Official Entry Guidelines

• What are the eligibility requirements?
• What is the Cover Design Competition?
• What are the key dates of the competition?
• How do you create a directory cover?
• How do you submit a cover design?
• What are the judging criteria?
• How will the winners be selected?
• How will the winners be notified?
• How will the winning designs be used?
• What can I expect to learn at the workshops?
• What do the winners receive?
• Where do I go if I have questions?
• Additional Terms and Conditions

• Demonstrate an application of the Principles of Design: To learn about high school performance indicators, see the Visual Art Blueprint here.
• Show an awareness of the intended audience (see “Audience” below)
• Ensure that the design is 8.5” x 11”

• All ethnicities and genders
• All boroughs
• All ages (especially ages 10+)

• All publications will be translated into 9 languages (so a translated title will need to be inserted).
• Final designs may also be used on other materials such as flyers, websites, and t-shirts.

• Why are you proud to be a New York City student?
• How are you preparing for life after high school?
• What makes your experience as a New York City student unique and exciting?

• Copyrighted images: We cannot use any previously-copyrighted images on our directory covers. The use of previously copyrighted materials automatically disqualifies the applicant. Please review the Additional Terms and Conditions for more information. Many New York City icons are already copyrighted. This includes most identifiable buildings in the Manhattan skyline, the major bridges, the Statue of Liberty, “I ♥ NY,” etc.
• Inclusiveness: As mentioned in the “Audience” section above, designs should be appropriate for all ethnicities, ages, genders and boroughs. In particular, avoid creating a design that relies heavily on a recognizable building or image that is specific to a particular borough or neighborhood. It is fine to incorporate such images into your design, but overall your design should feel inclusive to all residents in the City of New York.
• Faces: Designs that incorporate real human faces (as opposed to cartoon or representational figures), should include more than a single individual. Any group of faces should be racially diverse and age-appropriate for fifth through eighth graders.
• School-Based Images: We encourage the use of school-based imagery in the directory designs. It’s fine to incorporate other New York City imagery (subways, taxis, apples, buildings, etc.), but such imagery should be tied to the concepts of education, learning and growing up. For example, a design featuring a New York City MTA bus driving through Times Square would not be acceptable, but a design featuring a school bus driving past a school would be.
• Reproduction: Keep in mind that designs must be easy to reproduce in different colors and sizes and with different text. How easily your design can be adapted to different media (publications, flyers, t-shirts, bags, etc.) and reproduced on different quality printers will be an important factor for the judges.
• Color: Cover designs should be easily printed using 2-3 colors (different shades of the same color are counted as one color.) For the design’s main colors, we recommend choosing colors other than the ones that were featured in past two high school directories: green & blue. Designs created using computer software should use pantone colors.

• Email deadline is February 24, 2012 11:59 pm EST. Entries received after this date will not be accepted.
• Final files must be submitted as any one of the following extensions: .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG or .PDF. (Save the final live file. Please simplify the number of layers in your live file and keep the layers neat. The Department of Education will need this in order to make future edits).
• Final files must be submitted as low-resolution files (under 2 MB).
• Email submissions should have a subject line: “Cover Design Submission” as well as the first 4 digits of your birthday (ex: March 12 = 0312).
• When submitting your design via email, please be sure to attach the following:
  • Low-resolution design file
  • Completed and Signed Department of Education Consent Form*
  • Completed and Signed Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Consent Form*
• Online submissions will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours. If you do not receive a confirmation email, then the design was not received. If you have difficulty submitting your design, please call 212-374-4415 for assistance.

• Mail-in entries must be received by February 24, 2012. Entries received after this date will not be accepted or considered for the competition.
• A copy of the original artwork should be submitted and the original should be retained by the student. Submissions will not be returned, so do not submit the only copy of the design.
• Design package should include:
  • A copy of your printed submission
  • Completed and Signed Mail-in Submission Form – This form will be posted on the Submit page during the submission period.
  • Completed and Signed Department of Education Consent Form*
  • Completed and Signed Cooper-Hewitt Consent Form*
• Mail to the Address:
  Department of Education
  Office of Student Enrollment
  52 Chambers Street, Room 414
  New York, NY  10007
  ATTN: Cover Design Competition

• Scan and Email as an Attachment with your Design: coverdesign@schools.nyc.gov
• Fax to 212-374-5569, ATTN: Cover Design Competition Consent Forms
• Mail to Department of Education, Office of Student Enrollment, 52 Chambers Street, Room 414, New York, NY 10007, ATTN: Cover Design Competition Consent Forms

• Students under the age of 18 are required to obtain their parent or guardian’s signature.
• Students 18 years of age or older are not required to have their parent/guardian sign the form.
• All students must provide the following information on the consent form:
  • Student Name
  • Student's current school
  • Parent/Guardian Address
  • Email Address of their Parent/Guardian (optional)
  • Signature from a teacher at their school (preferably the student's art teacher

• Student Name
• Parent/Guardian Full Name
• Dated signature of Parent/Guardian

• Only one design per student.
• Design must be original work of student.
• Designs must be accompanied by signed consent forms.
•  8.5 x 11 in original design for both front and back covers.
• Submissions can be submitted electronically via email or in print form by mail.
• Designs may be created in any medium.
• Submissions will not be returned. Please do not submit the only copy of the design.

1. Originality
2. Application of the principles of design (see the “Design” section above)
3. Adaptability of the design to different media (bags, t-shirts, CDs, etc.)
4. How well the design interacts with text

• 1 place winner will be selected online, by the public (subject to the determination by the Department of Education that the design selected by the public is suitable for its intended use). Public voting will be held from March 28-April 2. The public will be able to cast one vote for their favorite design. This winner could be placed as the first, second or third place winner. This determination will be based on the discretion of the Department of Education and Cooper-Hewitt.
• 2 place winners will be selected by a panel of judges from The Department of Education and Cooper-Hewitt based on the four judging criteria. Note: All finalists are required to present their final designs in person to a panel of judges during the final workshop at the Cooper-Hewitt.

• Do not submit their submission with both signed consent forms (DOE and Cooper-Hewitt) by February 24, 2012
• Do not adhere to all of the above entry guidelines
• Use any derogatory language
• Plagiarize or submit someone else’s copyrighted material
• Cannot attend at least 3 out of the 4 workshops