4th Annual 
April 30th - May 3rd, 2026

2026 LOGO DESIGN CHALLENGE

2026 marks the 4th Annual Newark LGBTQ Film Festival, highlighting powerful BIPOC LGBTQ storytelling in the heart of Newark, New Jersey. This year, we’re expanding our celebration of LGBTQ+ narratives beyond film and into the visual arts—and we’re inviting our community to help shape the festival’s identity.

We are calling on LGBTQ+-identifying artists to design the official logo for the 2026 Newark LGBTQ Film Festival, incorporating this year’s theme:

Stronger Together: Our Stories. Our Power.

Your design should reflect the richness, resilience, and collective strength of LGBTQ+ communities, with special attention to BIPOC voices and storytelling and the city of Newark, NJ.

 

The selected artist will receive:

• $500 cash prize

• Featured recognition as the official 2026 festival logo designer

• Their design showcased across:

• Festival promotions and marketing

• Event signage

• Merchandise and digital platforms

✨ Why Participate?
This is more than a logo—it’s an opportunity to visually represent the stories, power, and creativity of LGBTQ+ communities in Newark and beyond.

Challenge Timeline:

• Design Challenge Open: Feb 2, 2026 - February 28, 2026

• Top 2 Designs selected by Film Festival Committee: March 1, 2026

• Online Voting Opens: March 2, 2026

• Online Voting Closes March 16, 2026

• Winner Announced on March 17, 2026

 

Specification/Rules for Submission:

 

• Must be original artwork. No AI assisted/AI generated submissions will be accepted.

• Must be in Vector Format - This means the logo or artwork needs to be made in a program like Adobe Illustrator or a lineart program that provide .SVG or .EPS

• The artwork should be exported or saved as PDF format with fonts outlined and all layers unlocked or merged.

• Raster format will not be acceptable - which means no Photoshop or artwork that is has aliasing - this will not print correctly and will become distorted.

• Fonts: All fonts must be outlined. If you are using Adobe Illustrator > go to Document set-up and change the resolution to 2400 before outlining your fonts.

• Colors: It is best to use Spot colors - Pantone or similar to have consistent printing of the colors

• If providing CMYK, RGB, HSB provide the values along with your submission

 

🎉 Let’s celebrate love, art, and community!

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Questions? Reach out to at (973) 474-4677 or email us at info@newarklgbtqcenter.org