Have a Heart for CANFAR Design Exhibition

May 10, 2011

Calling all graphic designers!

Try this on for size: Your designs displayed in over 2,000 schools across Canada, viewed by over 1.5 million pairs of eyes... Sound nice? How about your designs published and printed by Zoom Media and distributed across Canada… Sound even better? I thought so.

Help CANFAR design our 2012 Have a Heart campaign poster!

Have a Heart for CANFAR is our national youth awareness program. Its objectives are to encourage leadership and volunteerism in youth while increasing awareness of HIV and AIDS, and raising money to fund HIV and AIDS research. Have a Heart for CANFAR generates enthusiasm among Canadian youth and creates an open forum for HIV and AIDS dialogue to take place both in schools and in the community.

This is where you come in. We’re looking for eye-catching, bold designs to catch the attention of Canadian youth.

So, what exactly does that entail?

We’re looking for images that are creative and edgy; designs that will ultimately inspire youth across Canada to learn about HIV and AIDS. There are three themes you can choose to design for:

General Awareness: One of the largest challenges facing HIV and AIDS prevention today is misinformation. This poster should educate youth about AIDS as a global epidemic and/or how AIDS is affecting Canadians. (See more.)

Safer Sex: Taking part in unprotected sex makes youth vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. This poster should educate youth on the importance of safer sexual behaviour and the role condoms play in preventing AIDS. (See more.)

Abstinence: Abstaining from sex is the best way to protect yourself from HIV and AIDS. This poster should empower youth to make responsible decisions regarding sex. (See more.)

Each theme will have a selected poster that gets displayed in participating schools across Canada. These posters will also be published and printed by Zoom Media and distributed throughout the Canadian public. Posters will be judged based on the criteria found on each of the above links. Please note that all submissions, excluding those deemed inappropriate, will be displayed online to highlight each designer's work.

Feel free to use the About AIDS resource on our website information you may need while designing your poster, but don’t hesitate to use any statistics you find through your own research.

Are you excited and want to create a poster for all three themes? Go for it! We’re enthusiastic about the cause and hope you are, too. So, get creative and have fun!

Okay, so we’re excited and you’re excited, but what do you still need to know?

Please design all images to follow these guidelines:

• •11”x 35” or 35”x 11”
• •¼” bleed
• •CMYK
• •min 300dpi

All designs must be submitted by 5PM on Thursday, June 30, 2011. You can submit your poster one of three ways:

• • Email to contest@canfar.com. However, please compress your file if you choose this option. The participants with the qualifying posters will be contacted later for the high resolution files.
• • Send your high resolution file to contest@canfar.com using a file sharing service.
• • Drop off or mail a CD with the high resolution image to 165 University Ave, suite 710, Toronto, ON, M5H 3B8.

CANFAR understands the power of design to promote change, and we greatly appreciate the contribution your work will make in the fight to end AIDS. Your contribution will help us move towards a future without AIDS!