TCO22 Announcement Graphics Design Challenge

Welcome to the “TCO22 Announcement Graphics Design Challenge”! We just announced that TCO22 would be in Boston this year! In this challenge, we are looking to create a set of graphics to promote the 2022 Topcoder Open through emails, social media, etc. 

Round 1

Submit your initial designs for checkpoint feedback.

• 01A Banner design - Email header
• 02 One Pager
• 03 Instagram sticker

As part of your checkpoint submission, upload your designs into the MarvelApp prototype so we can provide direct feedback on your designs. Please include the MarvelApp Prototype URL in your notes.txt. Make sure all pages have the correct flow. Use the proper file numbers (1, 2, 3, etc).

Round 2

Submit your initial designs for checkpoint feedback.

• 01A Banner design - Email header
• 01B Banner design - Twitter post
• 01C Banner design - Facebook post
• 01D Banner design - Topcoder Dashboard
• 02 One Pager
• 03 Instagram sticker

As part of your final submission, you must replace your checkpoint submission with the final submission into the MarvelApp prototype so we can provide direct feedback on your designs. Please include the MarvelApp Prototype URL in your notes.txt. Make sure all pages have the correct flow. Use the proper file numbers (1, 2, 3, etc).
This challenge aims to design a series of fun graphic designs to promote the 2022 Topcoder Open. These designs will be used for promotion in email, social media and other relevant channels. 
The Topcoder Open (TCO) is our annual online and onsite tournament to celebrate and reward the community. TCO encompasses everyday competitions at Topcoder and adds points to them. The TCO Onsite Finals in the USA bring great honor and excitement to those who qualify to attend. TCO Finalists enjoy being treated like VIPs and deserve all the recognition they get. 
This year’s TCO finals are scheduled to be hosted in Boston, USA. We want the graphic designs to reflect the venue of TCO22, along with other necessary information as indicated in the next section.

Challenge Objectives
In this challenge, you will design the following -

• Banner design
  • Email header
  • Twitter post
  • Facebook post
  • Topcoder Dashboard
• One Pager
• Instagram sticker

Requirements for Graphic Designs
Please make sure your submission includes the following designs with the specified content.

01 Banner Design

• We need one design for the announcement graphic in different sizes for the following use cases:
  • A. Email header: 1126 x 552px
  • B. Twitter post: 1600 x 900px
  • C. Facebook post: 1200 x 630px
  • D. Topcoder Dashboard: 664 x 330px
• Format: PNG and JPEG
• Please note that the design remains the same with minimal changes across the above use cases in the placement of elements (if at all). 
• Your banner should complement the banner design for listing stage winners. 
• Content
  • TCO22 Logo and Topcoder logo (please note that we only use the black and the white variations of the latter, not the colored one anymore)
  • Text
    • Title: “2022 Topcoder Open”
    • Location: “Boston, USA”
    • Dates: “Nov 15 - 18, 2022”
  • Graphic and background
    • Design an original graphic and background that captures the spirit of TCO22 and the feel of the venue.
• References
  • TCO19 Email header
  • Topcoder Dashboard

02 One-pager 

• Size: US Letter-size / 8.5 x 11 inches
• Format: PDF
• Content
  • TCO22 Logo and Topcoder logo (please note that we only use the black and the white variations of the latter, not the colored one anymore)
  • Text
    • Title: “2022 Topcoder Open”
    • Location: “Boston, USA”
    • Dates: “Nov 15 - 18, 2022”
  • Graphic and background
    • Design an original graphic and background that captures the spirit of TCO22 and the feel of the venue.
  • Sponsor section
    • Section title: “Sponsored by”
    • Placeholder for adding multiple logos
• References
  • TCO19 One-pager

03 Social media - Instagram sticker

• Size: 600 x 600px
• There is no maximum file size, our server will automatically resize the sticker on upload.
• Format: PNG/GIF
• Show us what is possible in this space? 
• What might be some creative ways to leverage Instagram stickers and stories to promote TCO22?
• Research about best practices for this. We are looking for a few (1 or more) stickers (static or animated) that participants, organisers or viewers might want to use in their Instagram stories.
• Content: Open to designer

Target Audience

• Topcoder community
• Potential sponsors
• Topcoder customers

Branding Guidelines

• For this challenge, you can treat Topcoder Branding Guide as a starting point, but feel free to improve based on it to design something fun and engaging. Please have FUN and don’t feel tied down to the guidelines.
• Note: We are moving away from the use of too many blobs. Waves are still fine to use in your designs.

Design Assets

• Topcoder Branding Guidelines
• Topcoder logo (Please note that we only use the black and the white variations of the logo. Do not use the colored version anymore)
• TCO22 logo

Judging Criteria

• Creativity: Impactful; the design is different or unique from what is already out there.
• Exploration: Flexible; follow the provided sizes and content and branding but you have freedom over everything else.
• Aesthetics: Hi-fidelity design; provide a top-notch finished-looking visual design.

Font and Stock Artworks

• Photos: use only free photos from the sites allowed by Topcoder or you can use any photo from Topcoder’s Flickr album.
• Icons: Use icons only from the Streamline icon set. The link to the icon set is shared on the Challenge forum.
• Fonts: use only Topcoder’s brand fonts. At Topcoder we use two font families, each with a unique purpose and use case: Barlow and Roboto. From the Barlow family, we are focused on Barlow Regular and Condensed. The Barlow family is used only for headings, while Roboto is used for Subtitles, body text and captions.