Call for Unicode 9.0 Cover Design Art

 

The call is now closed. We thank everyone for their submissions.

The Unicode Consortium is inviting artists and designers to submit cover design proposals for Version 9.0 of The Unicode Standard. This is the first time Unicode is extending this invitation.

The cover design would appear on the Unicode Standard 9.0 web page, in the print-on-demand publication, and in associated promotional literature on the Unicode website. The chosen artist will receive full credit in the colophon of the publication, and wherever else the design appears, and receive $700. The two runner-up artists will receive $150 apiece.

Everyone in the world uses Unicode every time they read or type any character on any laptop, tablet, or smart phone. This is the opportunity to be on the cover of the standard for those characters.

Please see the section below for requirements and more details.

---

Cover Art for Unicode 9.0, Requirements and Specifications

Submission Requirements:

Proposals must be received on or before June 15, 2016. Final candidate art will be chosen by July 15, 2016. Artists will be notified of the results by July 30, 2016. There is no fee or other cost for submission. Submission materials and inquiries should be sent by e-mail to "u9-art-call@unicode.org".

Submissions must be in electronic/digital form, and contain the following items:

• Cover letter
• Draft size-reduced image
• Artist bio or résumé
• Source info for any images

All art and associated rights for use must be owned by the artist. Reference and source materials must be owned by the artist or be in the public domain. Submissions utilizing any images not owned by the artist must include source information and copyright status information with the submission. (For example, if a free-use stock image is used, provide a source URL and link to the provider's statement of stock availability.)

Copyright permission and release forms for only the selected art will be required for publication. Other entries will be retained for future reference and contact purposes.

Specifications:

The Unicode Standard Core Specification is printed as a two-volume set having a form factor of 6×9 inches (US Trade paperback), with wrap-around continuous cover art, and a 4-side full bleed.

The submission must include a full-spread cover design proposal in JPEG format approximately 1000 by 1500 pixels, but no smaller than 900 by 1300.

The final cover art must be approximately 13.5 inches wide by 9.25 inches tall at 300 DPI. Art should be created with room for width adjustment of the edges.

The center of the book spine is at or near the center of the image. The same piece of art will be used for both volumes, with differing text and slightly differing book thickness, therefore, the image should be suitable for adjustment of width to accommodate differing spine widths for each volume. This may take the form of right-alignment or center alignment, depending on the image.

Text with title and other info may be added to the covers later during production, but the proposal may also specify intended locations for the respective text blocks on front and back covers.

---

Examples of Cover Art for Prior Publications

For reference, cover art and information for prior versions of the standard can be seen on these pages:

http://www.unicode.org/history/museum.html
http://blog.unicode.org/2015/01/unicode-70-paperback-available.html
http://blog.unicode.org/2015/11/unicode-80-paperback-available.html

Full-sized sample files in Adobe Illustrator and JPEG format are also available.

 

---