If you’ve been following the Writer’s Guild Strike and if their cause appeals to you, then you might be interested in creating a film about any WGA contract issue that inspires you. The contest creators, United Hollywood, are interested in how you would end the strike. The theme is “FairDeal4Writers.” The winner will receive an authentic WGA strike poster with over 175 writer, actor, actress, and director signatures.

Videos can be no longer than four minutes, but they can be any genre. Visit the site to learn about all the stipulations and guidelines. Videos are due on 20 February.

Via: Scriptnotes

Congratulations to Allmightys’ one year anniversary! To celebrate, they’re launching an open t-shirt design ideas competition. They want your ideas about whatever you choose, so show them what you’re thinking so that you can influence them with your winning design.

Submission deadline is 11 February 2008 at 10 pm GMT. Voting begins the next day and ends on 3 March. Be sure to read the design guide and rules, linked from the contest page. 1 EUR from the sale of each “I am thinking” t-shirt sale will be donated to Cancer Research UK. If you win, your t-shirt goes up for sale and you earn commission. Visit the site to learn more.

The great design above was created by Joe Gonzalez.

The Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, the Stiftung Zürcher Kunsthaus and the City of Zurich announce an international architectural competition for the Kunsthaus extension. Architects are invited to apply for the pre-qualification round. Design work will begin in April, and the winning submission is to be chosen by the end of 2008. The application deadline is 1 February 2008; relevant documents and an updated list of jury members can be found at http://www.stadtzuerich.ch/hochbau.

Re: Dexigner

The Chronicle of Higher Education is currently hosting a contest for Bush Library Design Proposals that are to be sketched on the back of a size-10 envelope as if you were just conversing with the President and quickly jotting down some ideas.

Design proposals cans be ’serious, humorous, adventurous, or all of the above’ and the grand prize is a iPod Touch. Plus, the posterity of being the one who offered the design in the first place. I know I’m going to enter this one. I have a great idea (it has something to do with the moon). Postmark deadline is 1 February 2008.

Via: TOI Studio

Rings & Things invite you to show them your favorite handmade design — it can be anything made from six categories including glass, gemstone, alternative materials and more. Winning entries (with credit to the designer) could be featured in their catalog and promotions. That’s exposure to more than a million people per year worldwide.

Entries accepted from 1 February through 29 February 2008. Winners announced the first week of May. Be aware that by submitting an entry, you give Rings & Things permission to use images of your piece in print and online publications. Visit the site to learn more.

At Right: Current Top Rated Entry.

Random House and Creative Review are launching a competition to design the cover of Crowdsourcing, WIRED editor Jeff Howe’s forthcoming book about how the internet has turned the crowd into a collaborative force. The Coversourcing competition is open until 10th February, and the winning design will be printed on all UK editions of Crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing is a cutting-edge, conceptual business book grown from a term and concept first coined by Howe. He described the way in which the internet has broken down traditional employer/employee relationships to create vibrant new enterprises that are ’staffed’ by informal, often large gatherings of enthusiasts.

Visitors to the Coversourcing website at will be able to vote for their favourite designs to form a shortlist of entrants, which will then be judged by a panel of judges consisting of Howe, Random House art director Richard Ogle, Creative Review editor Patrick Burgoyne and Pentagram Design UK partner Angus Hyland.

The chosen jacket design will be printed on all UK editions of Crowdsourcing, which is out August 2008, and the winner will also be presented with a signed first edition of the title and framed artwork along with a cash prize of £500.

You might visit the Book Covers Blog for inspiration.

Via: Bookseller

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the Portland Cement Association (PCA) have announced their “Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World” student design competition.

This is the third year for the competition. The concrete industry is looking for opportunities to boost the perception of concrete as a green material, since the mining, processing and transportation of concrete is responsible for 8% of all carbon dioxide produced by human activity. Like plastics, concrete is a versatile and widely used material, but there are a number of undesirable consequences of the production of the material that have architects, engineers, and other designers looking for alternatives and for better ways of producing the material.

Registration deadline is 8 February 2008 and the deadline for submissions is 14 May 2008. Prizes include US$10,000 to be divided among the top winners in each category and a copy of PCA’s suite of concrete design software with an array of structural engineering resources, awarded to each winning school. Visit the site to learn more.

Rio de Janeiro Genre Fest is excited to announce that their call for entries is now open. They encourage filmmakers everywhere and from all backgrounds to submit their work. Feature films are eligible to participate in the festival’s international competition section, while short films can be selected for one of our informative sections. There is no entry fee. The deadline for receiving completed and signed entry forms for films and for receiving all pre-selection materials is 15 February 2008. The entry form and regulations can be downloaded from their website: www.riofan.com.br.

Works carried out by students usually disappear into drawers after presentation to a relatively small college audience. There the work remains invisible. :output, the biggest international competition for students in design and architecture, wants to change that. The works selected by the jury will be published in the yearbook :output. The Deadline for submission will is 15 February 2008. Visit the site to learn more.

Anyone who is currently studying communication design, product design, architecture, interaction design or film at a university or a college is eligible to participate. Students who have graduated within the last 12 months may also submit final degree works. Any work, which has been produced as a student project, is eligible for submission. The work may not be older than one year. The project does not have to be published. Work related to any area of design and architecture, such as: graphic design / architecture / product design / typography / photography/ illustration / typeface design / multimedia, moving image and television graphics / experience design is eligible for submission.

Latest date for submissions is 15 February 2008. Visit the site to learn more.

For nearly five decades, the Clio Awards has been committed to the mission of celebrating and rewarding creative excellence in advertising and design, honoring one of the most influential forms of communication and its impact on modern culture. The Clio Awards, part of Nielsen Business Media, receives more than 19 000 entries from over 60 countries in a broad range of mediums including Interactive, Television/Cinema/Digital, Content & Contact, Print, Poster, Billboard, Innovative Media, Integrated Campaign, Radio, Design and student work, and are judged by world-class juries made up of more than 100 top creatives from 65 countries. The culmination of the competition takes place each May at the annual Clio Awards Festival, in Miami’s South Beach, attended by an international who’s who of advertising and digital marketing.

Deadline for entry submissions is 15 January 2008 for all entries first appearing between 1 January 2007 - 31 December 2007. Deadline for entries that originally appeared in the first quarter of 2008 is 29 February 2008. The online entry system for the 2008 awards program is currently open at www.clioawards.com.