Designers, illustrators, photographers, design studios, collectives/crews, agencies, students, visual artists… you are welcome to submit an innovative, creative, exciting, personal and experimental artwork inspired by the theme: “WHAT DOES USA MEAN TO YOU?” We are expecting diversity and freestyle: all styles of outstanding visual media are welcome. We are interested in showcasing all styles of outstanding visual media, including illustration, graphic design, photography, drawing, painting, etc. as an online exhibition. Selected works will be featured through online exhibit and book. IntroductionUSA BY DESIGNERS is an international artistic project whose aim is to unveil a multitude of images of USA from the inside and from the outside. Design as the expression of a cultural vision, a political vision or a simple and unposed feeling… Design and its diversity as a new way to catch USA.

Read more about USA BY DESIGNERS – HUG United on Contest Watchers.

The contest is about the creation of new and innovative interior designs for trains. Questions like how a modern train interior should look like and what kind of innovative features should be integrated need to be solved. Thereby it is irrelevant if participants have great experience in interior design or not, the contest is addressed to professionals, students, hobby designers and everyone who is interested into the topic. Thereby the designs can be submitted drawn freehand or computer generated, by using the configuration tool or just by explaining the interior idea.Bombardier is a global transportation company, present in more than 60 countries on five continents. Participants may either design a seat upholstery with the configuration tool or freely create an interior design to the following three topics: The Leisure PassengerThe target group of this interior are families and passengers on their way to leisure. They enjoy the services on board and travelling implies some kind of experience for themThe Business TravelerThe design is addressed to passengers on their way to work or back at home and may represent some kind of office space with all necessary elements of a work environment.The Everyday PassengerThe design shall attract passengers to use public transport and give them a feeling of comfort and being at home.Let the following TAG words inspire you: communication – electricity – digital – community – sustainability – flair – sensory Experience – individual – Internet – kids – comfort – stay connected – animals – transportation – moving – living room – eating – music – trends – fashion – global – culture – business – services – sports – clean – subway – long-distance – station

Read more about YouRail design contest – Bombardier on Contest Watchers.

Time flies when you’re having fun…Firefox is five years old, and we’d like to commemorate the milestone with great design. So, show us what the occasion means to you by creating a celebratory poster image. The goal of this challenge is to create a poster design that will help spread the word about and rally our community around Firefox’s 5th birthday. The winning design will be featured on Mozilla websites and merchandise, and the winning artist will be highlighted on the Creative Collective homepage and the Mozilla Blog. ObjectiveThe goal of this challenge is to create a poster design that will help spread the word about and rally our community around Firefox’s 5th birthday.

Read more about Five Years of Firefox Design Contest on Contest Watchers.

The D&AD Student Awards programme is, in essence, the design and advertising communities award for those looking to break into the industry. “In putting together this programme we aim to do two things: Firstly, find the best new talent for the industry, and secondly, to put creativity high on the agenda in the higher and further education curriculum. We look to do both of these things on a global level.” ObjectiveYou can find the complete list of objectives on the official “this year’s briefs” page.

Read more about D&AD Student Awards 2010 on Contest Watchers.

With categories for both professional and amateur photographers, the Sony World Photography Awards is one of the world’s largest photographic events. The awards are a platform for both established and emerging photographers and in 2009 the competition attracted over 60,000 entrants from 139 different countries. The competition for professional photographers incorporates 12 categories across three genres – commercial, fine art and photojournalism/documentary. The overall winner will take the coveted L’Iris D’Or title together with $25,000 (USD) along with Sony camera equipment. The 36 category finalists will then be exhibited in galleries across the world as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour throughout 2010 and 2011. IntroductionNew for the 2010 awards, a documentary category has been introduced for amateur photographers. Whether documenting a person, place or current issue, the category is looking for an image which captures momentous occurrences of every day life. From the nine categories, one photographer will be chosen as the Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year and win a grand prize of $5,000 (USD) and Sony camera equipment.

Read more about Sony World Photography Awards 2010 on Contest Watchers.

The Cartier Award for emerging artists living outside the UK is a major initiative by Frieze Projects in collaboration with Gasworks and sponsored by Cartier. Artists are invited to propose a new work to be realised at Frieze Art Fair 2010 which will be produced under the auspices of Frieze Projects. Projects may take the form of site-specific installation; performance; film; video and print work. ObjectiveCreate a proposal that describes the artwork, the thought behind it and the production process.

