Illustration contests, photography contests, logo competitions, design competitions

Please bookmark us and subscribe to our RSS Feed to receive updates on monthly new FREE vectors.

Want to submit a link for everyone to see? Email us!

35th Annual Source Awards
Deadline: January 31, 2012
Prizes:
For Professionals-
• Crystal trophy in recognition of the project’s excellence and the application of Cooper Lighting products
• $2,000.00 cash award
• Local and national recognition through publicity and advertising
• Invitation to attend a lighting seminar of choice at the SOURCE-Cooper Lighting Center located in Peachtree City, Georgia (many seminars qualify for CEU/LEU credits)

For Students-
• Crystal trophy in recognition of the project’s conceptual design excellence and the application of Cooper Lighting products
• $1,500.00 cash award
• Invitation to attend a lighting seminar of choice (along with their faculty advisor) at the SOURCE-Cooper Lighting Center

The competition, which focuses on furthering the understanding, knowledge and function of lighting as a primary element in design, is open to all lighting designers, architects, engineers, professional designers and consultants who use Cooper Lighting fixtures in an interior or exterior design project. Students currently enrolled in any of these disciplines are also eligible to enter projects based on conceptual lighting designs utilizing Cooper Lighting fixtures, and are judged in a separate student category.

This year's competition will once again seek a creative use of fixtures providing energy-efficient design solutions in addition to standard projects.

Projects will be judged on the blending of aesthetics, creative achievement, and technical performance and to the degree which the lighting met project constraints and design concept goals.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Deadline: February 23, 2012
Prizes & Benefits:
• Share part of a £30,000 prize fund, with £10,000 for the overall winner.
• Receive worldwide coverage in print and digital media.
• Be invited to the world's most prestigious nature photography awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum, London.
• Have your image:
1. showcased in the Natural History Museum’s acclaimed annual exhibition, and toured nationally and internationally, reaching over 3 million visitors worldwide.
2. published within a hardback commemorative Portfolio book by the Natural History Museum and co-edition partners, and translated into at least four international languages.
3. published in BBC Wildlife Magazine.
4. enjoy international exposure through the Wildlife Photographer of the Year website - more than half a million page views were received on the day the winners were announced.

The search for the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 has begun.

American Illustration 31
Deadline: February 24, 2012
Prizes: The collection is juried exclusively by a panel of art directors who assign illustration. So, there's value in getting your work in front of creative people and experts who can hire you.

American Illustration presents the best images in a large-format, beautifully designed, hardcover annual for worldwide distribution.

The jury of design and publishing professionals selects illustrations from editorial, advertising, books, promotion, posters, video, student and unpublished work.

The books, objects of beauty and eagerly collected, are resources like no other with contact info, captions and complete creative credits that also honor the magazines, agencies, clients and creatives who assigned and utilized the winning images.

Renaissance Photography Prize 2012
Deadline: February 24, 2012
Prizes & Exhibition:
• Renaissance prize - £3,000 awarded to overall winner
• Calumet prize for best film entry - Nikon F6 camera worth £2,000
• Five category prizes - £500 best in category
• Twenty highly commended
• Exhibition - 100 finalists will be given a one week exhibition in Central London and be able to sell their work

The Renaissance Photography Prize is an international photography competition which raises money to support younger women with breast cancer. The competition is open to professional and amateur photographers worldwide, and 5 categories are there:
- Environment
- Expression
- Memory
- Perspective
- Disorientation

By entering, you get the chance to have your work judged by some of the top names in photography, and be exhibited in the prestigious Mall Galleries in the heart of London.

Harpers Wine and Spirit 2012 Design Awards
Deadline: February 24, 2012
Prizes: The winning result will be published in Harpers Wine & Spirit Design Issue in May 2012 which will be distributed at the London International Wine Fair & Distil. The awards are aimed at businesses that have recently re-designed or launched their drinks brand, or to agencies that represent a well designed and innovative product. Design is a key element for brand development and awareness, and Harpers wants businesses to gain the recognition they deserve. As in previous years, entries are invited from all areas of the drinks industry, and this year soft drinks and pre-mix categories are also included. Each product entered must either have been launched or designed in 2011, and the trade may enter a single product or range of products.

