Let's Talk Paper - Competitions
CTI’s Creativity Contest

Deadline: Ongoing

CTI asks creatives, “What saved your creativity?” for their competition in conjunction with their new whimsical promotional piece, Our deepest sympathies for the death of your creativity. You are invited to tell your own unique tale of stubborn clients, unreasonable budgets and tapped-out creativity that led to your creative death and resurrection.

For more information and registration for the competition, go to www.thepapermill.com/death.

The PAPERWORKS Contests

Deadline: Quarterly

Neenah knows you’ve done the work and now they want to reward designers, printer representatives and their paper distributors in their PAPERWORKS Letterhead and Text and Cover Contests. Added July 1, 2009, there’s a new category for digitally printed work – a national winner will be selected from the year’s entries who receives $1000. For more information and registration forms for both competitions, go to www.neenahpaper.com/contestforms/.

The Strathmore Show

2009 Quarterly Deadlines: March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31

This prestigious design competition is for letterheads and identity systems produced on Strathmore’s premium writing grades. Entries may be submitted by designers, printers, merchants and Mohawk representatives on behalf of their customers. Each quarter, the first 25 designers who enter the letterhead contest receive a special gift.

Printers of the Year

Deadline: February 12, 2010

Sappi’s Printers of the Year awards are regarded as the world’s most respected accolade of excellence in printed communications. Gold winners in each category – the best of the best – will receive up to $20,000 in design support of the printer’s marketing and brand initiatives. Get full details at Sappi Fine Papers North America.

Design Edge Canada Regional Design Awards

Deadline: March 1, 2010

Show Canada what you’re made of and see how your work stacks up against other work in this premiere design competition. They’ve divided the country into eight regions, and you compete within your own geographic area. Top designers from outside your region will judge your work, while the judge from your region will critique work from the other zones. Then, the best-of-the-best will be highlighted with special recognition.

PRINT’s Regional Design Annual

Deadline: March 1, 2010

This design annual is the most comprehensive survey of graphic design in the United States – and one of the biggest issues to hit the graphic design industry each year. Winning entries will be featured in the December 2010 issue of PRINT. Any printed communication that appeared or was published in the U.S. between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 is eligible.

HOW Promotion Design Awards

Deadline: March 5, 2010

HOW spotlights the best work developed to promote design and creative services firms, freelancers—or their clients. Winners will be featured in the October 2010 issue of HOW magazine, and one Best of Show winner will receive a trip to the 2011 HOW Design Conference. Full contest rules, prizes and entry forms can be found at www.howdesign.com/competitions.

PRINT’s Regional Design Annual

Deadline: March 1, 2010

This design annual is the most comprehensive survey of graphic design in the United States – and one of the biggest issues to hit the graphic design industry each year. Winning entries will be featured in the December 2010 issue of PRINT. Any printed communication that appeared or was published in the U.S. between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 is eligible.

AIGA 50/50 of 2009

Deadline: March 5, 2010
AIGA’s 50/50 Competition (50 Books/50 Covers) opens for entries December 15, 2009. This time-honored competition aims to identify the 50 best-designed books and book covers that have been designed, produced and used in the marketplace between January 1 and December 31, 2009, as chosen by distinguished jurors. See the AIGA Web site for complete details.
AIGA 365/31 Competition

Deadline: March 5, 2010
AIGA: 365 Annual Design Competition 31 opens for entries December 15, 2009. The selections in this annual competition represent the best work across all disciplines of communication design and strategy, as chosen by a distinguished jury of design peers. Your work must be designed, produced and used in the marketplace between January 1 and December 31, 2009. See the AIGA Web site for complete details.

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Neographics 2010 Power Of Print Competition

Deadline: March 15, 2010

All submissions for this Graphic Arts Association competition must have been produced between February 1, 2009 and January 31st 2010. The judging guidelines separate criteria for each of the three award levels. The winning companies will be celebrated during the award exhibition, ceremony and dinner on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at the Union League, Philadelphia, PA.

2010 Product of Excellence Awards

Deadline: March 26, 2010

The Binding Industries Association (BIA) announced its call for entries to the nation’s only binding and custom loose-leaf competition. All winners will be listed in a special section of The Binding Edge, which has a distribution of over 12,000 readers. For complete details, please visit www.bindingawards.com.

Communication Arts Photography Annual

Deadline: March 26, 2010
Any photograph first printed or produced within the last twelve months prior to the deadline is eligible. Selected by a nationally representative jury of distinguished designers, art directors and photographers, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Photography Annual and on commarts.com. Go to www.commarts.com/competitions/photography for complete details.
Show Us Your Munki Contest

Deadline: Monthly until March 31, 2010

Make a sidesplitting video with ColorMunki as a prominent “character” and submit it on the X-Rite YouTube channel. Every month, prizes will be awarded to videos with the most views: $50 (to buy your Munki a drink or two), $150 (to take your favorite Munki to dinner), and $500 (to take your Munki away for the weekend). All monthly winners are eligible for the grand prize of $2,500 awarded at the end of the contest in March.

HOW InHOWse Design Awards

Deadline: April 15, 2010

Enter your best corporate work in the third annual In-HOWse Design Awards. If you win, they’ll highlight your work and your name in the February 2011 issue of HOW magazine. Plus, you’ll get three HOW 2011 Design Conference registrations, $500 HOW Books gift certificate to be redeemed at the 2011 conference bookstore, and more.

2010 Wally Awards
Deadline: April 30, 2010
Three winners will be chosen by an independent panel of distinguished industry professionals. A fourth Designer’s Choice winner will be chosen via separate online voting. The Wally Awards program is open to all projects created on YUPO Synthetic Papers that have not been previously submitted.
Mohawk Show 11

Deadline: May 31, 2010

Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc. has released the Mohawk Show 11 call for entries in the form of an oversized collectable poster. Posters can be ordered online. Every year, the company receives hundreds of submissions from all over the world. Four Best of Show winners and one special category winner will each take home $5,000.

Adobe Design Achievement Awards

Deadline: June 4, 2010

The Adobe Design Achievement Awards, which showcases individual and group projects created with industry-leading Adobe creative software, honors the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from the world’s top institutions of higher education.