Before you begin the process of entering a competition, please have the following information and materials ready. This will make the process go quickly.

• Your contact information for registration and notification.
• Title and brief description of each project.
• Any digital files you might want to submit saved as RGB (not CMYK) JPG format (maximum 1024 pixels wide X 768 pixels high @72dpi), ready to upload from you computer.
• Credit card or check for payment.

Select a category for your entry.

Select a delivery method and media format. This tells us how the entry will be delivered to us. The options depend on the selected category (either upload digital images, type in a URL or deliver via mail/courier).

Enter a title for your entry and any necessary creative credits. Complete credits will be requested if your entry is selected by the jurors.

This process is repeated for each of your entries. Each entry you submit is added to an Entry Set and is editable up to the time you choose a payment method.

When you have entered all of your entries you will need to select a payment method. Your options are credit card, check, or bank transfer. Once a payment method is selected you will have access to PDF reports summarizing what you entered and the chosen payment method. If you chose to pay by check, you will have an invoice available for printing. If you chose to deliver entries via mail/courier, you will also have entry forms in PDF format that you will need to print, trim and attach to your entries.

If you need additional clarification, please browse our help topics listed below or contact us directly at competition@commarts.com.

• Choosing a competition
• The Judging Process
• Choosing a Category
• Entering One Project into Two Separate Categories
• How to Enter a Series
• Selecting a Format and Delivery Method
• Editing Entries in an Existing Entry Set
• Choosing a Form of Payment
• Entry Forms, Invoices and Receipts
• Packing & Shipping Entries
• Acknowledgment of Receipt of Entries
• Notification of Winning Entries

Communication Arts sponsors six competitions:

The best examples of typography used as the primary visual element in design and advertising, plus new typeface designs, calligraphy and hand-lettering are chosen by a jury of leading design professionals. Categories include advertising and design collateral, packaging, media/editorial, environmental, identity, motion and unpublished.

Web sites, mobile apps, disk- and kiosk-based entries are selected on the quality of the user experience and interface design by a nationally representative panel of distinguished programmers, interface designers and creative directors. Categories include advertising, entertainment, information design, self-promotion and experimental/virtual community.

Commercial illustrations are selected for their creative excellence by a jury of leading designers, art directors and illustrators. Categories include advertising, books, editorial, for sale, Institutional, animation, self-promotion and unpublished.

Commercial photographs are selected for their creative excellence by a jury of leading designers, art directors and photographers. Categories include advertising, books, editorial, for sale, Institutional, multimedia, self-promotion and unpublished.

Graphic design selected for the originality of the creative idea and the quality of execution by a jury of top designers. Categories include posters, brochures, packaging, trademarks, corporate identity, annual reports, catalogs, letterheads, books, magazines, motion graphics and self-promotion.

Advertising selected for the originality of the creative idea and the quality of execution by leading creative directors, art directors and writers. Categories include consumer magazine and newspaper advertising, trade/institutional advertising, posters, sales promotion, self-promotion, radio and television commercials, online advertising, public service, integrated campaigns and non-traditional advertising.

If you want your work judged solely on the photographic, illustration or typographic image(s), please enter the Photography, Illustration or Typography competitions. If you want the whole project judged (i.e. concept, imagery, typography, etc.), please submit your project to the Design or Advertising competitions.

If you want your Web site judged on the quality of the user experience and interface design, submit it to the Interactive competition. If you want your Web site judged solely on its visual design, submit it as a series of captured screenshots in the 20H category of the Design competition. If your Web site is part of an integrated branding program (7C) or integrated advertising campaign (19C), include captured screen shots and the URL along with all of the other components of the campaign.

Student/Unpublished work is accepted in the Unpublished categories of the Illustration, Photography and Typography competitions, but only work created and produced for an actual client, and not a school project can be submitted to the Design and Advertising competitions.

The judging process is a two-part system: screening and finals. In screening, the jurors are divided into multiple groups and each category is distributed equally amongst them. Judges are not permitted to vote on work they were directly involved in. In order to move to the final round an entry must get a majority vote of a screening group. Each juror views the entries independently. Print entries are spread out on rows of tables and digital media is projected on a large screen. For the final round the judges are brought back together as one group. Each judge votes "in" or "out" on each entry. After the judges make their selections, their votes are tallied. A simple majority is usually required for a finalist to be selected a winner.

Please read the category descriptions for the competition you’ve selected to enter and choose the category that best fits your project. If none of the categories seems appropriate, please view the other competitions to see if one might be a better fit or e-mail us a brief description of the project to competition@commarts.com and we’ll help you pick a category.

Entrants frequently choose to enter projects both as single entries and part of a series or in multiple categories. If you are submitting print media, 3-D objects or broadcast media please send a duplicate entry for each of the categories you are entering and attach a separate entry form on each submission.

All work in a series must be part of the same campaign or project. When works are submitted as a series they are judged together as a group. The overall strength of the series depends on each individual piece and its function within the group.

Depending on the competition and the category you enter there are options for how to send your materials. Print-based, disk-based and 3-D objects must be delivered via mail/courier. Digital images and URLs can be submitted online. We do not accept entries via e-mail or FTP.

Please choose the media format that will best represent your entry to the judges. If your work is accepted we will request necessary reproduction materials at that time.

