The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) has hosted a design challenge for years. Students were asked to submit original works of digital art that could be used as screensavers. Twenty winners were chosen, and those images were used as screensavers on thousands of student laptops across the state each year. This was a way to celebrate the varied ways students could create with the MLTI technology and share with others across the state.
This year, the MLTI still wants to encourage students to create digital art and share it widely, however instead of a screensaver challenge, we will be hosting a T-shirt Design Competition. A panel of judges will narrow the submissions down to five designs, and then we will ask Maine students and educators to vote for their top choice. The winning T-shirt will be printed for the 1000+ attendees of the 16th Annual MLTI Student Conference, which will be held on Thursday, May 23rd at the University of Maine in Orono. Additionally, based on design submissions, up to 20 students will be selected to receive free registration to the conference.
Eligibility:
- Any student who attends an elementary, middle, or high school in Maine during the 2018-2019 school year is eligible to enter the competition.
- Students may work in teams, but the design must be an original piece of artwork created only by eligible students.
Submission Guidelines:
- All submissions must be an original artwork. Any use of any photo, drawing, images or elements created by any other person (other than the MLTI logo) is strictly prohibited and will result in disqualification.
- Please adhere to the guidelines for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regarding copyright and plagiarism: Even if you have permission to use a work or if the work is in the public domain, the work that you submit to this competition must represent a new, original work. Additionally, changing the medium of an original work is not considered transformative. For example, a painting or drawing of a photograph taken from the Internet or a magazine is not considered original and should not be submitted.
- Each student or team may only submit one entry.
- The artwork should be sized to 81/2” x 11”.
- Students may hand-draw or digitally design their artwork.
- Digitally designed artwork should be 300 dpi, RGB color, and the fonts must be embedded.
- Submitted artwork must incorporate the phrase “MLTI Student Conference” and the year “2019” or “’19”.
- Students must incorporate the MLTI logo into their design: downloadable files or by copying and pasting this link: http://bit.ly/MLTI_logos.
- The design should reflect this year’s conference theme and include the text: “#Create4ME.” We are celebrating the power of students to create innovative solutions to challenges in Maine or the spirit of entrepreneurism that is found in many Maine communities. Technology often plays a role in that creation, but doesn’t need to be depicted explicitly.
- Optional: Students may submit an artist statement (less than 200 words) with their design to help bring clarity to their adherence to the theme.
- Acceptable file types: PDF or JPEG high resolution.
- Color: T-shirts are one solid color with one color ink, and the student can suggest the color for each.
- The t-shirt design must fit on the front of the t-shirt.
- Signed Release: Each student must sign this release and include it in their submission. If the link above doesn’t work, please copy and paste this link: http://bit.ly/MLTI2019T-shirtDesignCompetitionRelease
Judging Criteria
- Guidelines: Work clearly adheres to the submission guidelines.
- Theme: Work has represented the theme “Create for ME” or “Create4ME”.
- Principles of Design: Work incorporated the following elements of art: balance, emphasis, movement, pattern, repetition, proportion, rhythm, variety, and unity.
Timeline:
- Competition opens: February 5th, 2019
- T-shirt designs due: April 12th, 2019 (no late entries will be accepted)
- Finalists selected and notified: April 18th, 2019
- Voting opens: April 19th, 2019
- Voting closes: April 30th, 2019
- Winner Announced: May 1st, 2019
Ready to enter the competition?
Submit your entry with this form or copy and paste this link:
http://bit.ly/MLTITshirtCompetitionSubmission2019
For more information or answers to questions, please contact Amanda Nguyen, Digital Learning Specialist at Amanda.Nguyen@maine.gov