BRIEFS

Album Re-Covering

You have collected an array of homemade CDs that other people have recorded, designed and distributed themselves. Due to the lo-fi nature of this process many of them are visually unappealing or dated, despite some of the music being surprisingly listenable.

 Taking influence from classic and current album cover art, re-design the front cover of these albums in a way that better describes the albums content and would grant them a new lease of life. 

Where possible contact the original creator to show them the finished product. Try and gain permission to redistribute the CDs or encourage them to do so using new design. 

Board Game

Working collaboratively with Rowena, design and create a functioning illustrated board game that could be sold in a shop such as Travelling Man. It should include a board, character pieces, cards, an instruction manual and a box and would be of professional enough to pitch as a prototype. The game should have a theme or topic, which is completely open to discussion. 

Cat Craft Cafe/Studio

Working collaboratively, produce a plausible business model for a combined craft cafe and upstairs studio space with the potential addition of live-in cats. Explore the possibilities of menus, merchandise, craft workshops, events and a gallery space. Create branding and investigate potential legal, logistical and financial difficulties. 

Sandwich Board/Zine Handout

Create a zine of unrestricted content and roughly 16 pages that suitably represents me and my practice. Print 100 copies of said zine and hand them out for free in the street wearing a sandwich board of my own design. Do the same at Thoughtbubble, but perhaps without the sandwich board, offering the zine to attendees and exhibitors as a tool for networking. 

Musical Comics

Create a series of comics to be read whilst listening to a specific song. The comic should match the pacing of the song and provide visual enhancement to it. Experiment with different genres of music, mostly lyric heavy but potential for abstract instrumental accompaniment. Also explore using musical soundtracks. 

Toy Theatre

Make a functioning toy theatre from card. It could be based on a specific show or use made up characters. The functionality should be demonstrated in a video in the vain of a puppet show. Pitch the sale of the theatre to the toy theatre shop in Convent Garden.

Phonebooths

Think of different ways to repurpose telephone booths that are no longer used. Ideas may range in feasibility. Illustrate each idea with annotations and print them into a small book, 16 pages, 10 different ideas. Send the booklet to as many councils as is realistically possible. 

Film Posters

Create regular posters for the film society, for screenings or to go on the noticeboard and promote it. 

RSA Moving Pictures

Use one of the two selected audio clips and you may not re-order the content or further edit the transcript in order to suit your work

Your final submission must be the full length of the audio clip (1:00 minute)

Your submission should combine clarity with attention to detail and wit, aiming to make the content 'come alive' and introduce a new audience to the RSA and its renowned lecture and public events programme. Deadline 4th Feb/5th March £25/£35

47th World Gallery of Cartoons - Skopje 2016

Dear friends cartoonists, you are invited to take part on  The 47th WORLD GALLERY OF CARTOONS Skopje 2016!

Some of you have already been part of this renowned event and you are familiar with its propositions, but just to remind you: following our dedication of creating and preserving the art on paper, only original works (cartoons, satirical drawings and comics) will be considered in the selection process, and they should be sent to our address:      

OSTEN – WORLD GALLERY OF CARTOONS

8.Udarna Brigada 2, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia

…No later than 31 March 2016!!!

In this, 46th edition of the WORLD GALLERY OF CARTOONS Skopje 2016, as always, we are sure that jury members will have hard work to do while judging the works of the cartoonists who can win one of the following awards:

FIRST AWARD for Cartoon

FIRST AWARD for Satiric Drawing

FIRST AWARD for Comic / Strip

10 SPECIAL AWARDS (Plaque)

AWARD CICO (for Macedonian Cartoonist)

The jury will judge in April 2016, and the opening of the exhibition of the 46th WORLD GALLERY OF CARTOONS Skopje 2016 and the official announcement of the awards will take place on 26th May 2016 at OSTEN Gallery, Skopje. 

FREE

The Book Illustration Competition

To enter the competition you will need read War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and illustrate three different scenes and a binding design, then submit them via the competition website by 9am GMT on 18 January 2016.  Late entries will not be considered. Your illustrations must be PORTRAIT, not landscape. Please read the document below very carefully before starting work. Your entry should be finished artwork.Entrants should also design and submit a binding to accompany the three illustrations. The binding design should be inspired by the book’s overall tone and themes or by an appropriate scene from the book. Please read the two documents below about Folio bindings very carefully before beginning work on it and ensure your design fits the size of the layout supplied.

Macmillian Prize

All entrants must submit:

1. Pencil roughs or sketches for a children's picture book – cover to cover – including text or a clear indication of the story line.