Digital images can be submitted online or on disk via mail/courier. Submitted files should be in RGB (not CMYK) JPG format with a maximum width of 1024 pixels and a maximum height of 768 pixels. The DPI does not matter. File sizes should be no larger than 1.5 MB. Digital files will be projected for the judges. If you are mailing your entries please place all of the files on a single CD-ROM and name the files as instructed on the entry forms generated for you.

Step 2 of the Entry Wizard gives you the option to upload digital images. For file specifications please refer to Digital Images section of this document. Files that do not meet the digital image specifications will be re-sized automatically and the image quality may suffer. We recommend re-sizing the images to the required dimensions and file size before uploading them. Please note that if you attempt to upload a file larger than 1.5MB the transfer process will stop. You can upload up to 12 files at a time and the process can be repeated as many times as you like. Once an image is uploaded successfully an icon representation of the image will appear in the image library. To select an image for an entry click on it's icon. It will then appear in the selected image area of the screen.

Online projects, viewable with a common Web browser, must be accessible for three months after the competition deadline. Offline, intranet projects and downloadable applications must be delivered on disk via mail/courier (Please see Computer based media for more information).

Print entries must be delivered via mail/courier. Submit tear-sheets or proofs, unmounted and trimmed as they appeared. Do not tape series together. Annual reports, brochures, folders, books, catalogs, etc., should be submitted as the actual printed piece (pieces over 18" X 24" must be submitted as Digital Images).

3-D objects (packaging, sales promotion, self promotion, non-traditional, etc.) must be submitted as unmounted samples that are less than 1 cubic foot in volume and delivered via mail/courier (objects larger than 1 cubic foot must be submitted as Digital Images).

Video entries must be submitted on disk or tape and delivered via mail/courier in one of the following formats: DVD NTSC (viewable on a standard DVD player) or mpeg files on CD-ROM. Include 4 seconds of black, no slates or bars. Single entries must be on individual disks. Series should be edited together on one disk with 2 seconds of black between each entry. Computer-based formats such as QuickTime or Flash should have a maximum width of 1024 pixels and a maximum height of 768 pixels.

Audio entries must be submitted on disk and delivered via mail/courier in one of the following formats: MP3, WAVE or AIFF files on CD-ROM. Series should be submitted as one file with 2 seconds of silence between each spot.

Self-running demos, offline Web sites, intranet projects, downloadable applications or any project that requires a computer for viewing must be submitted on disk and delivered via mail/courier in one of the following formats: Macintosh- or PC-based CD-ROMS or DVD-ROMs. If the project consists of multiple files such as SWFs, please embed the project in one HTML document. Entries not available in these formats may be submitted in a video format. The video must convey the look and feel of the project (video demonstrations submitted for the Interactive Competition should show user interaction) and be no longer than five minutes in duration.

You can edit/delete/add entries, change the delivery method or the requested credits in an Entry Set until a payment method is selected. Once a payment method is selected the Entry Set is complete and it can not be edited. If you wish to submit additional entries to the same competition, you will need to create a new Entry Set.

In order to complete the submission process, you must select a form of payment. Until you select a form of payment, your entries will not be submitted to the competition. Once you have selected a form of payment, the Entry Set is complete and cannot be edited.

Make checks payable to Communication Arts. Non-United States contestants must send an International Money Order or a check in U.S. funds drafted on a U.S. bank. Please include the check with your entries if you are delivering them via mail/courier. If your payment is being sent under a separate cover, please send your entries now, with a note saying that the check is coming under separate cover. If you submit all of your entries online please write the Communication Arts invoice number on the check. The invoice number can be found in the Entry Forms PDF file.

We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Charges for your entry fees will appear on your statement as "Commarts"). Credit card charges can only be done only online.

We do accept wire transfers, however there is a fee of $25 (U.S.) to cover fees charged by the banks to process the transfer. Please contact our office at (650) 326-6040 (9-5 PST) for instructions.

After choosing a form of payment you will have access to PDF reports summarizing what you entered. If you chose to pay by check, you will have an invoice available for printing. If you chose to deliver entries via mail/courier, you will also have entry forms in PDF format that you will need to print, trim and attach to your entries. Tape an entry form to the back of each entry. If the entry is a print-based campaign, you will tape an entry form to each part of the campaign. Tape an entry form to the outside of each disk/video case. Multiple digital files may be placed on a single disk. Please tape all applicable entry forms one on top of the other so we can flip through them to verify the contents of the disk.

Send entries, unmounted, in flat packages only, no mailing tubes (they frequently arrive damaged). Address packages to (Year and Name of) Competition. Non-United States contestants should mark each package "Materials for Contest Entry. No Commercial Value." No provision will be made by CA for U.S. Customs or airport pickup. International entries should be sent by international courier. All entries must be received by the competition deadline.

Mail entries to:
(Year and Name of) Competition
Communication Arts
110 Constitution Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025-1107 U.S.A.

(Via United States Mail, FedEx, UPS, etc. Entrants submitting from outside the U.S. please use an international courier)

As soon as we open your package, we will send you an acknowledgment via e-mail. The best way for you to track your package(s) is to contact your carrier. We are unable to acknowledge receipt of your package(s) until your submission(s) has/have been processed.

Only accepted entries will be notified on or before two months after the deadline. Complete credits and reproduction material will be requested at that time.