Graphic Design Competition and Exhibition

Eligibility

The LAND Fine Arts Competition is open to any student enrolled in a credit class at a public Michigan two-year college during the 2025 calendar year.

Each entry MUST be sponsored by a faculty member (full-time or adjunct) who has reviewed the student’s work and attests that it is appropriate for the contest criteria and competitive rigor at the state level. Any work submitted without faculty sponsorship will be rejected.

Note: This competition is designed to highlight the artwork of our community college level students in their first years of college education in the visual arts. Therefore, students with extensive art experience, such as a professional artist, years of making/selling their artwork, past art education or degrees, or faculty taking art courses are not eligible to enter.

Theme

There is no theme for the Graphic Design Competition. This competition is designed to showcase  the best work of the students regardless of theme, concept, or media.

Specifications

Entries may be any appropriate Graphic Design:

• Single Design
• Website Design
• UI and Interactive Design
• Advertising and Marketing Design
• Illustration
• Logo Design
• Book Cover or Album Design
• Publication Design
• Typography
• Motion Graphics and Animation
• Other – Approved by Graphic Design Instructor (Questions: jjenna.andrews@mcc.edu)

There are NO SIZE LIMITS to the artwork in any category.

The Juror for 2025: Adam Dekraker, Professor at Kendall College of Art & Design. Bio coming soon.

All artwork submitted for jurying must be the student’s original artwork. Copies of other artists’ work are not acceptable. The LAND Fine Art committee retains the right to reject or remove any work deemed not original or that does not meet the stated specifications.

Deadline

The deadline for the 2024 competition is 11:59 pm, Friday, December 19, 2025.

Submission Criteria

Number of entries is limited to 2 per student.

All entries are submitted through this Google docs form: Click Here

Talk to your faculty about the best format to use for your design to be submitted.

Each student submission must include a completed entry form with jpegs/PDF of the entered artwork.

• Title
• Artist First Initial and Last Initial
• Student Number
• For entries with more than one image, add a number at the end (1, 2, 3, etc)

For example, if Jjenna Andrews submits a piece called “Ode to Me,” the label should look like this:

Ode to Me-JA123456

If there are more than one image of the same entry, the file name should be in this format: Ode to Me-JA123456-1

Each Website Design, Motion Graphics and Animation, UI and Interactive Design or Advertising and Marketing Design (where appropriate) must provide a url for the design to be viewed.

Display of Art Submissions

All accepted Designs will be included in the LAND Student Art & Design Exhibition online exhibition. 

Selected artworks will be invited to be included in the on site conference Student Art & Design Exhibition. 

If there is any questions about format for submission, please feel free to contact Jjenna: jjenna.andrews@mcc.edu

Judging

Entries will be juried by an art professional to determine prize winners. The Juror for the 2025 exhibition is Adam Dekraker, professor at Kendal College of Art & Design.

The LAND Graphic Design Competition will award a certificate and cash to 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each category. There will also be Honorable Mentions which will receive a certificate only.

Criteria

Entries will be evaluated for the originality, creativity, quality of the concept, design and craftsmanship. The Following types of designs are not eligible for entry and will not be accepted:

• AI generated designs
• Designs that are replications/copies of an original artwork/design (Designs conceptually/visually inspired by other artworks are welcome,)
• Designs that qualify as copyright infringement and/or plagiarism 

The LAND Fine Art/Design committee retains the right to reject or remove any work deemed not original or that does not meet the specifications above.

Copyright

Students retain the copyright to their submissions to the LAND Fine Arts Competition. However, students need to grant LAND the right to reproduce any submission on its website or any other LAND publication regardless of medium of publication.

Artist/Designer Release

By submission of designs, the student artist grants permission to LAND to reproduce (without further remuneration) any selected artwork. The student also attests to the originality of the design submitted.