Button Art Competition Rules & Application

Thank you for your interest in submitting your artwork for our SevenDays^® 2024 Button Art Competition! You'll find the complete competition rules below, followed by the application form. If you have any questions, contact Jill Andersen.

SevenDays^® 2024 Button Competition Rules

• Complete the Button Competition Application and submit by the deadline.
• High school students (grades 9–12) in the Kansas City metro area are eligible to participate.
• Application (fill out on the SevenDays website) and Art due December 15, 2023.
• Each artist must turn in original artwork for each of the eight buttons. One button for each of the themed days and one button for our “general” SevenDays® button. (Love, Discover, Others, Connect, You, Go, Onward, SevenDays) Label each button design with the theme it represents. There have been a few instances in past years where student designs appeared to infringe on the works of well‑known artists or to otherwise violate copyright protections. The SevenDays® Competitions Committee will immediately disqualify any designs that the Committee, in its discretion, perceives to have committed copyright infringement.
• $500 will be awarded to each of the eight winners. Students may only win for one button design.
• Students must submit their button designs electronically (e.g., pdf, jpeg, png, psd, etc.). This means the following:
  • Students who are hand-drawing their designs must use the templates provided with the Button Competition Application. The Committee reserves the right to disqualify any hand-drawn designs that do not meet the size requirements in the template. Students should then scan or photograph their hand-drawn designs using the resolutions described in the Application before submitting them.
  • Students designing buttons using computer software, photography, etc. do not have to use the template with the application, but the designs must be at least the same size as the template or larger.
• Students may use any art medium for their button designs. We have even had a winner who built 3D designs and then photographed them.
• Button winners must commit to and be available for interviews for a short film explaining how they conceived of their winning design as it relates to the day theme, what the ripple of kindness means to them, and how they are making ripples of kindness in their own lives and communities. Remote methods or other appropriate protocols will be used for interviews in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Button winners: Be prepared to promote your button in any or all of the following formats – photographs, videos, local media interviews, in person at our Kindness Breakfast on April 10, 2024.
• Button winners must be available for the Love Day event on April 10, 2024. Awards and checks will be presented at this time.
• Helpful tips and thoughts for designing button images: Take some time to look through our website for a true understanding of our mission and values.
  • Love Day: The theme of love refers to the love and appreciation we should show one another as humans. It means to celebrate our differences and the commonality we can find in one another amongst those differences. It is not romantic love.
  • Discover Day: Discover can refer to so many things—the discovery of new knowledge, experiences, races, cultures, religions, and the challenges experienced by others. Draw on these vast and rich subjects when considering your design.
  • Others Day: Every day, there are nationally broadcast examples of people being made to feel like the “other.” What does otherness mean to you? How might we express kindness and understanding to someone feeling like an outsider? How do we share in the experiences of someone with a different background?
  • Connect Day: Our committee encourages creativity in interpreting “connect.” How do we connect in society, socially, intellectually, emotionally, etc.? Perhaps, draw on the unique ways in which students have had to learn to connect and perform acts of kindness in a world where social distancing is the new normal.
  • You Day: You Day focuses on how we take care of our own mind, body, and spirit. This theme has perhaps led to the widest range of button designs. How do you imagine mindfulness, wellness, and health? How are you finding inner peace during COVID-19?
  • Go Day: Go Day is about getting out into the world, physically as well as socially or emotionally. Go could be represented by anything that encourages us to take a step into the future. How are you getting yourself to go with so much time at home? How do you get motivated?
  • Onward Day: Think about how to turn the concept of moving forward or individual growth into an image. Onward is about our next steps. After we have learned, we need to take actions. Represent moving ahead with new knowledge and actions to make the world a kinder place for everyone.
  • SevenDays® Theme: This button represents all of the SevenDays® mission, thoughts, and actions. Focus on our mission and show us what that looks like! Making ripples of kindness is, of course, the guiding light of SevenDays®.