Tote Bag Design Competition

You might have seen our BSU branded totes around campus at events, well now's your chance to get your own artwork on these bags!

We want you to create a design to use on our BSU tote bags for external events, including our Undergraduate Open Days, UCAS events and more.

Your design should show us what BSU means to you. You might want to include images of the University, the City of Bath or not at all: it's up to you! We want to see your own creativity and point of view.

This competition is open to ALL BSU students, and you don’t need to be studying an art and design related course to enter. We strongly encourage all entrants to use the Adobe Creative Cloud, free to all BSU students, to create their piece, but if you want to use another programme, that’s okay with us too. 

Please do not use AI to in your design, we’re looking to see your own creativity. You can see more about this in the competition Terms and Conditions.

This competition will open from 9.00am on Tuesday 4 March and will close at 17.00pm on Friday 4 April.

What do I need to submit?

We want you to submit an entirely original, bold and striking design that sums up what BSU means to you as a student here with us. It's also important to remember that your design will be mass printed on thousands of bags, so try to avoid making it too complex.

All submitted pieces need to under 10MB in size and either 21x30cm, or 30x30, with a minimum resolution of 300DPI. Please also submit your files as one of the following file types: JPEGS, PDF or PNG.

What kind of design you submit is entirely up to you! We've included some examples of different entries down below:

• An original illustration/ painting/ artwork using physical materials, and then scanned; 

• An original illustration/ artwork made digitally; 

• An original collage made using physical materials and then scanned; 

• An original collage made digitally; 

• An original graphic design made digitally; 

• An original screen printing (this must be scanned and sent through as an appropriate file type). 

This isn't an exhaustive list; we really want you to use your creativity to express your ideas. If you have any questions about any of this, you can email the Marketing team at marketing@bathspa.ac.uk.

Along with your design, we would also like you to submit:

• Your full name and BSU email address 

• Your student ID number 

• Your course and year of study 

• A short blurb of 80-100 words explaining your approach to the design and your inspiration
  
  
• Your design/art/illustration/graphics social media handles (if you have one).

You can submit your design, blurb and information through the Microsoft Form linked below. We are accepting one design submission per entrant.

What will I win?

We'll be selecting up to 3 winning submissions to be printed on the bags.

The winners will receive £150 in cash, and have their design printed on tote bags to be handed out at BSU events and sent all over the country for use at student recruitment fairs and events! We’ll also frame a bag with your design on it for you and give you two more to use. All winners will receive their prize upon the final printing of the tote bag design ready for our upcoming June Open Day.

In addition to the prize, we’ll also support you through a feedback and design review process to get the winning designs ready to print on the tote bags. You’ll have the opportunity to work with the BSU Marketing team throughout, gaining great experience for the future. 

The judging panel will consist of members of the BSU Marketing and Recruitment Events teams, and an external judge with expertise in student recruitment.

Eligibility

Who can enter this competition?

This competition is open to any current BSU student. You can be studying at any of our sites, and be studying any degree (not just art and design related courses). You'll need a valid student ID number to enter.

When will the winner(s) be announced?

We’ll be announcing and contacting the winners on Friday 11 April, one week after the competition closes. 

We’ll use the email provided on your submission to contact the winner(s), to let them know they have won. To win the prize, all winners must respond within one week of receiving their email. 

Please see the Terms and Conditions for more information. 

Judging criteria

Designs will be judged using the following criteria:

• How well the design and blurb responds to the prompt
• Design quality
• Creativity and originality
• Practicality for mass printing on tote bags.

Terms and conditions

You can download the Terms and Conditions for this competition here.

Additional information

If you have further questions about the competition, please email marketing@bathspa.ac.uk.