AZ Awards 2012
Deadline: March 1, 2012
Prizes: Winning designs and finalists will be featured in AZURE Magazine's Awards Annual, on newsstands Summer 2012. AZURE Magazine's international competition celebrating excellence in design is open for submissions. AZ Awards is open to designers, architects, manufacturers and clients. Like the magazine itself, the awards are multi-disciplinary, recognizing the contemporary inter-connectedness of architecture, landscape, interiors and product design.

2012 Bentley Student Design Competition
Deadline: March 6, 2012
Prizes:
• A $1,500 Scholarship (team based) to the High School/Technical School level
• A $2,000 Scholarship (team based) to the Community College/University/Collegiate level
• Recognition at their school or Bentley event
• A unique hand-crafted award trophy and award medal
• 10 seats of Bentley software for your school

The Bentley Student Design Competition recognizes innovative and technically advanced projects created by university, technical college, and high school students using Bentley software. Through their hands-on participation in this design work, the students acquire the software knowledge and hone the skills they’ll need as future members of the infrastructure community.

2012 D&AD Student Awards
Deadline: March 9, 2012
Prizes: The shortlisted entrants will be eligible to interview for the D&AD Graduate Academy, and the Student Award winner will receive a three-month paid placement at an Interbrand office.
Highly respected, and the most prestigious of their kind, the D&AD Student Awards offer upcoming graduates the opportunity to work on real world briefs, and win paid placements in some of the world's top firms and agencies.

This year, briefs cover specific areas of design and advertising and have been set forth by companies including Spotify, Coutts, Aviva, and Boots.

Interbrand is challenging students to create a behavior changing campaign around Peace One Day, a non-profit organization that works toward a Global Truce - an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence.

Unanimously adopted by the United Nations as 21 September - Peace Day, the organization is now working to institutionalize Peace Day around the world.

Students completing the Interbrand and D&AD brief must demonstrate that their idea works everywhere in the world, irrespective of cultural particularities.

Collaboration should be key to the solution and inspire the longevity and on-going effectiveness of Peace Day.

AIA NY Medal of Honor Redesign Competition
Deadline: March 15, 2012
Prizes: The finalists' designs will be exhibited at the Honors and Awards Luncheon, and at the Center for Architecture. The AIA New York Chapter announced a competition for the redesign of the Medal of Honor. Conferred by the chapter since 1914, the award recognizes an architect or firm of architects for distinguished work and high professional standing. The design competition is open to any architect, sculptor, artist, or student. The competition will be juried by a panel comprised of a sculptor, an architect, and a historian.

HOW Promotion Design Awards 2012
Deadline: March 19, 2012
Prizes: BEST OF SHOW scores a FREE TRIP to the 2013 HOW DESIGN CONFERENCE (round-trip airfare, hotel and conference registration) and an award to be presented at the conference.
All Winners will see their work in HOW’s OCTOBER 2012 SELF-PROMOTION DESIGN ANNUAL and get a $100 discount to the 2013 HOW Design Conference.

HOW's longest-running design competition, it is the only awards program to specifically recognize outstanding promotional work-whether it's a self-promo to showcase a design firm's capabilities, a project that touts a client's goods or services, an announcement for a major life event or a student resume or portfolio.

HOW's Promotion Design Awards celebrates design work that's engaging, memorable and effective at moving the viewer toward action.


2012 BraunPrize
Deadline: March 31, 2012
Prizes: The 2012 BraunPrize will also see the establishment of national BraunPrize winners, highlighting the very best talent in individual countries. All winners will be announced at the BraunPrize ceremony on September 26, 2012, in Kronberg, Germany - the total prize money for the 2012 BraunPrize has been raised to $100,000.

In addition to the global design award, Braun is inaugurating a new sustainability award which will recognize design projects with a particularly strong focus on sustainable solutions for everyday life.

