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2026 Student Graphic Design Contest Winner Announced! Read More

NISOD and CCCSE invite students enrolled at NISOD member colleges and CCCSE participating colleges to participate in our Student Graphic Design Contest and digitally design the official artwork for the 2028 CCCSE/NISOD 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. 

2026-2027 Timeline

  • Contest opens: October 15, 2026
  • Submission deadline: February 1, 2027
  • Winners notified: March 1, 2027
  • Winner acceptance due: March 12, 2027
  • Prize presented and artwork revealed at the CCCSE/NISOD conference: Saturday, May 29, 2027

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 artwork here.

The Prize

The winning student artist will receive:

  • $1,000 USD
  • Travel to the 2027 CCCSE/NISOD Conference 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.

 Note: The winning artwork will be unveiled during the 2027 CCCSE/NISOD Conference. 

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, Advancing the Student Experience: The Next Frontiers. 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.
  • No AI tools such as ChatGPT or external materials may be used in the creation of artwork submitted to the Student Graphic Design Contest. All layers and elements in a submission must be a student’s original work.

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 membership@nisod.org or (512) 471-7545 for more information.