Read more about The Cartier Award 2010 on Contest Watchers.

The Berlin Artists-in-Residence programme, Berliner Künstlerprogramm, is one of the most renowned international programs offering grants to artists in the fields of visual arts, literature, music, film and dance/performance. Each year, some 20 grants are awarded to international artists for approximately a one-year stay in Berlin. The names of about 1,000 former guests impressively underscore the quality of the programme. In its more than forty years of existence, it has made a significant contribution to the international representation of contemporary arts in Berlin. One aim of the Berliner Künstlerprogramm is to offer freedom of creativity. While cultural traditions are threatened by a uniform levelling out in the process of globalization, the Berlin Künstlerprogramm promotes the diversity of artistic and literary positions. The notion of dialogue is central: other nations’ perspectives on conditions here – in film, visual arts, literature or music – are to be seen as a decisive incentive to self-reflection in our society. The Berliner Künstlerprogramm sees itself as a platform for an exchange of art and culture extending beyond the boundaries of Europe. The year 1989 and the Fall of the Wall are viewed by the Berliner Künstlerprogramm as a commission to reinforce the freedom of art and the word. At the same time, the program therefore opposes the economic takeover of cultural values by liberating artistic creativity from the dictates of the market.

Read more about DAAD: Berlin Artists-in-Residence programme 2010 on Contest Watchers.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration invites high school and college students from all areas of study to enter, including the arts, industrial design, architecture, computer design, and the fine arts. Students are asked to submit their work on the theme: Life and Work on the Moon. Artists are encouraged to collaborate with science and engineering students. Such collaboration is not required, but would help to ensure that the art is valid for the Moon’s harsh environment. Any full time student can enter, regardless of major or area of study. ObjectiveSubmit your work on the theme: Life and Work on the Moon. Entries will be accepted in three categories: two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and digital, including music and video. For the first time, we will also accept entries in literature (poetry and short stories). Entries will be evaluated on creativity, artistic qualities, but also on whether they depict a valid scenario for the moon’s harsh conditions. PrizesPrizes include awards and exhibit opportunities. Cash prizes, certificates of achievement, and exhibit opportunities are planned. Selected works will be chosen for exhibits at NASA facilities across the country, including Washington, DC. We also expect to award cash prizes and certificates.

Read more about NASA Art Contest 2010 on Contest Watchers.

The International Council for Cultural Centers (I3C), the International Network Cultura21 (Cultural Fieldworks for Sustainability) and the Latin American Network of Art for Social Transformation are organizing the first international summer school of arts and sciences for sustainability in social transformation. The event is planned for August 2010 in Bulgaria, in the beautiful Balkan mountains. As part of the program of the Summer School, a limited number of workshops will be organized for participants. We are seeking workshop proposals from experienced practitioners and thinkers from the wider academic and artistic fields, who are engaged in the advancement of sustainability (i.e. goals of social justice, ecological awareness and environmental action, human rights and self-determination, cultural and biodiversity, among others), particularly with inter- or trans-disciplinary methodologies or with a potential for inter- and trans-disciplinary dialogues. We are also particularly looking for action-research methodologies based on Walking and Places: building transformations, which will be the thematic focus of the first edition of the Summer School. These methodologies can include academic as well as artistic, creative processes, or both. They may further explore how movement also relates to place and community development, with the dynamic between movement and place, traveling and home, transnational flows of ideas and people and site specificity (whether individual houses or collective places).

Read more about International Summer School of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation (ASSiST) on Contest Watchers.

Freedom of expression, the simple freedom to say what you want, about whatever you want, is a right that most of us can enjoy without even thinking. Even more now that the internet has given us a forum for debate and criticism wider and more instant than ever before. Online, or offline, it’s possible to say anything without any form of consequence, and most of the time we come up with nothing more profound than: Your album sucks. England is a shithole. Berlusconi is corrupt. But in many other countries freedom of expression is a much more serious subject. People are persecuted and imprisoned simply for daring to criticise their governments, calling for more democracy and press freedom, or exposing human rights abuses online. It’s just not right.

Read more about Poster 4 Tomorrow on Contest Watchers.