Banner image of the NISOD Student Graphic Design Contest

NISOD and CCCSE invite you to participate in the Student Graphic Design Contest and digitally design a mural for the Advancing Community College Student Engagement (ACCSE) conference. This conference is the definitive gathering of community and technical college faculty, administrators, and staff seeking best and promising practices designed to improve student achievement.

2026 Timeline

  • Contest opens: September 5, 2025
  • Submission deadline: March 6, 2026
  • Winners notified: March 13, 2026
  • Winner acceptance due: March 20, 2026
  • Prize presented and artwork revealed at NISOD conference: May 24, 2026

Promotional Flyer
(download and share)

Preview image of the Student Graphic Design flyer.

Submission

Before submitting, please review all sections on this page.  All submissions go through a blind process by our review committee and use the SGDC Rubric to evaluate entries.

Submit Your Entry!

The Prize

The winning student artist will receive:

  • $1,000 USD
  • Travel to The NISOD Conference: Advancing Community College Student Engagement (ACCSE) in 2026 in Austin, Texas, which includes:
    • Up to $400 USD toward travel to Austin, Texas;
    • Up to two (2) nights lodging;
    • One (1) complimentary conference registration.

Eligibility

  • Open to students at NISOD member colleges and participating CCCSE colleges. Check to see if your college is a NISOD member here.
  • Students must be at least 18 years old by May 2027.
  • The student must be able to travel to Austin to participate in the Student Graphic Design Contest presentation held during the annual conference.
  • Students may submit no more than three (3) entries per contest period.

Suggested Theme and Style Guidelines

We are looking for artwork that will appeal to the audience (faculty, staff and administrators from community and technical colleges) and fits the conference theme, Elevating Student Voices. The winning artwork will be printed as black and white line work to be colored in by attendees at the conference, and may also be used in its full color for advertising, promotions, etc. If you choose to use community and technical college educators in an illustrated format, our preferences are faculty members in classroom settings. No recognizable students, faculty, administrators, and staff are permitted.

Elements That Must Be Included in the Design

  • The design will be printed at 5 feet tall by 10 feet wide so the final vector should be at that scale.
  • We highly recommend use of the CCCSE official colors for the full color version of the design, especially use of the primary colors.

Official CCCSE Colors

Primary Colors:

IndigoIndigo 30%Indigo 60%Blue-GreyBlue-Grey 40%
#211159#BCB8CD#7A709B#A9BDD6#DDE5EF
R: 33 G: 17 B: 89R: 188 G: 184 B: 205R: 122 G: 112 B: 155R: 169 G: 189 B: 214R: 221 G: 229 B: 239

Accent Colors

OchreOchre 50%
#B67029#DBB894
R: 182  G: 112  B:41R: 219  G:184  B:148

What NOT to Include

  • Do not use images such as armadillos, cacti, longhorns.
  • No recognizable images of community and technical college students, faculty, administrators, and staff.
  • No stock images or clip art.
  • No copyrighted work.
  • No photos.

Artwork Specifications

  • All submissions must be original art/illustrations
  • Students are strongly encouraged to employ the official CCCSE colors in their artwork.
  • All submissions must be designed as a vector at a 2:1 ratio that will be printed as a 5 foot tall by 10 foot wide banner. Submit the artwork in both color and black line art, as two separate pages in one PDF.
  • Reduce to max file size of 60 MB before submitting.
  • If chosen as the winner, your original file must be produced in vector format for ease of duplication (only a layered Illustrator .ai file or .eps file will be accepted).

Past Student Graphic Design Contest Winners

Contact designcontest@nisod.org or (512) 232-2666 for more information.