Poster Design Contest

This Year's Theme:

Print: The Original Social Media.

Our goal is to drive interest in Graphic Communications job pathways and inspire thought around design reproduction that jumps off the screen!

You are invited to bring your creativity and talent to the Poster Design Contest by designing a poster inspired by this year’s contest theme. Use strong visuals, layout, and messaging to create a design that captures attention and comes to life in print.

Your Future in Graphic Communications

Purpose:

Winning designs for the secondary and post-secondary category each receives $500 cash prize!

Design Direction:

See the listed requirements below that must be incorporated into your design for eligibility.

Bright and highly visible colors are great! Assume your design will be printed on a white background, so utilize a full 4-color design. The FGCE reserves the right to adjust any element of the design for print production.
The size of the QR should be at least 2cmx2cm to be scannable.
Students are allowed to submit multiple designs for a contest; HOWEVER, you must submit each design separately. If multiple entries are submitted together, only the first design will be judged.

Poster design entires must include the following elements:

A message/design that relates to the theme: Print: The Original Social Media
The Foundation for Graphic Communication Education name
The FGCE logo
QR Code
Student poster designs must include the following text:
Scholarship Eligibility Requirements:
- Must be enrolled in a graphic communications program or related field at a U.S. technical school or college
- Must be a high school senior or graduate, or post-secondary student
- Must be able to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Scholarship Applications Due May 1, 2028

Submission Requirements:

Final Poster Size: 11 x 17 in tall. Must include crop marks plus ¼” bleed
Submissions must be formatted as a high-resolution PDF: image 300dpi in 4/color process (CMYK), file types other than PDF’s are ineligible
The winner of the contest must submit all PDF files required for reproduction. Files become the property of The FGCE.
Use of AI: Students are highly encouraged to generate original concepts, artwork and editing using the digital and analog tools available to them. We appreciate the use of AI as a resource in the creative process but expect submissions to be created by individuals tapping into their own library of skills. Artwork/designs extracted from the internet with no obvious artistic image editing will be disqualified.

Due Date:

PDF entries are due by Friday, February 19, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. PT

Judging will be in March, and the winner will be notified by April 2, 2027.

Naming Your Final PDF Files:

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: Firstname_lastname_schoolname_poster_2026_HighSchool

POST SECONDARY STUDENTS: Firstname_lastname_schoolname_poster_2026_PostSecondary

Disclaimer and Contest Rules:

All Design Contest Files submitted become the property of The FGCE and could be used to promote our Student and Educator engagement, which includes outbound communications about The FGCE Scholarship and Grant programs. We may request native files. Attribution to the designer will be given on all uses unless otherwise requested. Design file imagery could be applied to social media, websites, printed materials, t-shirts and other communication and fundraising products.

Entries submitted with missing elements and/or incorrect specifications will be disqualified.

Contest will close Feb. 19th, 2027.

Judging will begin March 2027 and the winner will be notified by April 2nd, 2027.

If you have any questions, please email dianne.bullas@thefgce.com or call 503-572-6610.

2026–2027 Design Contests

Contests Are Open!

Deadline: February 19th , 2027

Review: Begins March 2027

Winners Announced: April 2nd, 2027

AT A GLANCE

Design Elements

Poster design entries must include the following elements:

A message/design that relates to the theme: Print: The Original Social Media
The Foundation for Graphic Communication Education Name
The FGCE logo
QR Code
Scholarship Eligibility Requirements
Prize: $500

GET STARTED