YOUR CREATIVITY IS NEEDED >>>

Remember when you used to write on your dolls' shirts with Magic Markers? There they were all lined up on the bed, and Barbie had the words "I'm With Stupid" written on her shirt with an arrow pointing to the Cabbage Patch doll, with the other passive-aggressive little stuffed animal children hiding their eyes.

Yep, you've always been strange.

But the point of this is that there are better venues for your art.

Tacoma Art Place - the ultra-cool non-profit art center that provides access to equipment and training for all levels of creativity and budgets - is holding a T-shirt contest aimed at Tacoma's creative community. The Hilltop art center wants an ultra-cool Tacoma Art Place T-shirt.

If that appeals to you - and it should because you're creative and could use the $250 prize money - then read the rules that Tacoma Art Place provided after the break.

Design Guidelines

• Your design should be inspired by Tacoma Art Place or the mission of Tacoma Art Place.
• Your design can only be on the front OR the back of the shirt.
• You may submit up to three designs, but they must be submitted as separate entries.
• Your design must be wholly original. By submitting a design you are guaranteeing that you hold rights to everything in it, and that it does not contain any copyright material. Copyrighted material includes items found on the Internet, unless clearly marked as published under a creative commons (cc) license.

Designs will be judged on the following criteria:

• Concept/originality
• Captures spirit of TAP mission
• Striking and recognizable design
• Visibility - eye-catching and visible from a reasonable distance
• Completeness of design - must be ready for print
• Feasibility/must be easy to reproduce

Design Specifications

• It's best if you create your design in Photoshop or Illustrator or another professional design program. If you use another means to make your design, such as collage, your submission should be a pdf, tiff, jpeg, or png, or ai. The electronic entry should be no more than 2MB. We'll ask you for higher res files if you win. We suggest 300 dpi for the original file.
• Send it to info@TacomaArtPlace.org
• Your design should contain a maximum of one (1) color (plus the shirt color).
• Feel free to use the Photoshop or Illustrator T-Shirt templates here: Template.psd | Template.ai, especially if placement of graphic is important. Otherwise, the design will be considered as intended to be centered on the T-shirt.
• Your design can only be on the front or back of shirt of the shirt, and recommended to fit within the printable area shown on the templates. It is a 10" wide x 13" high rectangular area.
• Remember to suggest the color for the shirt.

Submission Agreement

• You must be 18 years or older to submit. If you're younger you can still make a design, but it must be submitted on your behalf by a parent or guardian.
• Tacoma Art Place will have first printing right rights to the winning design. By submitting you agree that if your design wins, it can be used by Tacoma Art Place on a t-shirt and other promotional items, including TAP's website and for sale at TAP.
• The winner will receive a prize of $250.
• We reserve the right to make adjustments to the winning design. You must submit your design by midnight April 16, 2010
• Entries will be judged by a panel of respected artists. We'd like to thank them:

1. Stephanie Stebich, Director, Tacoma Art Museum. http://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/
2. Stan Shaw, Principal, Stan Shaw Illustration. http://www.drawstanley.com/
3. Lynn Di Nino, Di Nino Fabrications, http://www.lynndinino.com/

• The winner will be announced on April 30, 2010.
• Board members of Tacoma Art Place are not eligible.
• By submitting you are agreeing to all contest rules.

For more information, call Tacoma art Place at 253.238.1006.