work, etc.)$35 single entry/$70 series

Late Fees
Entries must be registered no later than Midnight (Pacific Time Zone), January 6, 2012. Entries registered after that date require a late fee of $10 per entry. No entries may be registered after January 20, 2012.

Each illustration is a single entry. A printed piece with several illustrations must have a dot or some other mark indicating which specific single illustration is to be judged. If a single illustration isn't indicated, the entry will be disqualified.

Campaigns or series are limited to five illustrations. If the entry has more than five illustrations, indicate which five are to be judged. If this isn't indicated, the entry will be disqualified.


How to Enter
Download Entry Form


All competition entries are processed through our online entry system. Printed Call-for-Entry forms are no longer used.

Before you begin the process of entering a competition, please have the following information and materials ready. This will make the process go quickly.

* - Your contact information for registration and notification.
* - Title and brief description of each project.
* - Any digital files you might want to submit saved as RGB (not CMYK) JPG format (maximum 1024 pixels wide X 768 pixels high @72dpi).


Entries can be submitted in the following formats:
Unmounted printed samples: ad tear sheets, pages or spreads, brochures, annual reports, posters, books, etc. (pieces over 18" x 24" must be submitted as digital files).
Digital files: RGB (not CMYK) JPG format with a maximum width of 1024 pixels and a maximum height of 768 pixels (72dpi). Digital files will be projected for the judges.
Motion/animation entries: Submit motion/animation entries on DVD NTSC (viewable on a standard DVD player) or mpeg files on CD-ROM. Include 4 seconds of black, no slates or bars. Single entries must be on individual disks. Series should be edited together on one disk with 2 seconds of black between each entry. Computer-based formats such as QuickTime or Flash should have a maximum screen size of 1024 x 768.

Please do not send any pieces of art you want returned. NO ENTRIES WILL BE RETURNED. No exceptions. CA is not responsible for damage or loss of any entry. All entrants grant Communication Arts the right to reproduce work selected in the Communication Arts Illustration Competition on the Communication Arts Web site and in materials used to promote the magazine and/or future related promotions.

Preparation of Packages
Send entries, unmounted, in flat packages only, no mailing tubes (they frequently arrive damaged). Address packages to Communication Arts Illustration Competition. Non-United States contestants should mark each package "Materials for Contest Entry. No Commercial Value." No provision will be made by CA for U.S. Customs or airport pickup. International entries should be sent by international courier. All entries must be received by the deadline date.

Forms and Entry Fees
After choosing a form of payment you will have access to PDF reports summarizing what you entered. If you chose to pay by check, you will have an invoice available for printing. If you chose to deliver entries via mail/courier, you will also have entry forms in PDF format that you will need to print, trim and attach to your entries. Tape an entry form to the back of each entry. If the entry is a print-based campaign, you will tape an entry form to each part of the campaign. Tape an entry form to the outside of each disk/video case. Multiple digital files may be placed on a single disk. Please tape all applicable entry forms one on top of the other so we can flip through them to verify the contents of the disk.

Make checks payable to Communication Arts. Non-United States contestants must send an International Money Order or a check in U.S. funds drafted on a U.S. bank. Please include the check with your entries if you are delivering them via mail/courier. If your payment is being sent under a separate cover, please send your entries now, with a note saying that the check is coming under separate cover. If you submit all of your entries online please write the Communication Arts invoice number on the check. The invoice number can be found in the Entry Forms PDF file. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Charges for your entry fees will appear on your statement as “(Commarts)”. Credit card charges can only be done online. We do accept wire transfers, however there is a fee of $25 (U.S.) to cover fees charged by the banks to process the transfer. Please contact our office at (650) 326-6040 (9-5 PST) for instructions.

Mail entries to:
Communication Arts Illustration Competition
110 Constitution Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025-1107 U.S.A.
(Via United States Mail, FedEx, UPS, etc. Entrants submitting from outside the U.S. please use an international courier)

Notification of Acceptance
Only accepted entries will be notified two months after the deadline date. Complete credits and any additional material necessary for reproduction will be requested at that time. No additional fees are required. Award of Excellence certificates for the illustrator, client and art director of each accepted illustration will be mailed in one month after the publication date.

Questions
If you have any other questions or want to request a call for entries, you can reach us by:
Email: competition@commarts.com
Fax: (650) 326-1648
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