The Open Photo Contest
Deadline: March 31, 2012
Prizes: $50,000 up for grabs. The Open is comprised of two separate events:

SOLO
An online competition gallery of single images, where half of the finalists are selected by an expert panel of judges and the other half are driven by public voting, fueled by the major social media platforms. The Photographer of the Year and the category winners share $25,000US.

LIVE
A mind-blowing live competition in which 6 invited photographers choreograph the best images of their careers into 7-minute productions. The selected location for 2012 is Vancouver, Canada and the prize purse is $25,000US.

The Dieline Package Design Awards 2012
Deadline: April 2, 2012
Prizes: 38 winners across 12 different categories will be awarded a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place Dieline Award, and one special winner will receive a one-of-a-kind Best of Show award.

The Dieline Package Design Awards is a worldwide competition devoted exclusively to the art of brand packaging. Launched in 2009, The Dieline Package Design Awards quickly rose to be the nation's leading package design competition, with over 800 entries submitted from all over the world in its first year.

The awards are judged by a highly esteemed panel of 10 industry experts, and awarded based on quality of Creativity, Marketability, and Innovation. Debbie Millman, President Emeritus of AIGA and President of Design at Sterling Brands, serves as the chairman of the judges.

All entries must have been created, produced, or launched between Dec 1st, 2010 and Dec 31st, 2011.

The Conqueror Typographic Games 2012
Deadline: April 30, 2012
Prizes: Medalist will win two tickets to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In addition to the top prize VIP trip to the Olympic Games, there are customized Nike shoes for five Silver Medalists. Global exposure for all of the winners will include a special booklet distributed with an international design magazine and an exhibition in London in June 2012.

The top 50 designs for the "Typographic Games" will be judged by an international panel of designers in London in May 2012. Typographer Jean-François Porchez will head the jury of leading typographers and designers. Porchez designed five bespoke "Conqueror" typefaces as part of the "It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It" award-winning campaign, which re-launched the Conqueror brand in 2010.

Open to designers, printers, students and other creative professionals from around the world, the deadline is April 30, 2012 and entry is free. The only requirement is that the entries incorporate the phrase, "It's not what you win, but how you conquer it." Submissions can be entered and will be voted for online.

Photography Masters Cup
Deadline: May 25, 2012
Prizes: The 6th Annual Photography Masters Cup will present 105 title awards in 18 categories.The Professional and Amateur leagues are presented in parallel with the winners and nominees announced at the Photoshow.

Prizes include:
• Masters Cup Award Title
• Published in The PHOTO Paper Magazine
• Featured in Movie
• Showcased in the Winners Gallery
• International press and exposure

Celebrating its 6th year, Photography Masters Cup is the leading international award honoring color photography. The Photography Masters Cup is dedicated to the creativity and vision of the participating photographers and honors their passion with the highest achievements in color photography.

Ongoing Contests

T-Shirts Contests
Deadline: Ongoing
T-Shirt contest sites are a great way to put your graphic design and illustration techniques so you can win cash prizes. You also receive the T-shirts you use. Here is a list of Top 5 T-shirts Contests: www.threadless.com | www.teetonic.com | www.designbyhumans.com | www.allmightys.com

Photo Of The Day Photo Contest Hosted By Imaging Resources
Deadline: Ongoing
While there is no restriction on content, we do not display images that are not in good taste.
To ease our groaning in-box, please limit your photo submissions to two per month. (You can only win Photo of the Day once per month anyway.)

Kilozoom Weekly Photography Contest
Deadline: Ongoing weekly, on each Friday.
Eligibility: Open to anyone

L. Ron Hubbard's Illustrators of the Future
Deadline: Ongoing Quarterly
Open to new science fiction and fantasy artists worldwide. No entry fee. Entrants retain all rights. Judging by professional artists only. $1,500 in prizes each quarter. An entry shall consist of three illustrations done by the entrant in a black-and-white medium.

Elliott Erwitt: Twitter Contest
Entry deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Open to anyone.