2. Finished artwork for at least four double-page spreads, or at least three spreads and a front cover.

Entrants should bear in mind what is appropriate for the child reader.

Length: Picture books should be 32 pages long, including the front and back endpapers, a title page and a copyright page. Books with novelty elements (e.g. flaps, fold-out pages) should not exceed 24 pages. Pop-up books should not exceed six double-page spreads.

Size: The page size of the finished book should not exceed 300mm in width or height

The book may be fiction or non-fiction. The entrant may:

a. devise their own text/story or

b. collaborate with a writer or

c. use a traditional story (e.g. a fairy tale)

N.B. A published text that is in copyright would not be eligible.

The text may be typed or clearly handwritten.

Size: Artwork may be prepared either to the same size, or up to 30% larger than the page size of the finished book. Corner marks to show the trim (i.e. the edge of the final printed page) should be clearly indicated outside the area of the actual artwork.

Bleed: Allow at least 5mm extra (after reduction) outside the trim if the artwork is to come to the edge of the printed page. Avoid putting important details within 5mm of the edge of the page, or where illustration crosses the spine.

Medium: Any medium may be used, but it is advisable to avoid luminous paint, fragile collage or other media that will not reproduce well.

Lettering: Any lettering should be in black, and should be put onto a transparent overlay, not directly onto the artwork. 

Entrants should bear in mind that extremely fragile artwork may be damaged.

While every care is taken with all submitted work, Macmillan cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage

The competition is for a series of outstanding illustrations that show that the artist understands how to match pictures to text. The pictures should also demonstrate the entrant’s grasp of narrative, pacing and characterisation.

The judges will focus on the quality of the illustrations rather than the standard of the writing. Good stories are welcome, but the text will not be the main criterion for judging.

Entrants should supply a well-produced rough dummy, which clearly shows how the style and layout of the illustrations contribute towards the development of the story and characterisation. It is important to avoid monotonous layouts with little contrast in composition or colour. Too many words can overwhelm the illustration.

The judges are ultimately looking for high-quality illustrations, suitable for children’s books, which are considered to be an original contribution to the field.

Deadline not yet released but last year was 8th May

Fumetto Comix Competition

Each year, Fumetto – International Comix-Festival Lucerne holds a competition to give comic creators the opportunity to compare their work, present it to a broader public and to exchange views with others.

The competition's theme 2016 is Temptations – Everyday we are confronted with countless temptations. When do we allow ourselves to be seduced by them – or manipulated even – and which allurements should we best stay away from? And how free are we to even resist them? Do they lead us into sweet happiness or bitter ruin? 

Deadline: 4th of january 2016 (date of postmark)

Application: apply here (user number), print and enclose application

Format: A4 or A3 (other formats enclose application will be disqualified)

Form: only comics (stories in picture form), no digital entries

Number of pages: maximum 4 (only 1 comic-story)

Categories: Cat. 1: 18 years or older / Cat. 2: 13 to 17 years / Cat. 3: up to 12 years of age (reference date is the deadline)

Toons Mag

We are happy to announce that we are going to arrange an international cartoon contest on tOOns MaG. 

Theme: Women Rights. 

Deadline: 20 February 2016 

Size: A4, 300 DPI. 

Prizes:

1st place prize: Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch Medium and certificate. 

2nd place prize: Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch Small and certificate.

3rd place Prize: Wacom Intuos Pen Small and certificate.

And an additional 7 cartoonists will receive Honorable Mention Awards certificates. 

Rules: 

1. Any cartoonist can participate in this contest. 

2. The cartoons should be original and must not be formerly published. Copied workes are not accepted. 

3. Participants may send a maximum of 5 works, in black and white or color, and preferably without text. In case of including a text, it must be in English. 

4. A group of International jury will make a selection out of the submitted cartoons which are to be exhibited and published in www.toonsmag.com. 

5. The International Jury members will be considered as participants in the exhibition and represent their own countries. Their names will be automatically added to the List of Participants (They will participate only in the exhibition and not contest as a part of the honorary participation). 

6. Cartoons can be used for any promotion purposes (Printing, Websites, Newspapers, Calendar, Posters, Invitation cards etc.) without the permission of the cartoonist and without any payment. 

7. Cartoons have to be sent to the following email address: wr@toonsmag.com 

with Cartoonist’s recent C.V. , address (in doc. format) and a personal photo. 

8. tOOns MaG reserves the rights to change the date or any other condition of the contest.

We will publish the results of contest on March, 8th, 2016, International women’s day. 

For further information please visit www.toonsmag.com