Call for Entries
Signs, Systems, and Letterform Marks (SSL)
UDA Annual Int’l Design Competition 2024
Submit before Monday, March 18
Award Announcement on Monday, April 29
Signs, systems, and letterform marks visually express our behaviors, beliefs, and institutions. They alert us to potential hazards, lead us through physical environments, provide us with options, and represent the characteristics of organizations. Despite our diverse religious, political, social, and cultural backgrounds, universal signs, systems, and letterform marks have the potential to unite humanity through communication. Design students and professionals consistently update existing and develop fresh ones, establishing a common language accessible to all.
HONORARY JURORS
UDA invited internationally distinguished designers to serve as jurors of its annual International Design Competitions. Visit uniteddesigns.org to see our list of jurors.
DESIGN CATEGORIES
Please determine which category is most appropriate for your entry/entries:
1. Signs (visual representation through a pictorial, symbolic, or geometric form)
2. Systems (visual representation through 2 or more related elements, i.e., icon system)
3. Letterform Marks (visual representation that incorporates individual letterforms and/or words, i.e., logotypes, wordmarks, signature marks)
DESIGN AND SUBMISSION SPECIFICATION
Please follow this design specification. If you do not, we cannot guarantee your submission. You may only submit a vector image using the attached Adobe Illustrator template file, ‘Design Category_First Name Last Name_Title.’
Step 1. Place a color vector image in the center of the provided AI template. The sample is the approximate size.
Step 2. Fill out the description line at the bottom of the page: your file name and a short design description, and choose your status as a designer or a student.
Step 3. Use the following method for naming your file:
Filename: Design Category_First Name Last Name_Title
Examples: Sign_John Doe_Love, System_John Doe_Love, Letter_John Doe_Love
Step 4. Save your file as a PDF file (Acrobat 6 capability) with the ‘Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities’ and ‘Embed Page Thumbnails’ options checked.
Step 5. Submit your design (PDF file) and Entry Form (MS Excel file) via email to applyuda@gmail.com.
Step 6. Send your submission fee via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/udalliance. Please make sure you have the correct name and address.
SUBMISSION FEE
Professional Designers
– Single Entry: us$20
– Multiple Entries (Max 5) from one designer: us$60
Design Students
– Single Entry: us$10
– Multiple Entries (Max 5) from one student: us$30
– If a student’s instructor is a UDA member, a student can submit up to three entrees for free.
DEADLINES
Submission Deadline: Monday, March 18
Award Announcement: Monday, April 29
UDA will announce all awarded designs at www.uniteddesigns.org.
AWARD CERTIFICATE AND PUBLICATION
All winners receive an Award Certificate via email.
All winners are permanent collections of the UDA archive.
Copyright: The entrant is responsible for all copyright matters in the entry. All designs become the Collection of the United Designs Alliance. The United Designs Alliance reserves the right to use all entrants’ information and the right to publish, exhibit, or reproduce all designs entered for the competition.
