SOFIA UNIVERSITY “ST. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI”

GRAPHIC AND SOUVENIR DESIGN CONTEST

 

SUBJECT

The SofiaUniversity “St. Kliment Ohridski” announces an international Contest with two divisions – projects for graphic design and souvenir design. Its purpose – to enhance the University’s visibility and popularity on both national and global scale.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

The application has to communicate a strong and clear positive image of the academic institution and to have an engaging capacity for partners, colleagues, guests, visitors and other addressees not affiliated with the SofiaUniversity “St. Kliment Ohridski” (hereinafter referred to as the University).

The project should offer all students and employees of the University a strong identification within a unified academic community, celebrating this very year the 125^th Anniversary of the University’s founding with the official slogan of the campaign “Knowledge creates strength”.

 

The applications must strive for a creative balance between the notions that:

• the University is the oldest, the most stable and outstanding institution of higher education in Bulgaria, with established traditions and international renown,

but also that

• it is a  young university, full of vigorous and active students and lecturers; a university fully integrated in the global scientific and scholarly innovation processes and open to the world;

Playful and auto-ironic elements in the proposed projects are highly appreciated as the aim of the Contest is not oriented towards formal, solemn, pathetic and ceremonial forms. The official logo of the University is not required to be part of the project design.

 All candidates are free to participate in one or both divisions of the Contest as follows:

1. Graphic Design – consistent system of signs with a clear and unique message, fully encompassing the University’s character. It is required that the visual design has to be applied on a cup or mug, a pen, a t-shirt and a bag AND on at least one more advertising product of the candidate’s choice.

2. Creation of experimental and creative products (souvenirs), attractive for all target groups and instrumental for their emotional engagement.

 

SELECTION CRITERIA

1. For the Graphic Design Division:

The innovativeness and experimentation character, as well as the good sense of humour will be among the chief obligatory criteria for selection. Without loosing the sense of the University’s authority and importance, the project applications ought to create an image considerably more youth-oriented and open to new ideas. This will facilitate the present and future students recognition as an integral part of a common academic community, thus the project proposals’ aim is to offer different possibilities for identification and emotional connection with the University.

2. For the Souvenir Design Division:

Again, the selection criteria will consist from the creativity and quality of the design idea/s (75% of the final rating), as well as from the approximate commercial cost price of its/their realization (25% of the final rating). The concrete project proposal has to include the means for seamless adaptation for other products and/or materials, thus ensuring its development in time as evolving advertising series.

In both divisions within the project assessment process particular attention will be given to ideas directly relating to the Sofia University’s specific character.

 

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION

University’s patron – St. Kliment Ohridski

Founding – October 1, 1888 as a Higher Pedagogical Course, with only one Faculty, that of History and Philology, at first with only four regular and three external professors; the number of the fists students is only just 43 (more information in English on the University’s history and development can be found here).

The University today:

• the largest educational and research center in Bulgaria, encompassing 16 Faculties with 102 Bachelor’s degree programs, 400 Master’s degree programs and 25,000 students.
• The building of the Sofia University’s Rectorate, constructed with resources from the two donors – the brothers Evlogy Georgiev and Hristo Georgiev – is one of the architectural landmarks of Sofia. As of today it occupies 36,000 square meters of built up area, has 324 premises, 65 of which auditoriums with 6,000 seats in total.
• The Central foyer’s interior is designed in expressive and exuberant Baroque style with the central staircase in perfect sinchron with the terracotta mosaic floor (from Czechoslovakia), the marble tiling (from Italy) and the colorful stained-glass windows of the vitrages (Prof. I. Penkov, Bulgaria and F. Mayer, Munich, Germany). The destroyed during the bombings from 1943–1944 stained-glass windows have been restored by Prof. Dechko Uzunov, a renowned Bulgarian artist (1983). The images of the Saints Cyril and Methodius, St. Kliment Ohridski, Knyaz Boris I and Tsar Simeon enrich the architectural environment in a unified and vivid harmony (more information on the University’s architecture and images from the Rectorate here).

