Entry Qualifications

• Only student work is eligible.

  Any entries submitted into the National Student Show & Conference (NSSC) must have been produced by a student who is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at an accredited college, university, or art school. Graduate work is not accepted.

  All entries must have been produced between March 2017–February 2018 as part of a school’s curriculum, with the exception of entries submitted to portfolio categories.

  Work produced outside of a school’s curriculum is not permitted (e.g. personal, freelance, or work produced at an internship).

• Only enter your own work.

  Do not plagiarize. NSSC defines plagiarism (as found on ethicsingraphicdesign.org) as the unauthorized use or close imitation of existing work and the representation of it as one’s own original work.

  Any entries found by NSSC or the judges to be plagiarized will not only be immediately disqualified, but also the professor/school of the errant entrant will be notified. Additional academic consequences may occur according to the school’s code of ethics.

• Submit as many entries as you see fit.

  There is no limit to the number of entries allowed per student or per school. With the exception of the Group Projects category, you may also submit the same work in multiple categories as applicable (e.g. Ice Cream Shop Re-Branding Project may have assets that could be entered individually into categories like logos, packaging, website, total campaign, etc.).

  Due to the volume of submissions, entries will not be returned.

• Properly credit co-authors and assets used.

  Unless all assets in a submitted entry have been created only by the single submitting student, proper credits must be provided in the online entry description field at the time of submission.

  Any assets not created by the submitting student that are used for the submitted entry must include proper credits (e.g. Art Direction: Submitting Student, Illustration:Artist’s name, Typography: Artist’s name).

  All work produced as a group project must be entered only once in the Group Projects category. Entries in this category must properly credit all contributing team members. NSSC defines group projects as: any entry where two or more students were specifically assigned a project with the express direction to work together to create an end product.

  NSSC recognizes that students may be tasked to use non-student-produced assets to create layouts or designs. However, the following limitations apply:

  Any usage of non-student-produced assets (e.g. stock photography or stock illustration) must be credited in the design, clearly marked directly on or next to the asset used,and in the online entry description field (e.g. “Image(s) courtesy of istockphoto.com”).

  Any non-student-produced assets must represent less than 20% of the entry or have been significantly altered from the original asset (e.g. multiple stock photos combined to create a new image).

Submission Guidelines

• Shipping or physical drop-off:

  On the outside of the entry package, you must clearly write “National Student Show,” your first and last name, and the name of your school.
  
  Ship or deliver your packages to:
  ATTN: National Student Show
  Olmsted-Kirk Paper
  1601 Valley View Ln.
  Dallas, TX 75234
  

• Online submission and limitations.

  Only Interactive Design, Motion Design, Advertising Broadcast, Advertising Campaign, Branding Campaign, or Group Projects allow for online submission for some or all elements of an entry.

  Follow the submission guidelines for a category carefully. Any entry submitted incorrectly will be disqualified.

• No late entries will be accepted.

  ALL entries must be delivered to Olmsted-Kirk Paper no later than 5:00pm CST on March 2nd, 2018. Postmark dates do NOT apply.

  Do not contact Olmstead-Kirk Paper for special delivery accommodations. NSSC reserves the right to disqualify any entrants who disobey this rule.

• Work should not be openly attributed.

  Do NOT display your name or the name of your school in your work unless it is part of the design (e.g. senior exit show poster or self-branding). This is to help ensure that our judges have an unbiased opinion when judging.

• Entries must be received in the correct format.

  Follow the specific submission guidelines for each category.

  Each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form taped securely to the back of the entry. Please do NOT staple, glue, paper clip, or affix in any other manner than masking, transparent, or clear tape.

  Any entry received without an entry form attached will be disqualified.

  Entries with multiple printed pages for one entry must have an entry form on the back of each separate page.

  Pages must be numbered as a series (e.g. 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3). This ensures all prints for an entry are accounted for in judging.

  Put all pages of a single entry into its own envelope or sleeve. No paper clips or staples, please.

• There is no requirement to mount your work for judging.

  We encourage you to send flat printouts of each entry or photos of dimensional entries, such as packaging. Due to the volume of submissions, entries will not be returned.