BBU Graphic Design Contest

Boston Bluegrass Union
Second Annual Graphic Contest
for
2013 Joe Val Bluegrass Festival

click here for this information in PDF format

The Boston Bluegrass Union (BBU) is excited to announce a graphic contest for our 28th annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival. Our first contest - for last year’s festival - was such a success, we’re doing it again! The 28th Joe Val festival will take place February 15, 16, and 17, 2013.

The BBU is the preeminent bluegrass music organization in New England. We’re an all-volunteer association promoting and supporting bluegrass festivals, concerts, jams, and bluegrass music education throughout the Northeast. In addition to the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, we produce several concerts throughout the year. We organize bluegrass jams and picking parties and support bluegrass music workshops for children and adults. Contrary to what our name suggests, we are not a labor or musicians’ union; we're just a bunch of volunteers working to help keep bluegrass music alive in America.

The New England area is one of the hottest bluegrass music scenes in North America, and we invite you to come listen, learn, and play this wonderful music.

To learn more about the BBU, visit this website at www.bbu.org

The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival is an award-winning music festival and is the largest indoor bluegrass music festival in the Northeast, attracting musicians and fans from all over North America. The festival celebrates the legacy of the late Joe Val, a bluegrass pioneer in New England, with three big days of bluegrass at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, MA. The festival features a great lineup of national and regional talent, dozens of workshops, educational programs, music vendors, and around-the-clock picking. Our 2006 festival won the coveted "Event of the Year" award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.

We invite you to show your creative genius by creating a graphic for our 2013 event.

The graphic will be used on festival t-shirts - both those for sale to the public (approximately 150) and those worn by the attendees of the BBU Kids’ Academy (approximately 40) and the festival staff (over 100). These t-shirts will be worn for years to come. The graphic will also be used in the festival promotional material, the festival program book, and on the BBU website and Facebook page.

The contest winner will receive a cash prize of $150, one complimentary weekend ticket to the festival, a festival t-shirt with the graphic, and recognition in the festival program book, the BBU website, and the BBU Facebook page.

Design Guidelines:

Designs will be judged on originality and creativity, the ability to capture the essence of the festival and bluegrass music, and ease of reproduction.
The design should be no larger than 10” x 8”. Please keep in mind that the primary use of the graphic will be on a t-shirt. The design should also be legible at a smaller scale, as it will be reproduced in the program book and other limited-space locations.
The design can be either one or two colors. Due to the mechanical limitations and the expense of the silk-screening process, it is difficult to do shading. If your design has some shading, it would have to be done in a way that will lend itself to be easily silk-screened.
All designs should be legible in black, gray, and white.
The BBU reserves the right to change the color(s) of the winning graphic.
If the winning design is two colors, the winning designer will be required to provide two PDFs – one for each color – for silk-screening purposes.
The winning designer will be required to provide a gray-scale PDF.
Designs must include the following information. Words in parentheses are optional.

(the) 28th (Annual) Joe Val Bluegrass Festival (February 15, 16, and 17, 2013)

No third-party images (e.g. Clipart, Stock Photos, Stock Designs) may be used in the designs.
No self-promotion is allowed in the design.
Individuals may submit a maximum of two entries.

Format:

Entries must be submitted in both PDF format and in print.
PDFs should be submitted electronically to merchandise@bbu.org with the Subject “JV 2013 Graphic Contest”. The size of the PDF file should be below 3 Mb.
Printed designs should be mounted on a rigid backing, e.g. foam core or poster board.
Printed designs should be sent to:

Boston Bluegrass Union
PO Box 650061
West Newton, MA 02465
The printed copies will not be returned to the entrant.

Deadline:

All submissions, in both electronic and print format, must be received by October 15, 2012. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Each submission must be accompanied by an entry form (attached or available on www.bbu.org). Please attach the completed entry form to both the electronic and print copy of the design. If submitting two designs, please complete a separate entry form for each design.
Click here for an entry form in MS Word format.
Click here for an entry form in PDF format.

Entry fee:

There is no entry fee for this contest.

Winner Announcement:

The contest winner will be notified by November 15, 2012 by phone or email.
The winner will be announced to the public on November 30, 2012.

Other relevant information:

By submitting your artwork, you are giving the BBU permission to use your design for merchandise sale and promotion. The winning design will become property of the BBU, but the designer may retain the right to use the image in his/her portfolio for promotional purposes.
The BBU is not responsible for submissions that are lost, late, damaged or never received.
If the winning design is subsequently found to be in violation of any copyright, trademark or other law that precludes or limits use of the design in any manner, the BBU shall be entitled to a full return of any monetary prize awarded to the designer.
By entering the contest, the designer agrees to follow all contest rules and guidelines and be bound by all contest terms and conditions.

Questions? Email merchandise@bbu.org with Subject “2013 Graphic Contest Question”.

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BBU Graphic Contest for 2013 Joe Val Festival