Official site of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (in English):  http://www.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/eng/

Official site of the Anniversary programme “125 years Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’” (in English): http://125.gateway.bg/en

Videoclips: http://youtu.be/u8iHiZh_uMA

 

ELIGIBILITY FOR CONTEST APPLICATION

Participant Requirements:

In the following conditions the participants are considered eligible for application:

• The Contest is open for participation with entirely original projects to individuals and non-formal collectives, as well as to legal entities. It is aimed not only towards advertising agencies, design studios and independent graphic designers, but also at all artists, authors and interdisciplinary teams, capable of offering graphic and product scenarios with a clear cultural and experimental character and the ability to ensure the initiative’s recognition.
• All individual participants must be 18 years of age.
• All individuals or legal entities can participate in the Contest with up to three projects, in the creation of which she was involved.
• All participants can apply with projects in both divisions or in only one of them.
• Participation in the Contest is free of charge.
• The Contest is international.

Projects submitted by non eligible applicants will not be allowed to the next stage of the Contest.

With the submission of application/s in the graphic and souvenir design Contest for Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” every participant is deemed to have accepted unconditionally the present Terms and Conditions of the competition.

 

Project Requirements:

All project applications must comply with the following conditions:

• The project must be created by the participant applying in the Contest. If in its creation were involved more than one person or legal entity, all its authors are obliged to participate in the application;
• All copyright and other intellectual property rights of the project in its entirety or of any parts of it have to be held by the applicant/s and not by third parties;
• The project must be created solely for the purposes of the Contest;
• The project must not have been displayed in public in any way before the start of the Contest;
• The project is deemed eligible only when it is submitted complete with all required documents.

Projects that are non-compliant to the above requirements will not be allowed to participate in the Contest.

The created for the purposes of the Contest graphic and souvenir design and advertising products are considered works under copyright and other intellectual property rights law and therefore enjoy statutory protection of these rights.

 

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROJECT:

All projects must be presented in two vertical (portrait-oriented) attachments in .pdf or .jpg format with width 297 mm and height 420 mm and also with a textual description of the concept (max. 2000 characters). The total size of each project application submitted must not exceed 10 MB.

Appendix 1 : Visuals:

–           For Division 1 – the advertising products (obligatory: cup or mug, pen, t-shirt and bag, as well as on at least one more advertising product of the candidate’s choice);

–          For Division 2 – the conceptual product.

 Appendix 2 : The author’s creative concept and motivation of the project/s in textual form (max. 2000 characters), as well as description of the technical data and parameters according to the project’s specifics (i.e. name of font, type of material and sample market price of a similar product).

 

OBLIGATORY PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS:

 Appendix 3 : Contact information (three names, email, phone number and address); attached below

 Appendix 4 : Signed Copyright Ownership Declaration and Consent with the Terms and Conditions of the Contest. attached below

 Note: Appendices 1 and 2 are anonymous and present solely the project application (i.e. inclusion of information of any kind on the author/s identity is strictly forbidden). For the Selection Committee the participants’ anonymity will be maintained up until the very last stage of the assessment procedure, right before the public announcement of the winners. Only the campaign coordinator will have access to the participants’ personal information, i.e. Appendices 3 and 4.

Projects submitted after the announced deadline will not be allowed to participate in the Contest.

All submitted project applications will be reviewed by the organizing institutions of the Contest: Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia University Cultural Center in partnership with Sofia Design Week.

Projects that are non-compliant to the Terms and Conditions of the Contest will not be allowed to participate.

 

SELECTION COMMITTEE

Prof. Ivan Ilchev – Rector od the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Prof. Alexander Kiossev – Director of the Sofia University Cultural Center

Prof. Miglena Nikolchina – member of the Cultural Council at the Sofia University Cultural Center

Prof. Orlin Dvoryanov – member of the Cultural Council at the Sofia University Cultural Center

Kamelia Spassova, PhD – coordinator at the Sofia University Cultural Center

Andrean Neshev – designer, Poststudio

Magdalina Stancheva – designer, Poststudio

 

AWARDS:

First place award– 4,000.00 BGN (approximately 2,000.00 €)

Two incentive awards – at total amount of 2,000.00 BGN (approximately 1,000.00 €).

 

CONTEST PHASES:

Contest campaign announcement: June 24, 2013 (within the timeframe of Sofia Design Week 2013);

Submission of project applications: until August 1, 2013;

Project application assessment: from August 5 until August 10, 2013;

Winner announcement – August 12, 2013;

Production and delivery of the advertising products – from August 15 until September 26, 2013

Public awarding of the winners: September 27, 2013,

Celebration of the 125^th Anniversary of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and inauguration of the new academic year.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROJECT APPLICATIONS: AUGUST 1, 2013:

• electronically by email at sofia.uni.design@gmail.com or
• in hard copy on address: Sofia University Cultural Centre, Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Moskovska Str. 49, cabinet 27, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria