OPTION 1 - Call for Designs
Students can submit existing art and design that will be transferred onto products to be sold on ShopOCADU. This route provides current students who may not have market-ready products with a chance to get their work retailed. OCAD U will manage the manufacturing, packaging and marketing.
We are currently soliciting designs for the following products:
- Greeting Cards
- Thank Yous
- Holiday (including but not limited to Christmas and Hanukkah)
- Birthday
- Valentine’s Day
- Tote Bags
- Mugs/Tumblers
- Art prints (digital)
Students will retain IP ownership but grant rights for OCAD U to produce and sell the designs for a fee for a period of time. Students will be paid $100 plus 5% of sale profits.
Chosen student designs will also feature a student profile on ShopOCADU with a link to the student’s website. See below for product-specific briefs.
OPTION 2 - Market-Ready Products
This route is catered to students, faculty, and alumni who have existing product. We are interested in the following products:
- Accessories (scarves, bags)
- Artworks and prints including: paintings/drawings; prints; photographs; sculptures; textiles
- Ceramics
- Homeware
- Jewelry
- Small furniture items
- Stationary
- Magnets, pins and stickers
Applying to this route means:
- You have high-quality images/photography of your product
- Your products are already being manufactured
- You understand how wholesale and retail pricing works
- You have more than one product to sell
OCAD U will negotiate a wholesale price and then sell products on ShopOCADU.ca.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Deadline is Sept. 22, 2025
Send an email to shopocadu@ocadu.ca with:
- Links or attachment images of your design/product
- Clearly indicating whether your are submitting an existing design or a market ready product. If you are submitting a market ready product, please indicate your proposed wholesale price.
OPTION 1 – CALL FOR DESIGNS - HOLIDAY CARD DESIGN BRIEF
ShopOCADU is providing OCAD U students with the chance to design a new range of holiday cards. The winning designs will be printed and sold online at ShopOCADU.ca starting in Nov. 2025.
Designs don’t have to directly reference Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or other religious festivals, but they should be recognizably festive. All interpretations of holiday will be considered - from traditional imagery through to more modern and abstract representations.
Designs should be appealing to the general public and represent the quality, creativity and diversity of OCAD U. Entries will be judged on their originality, appeal to potential buyers and their ability to capture the spirit of the holidays. While the final image must be submitted in a digital format for a printed card, we encourage applications from all faculties to apply.
Your card design must be either 150mm x 150mm, or 120mm x170mm, with a 3mm bleed and without key design elements (eg text) within 30mm from the bottom edge, as this will be covered by the packaging.
The winning designs will be produced in-house, and we will require Illustrator, EPS, or Tiff files. Copyright in the design will remain with the creator, but with ShopOCADU having an exclusive license to reproduce it for the current season. This means the design should not be sold elsewhere through other retailers or your website.
Selected submissions will be contacted at the end of October. The ShopOCADU team will then communicate directly with successful students via email.
Eligibility
- Current OCAD U student
- Design must be recognizably festive
- Design for the card must be either 150mm x 150mm, or 120mm x170mm, with a 3mm bleed
- Design submitted cannot be used commercially at time of sale of Christmas cards (for example used on other products or sold in other places)
- Up to three different designs can be submitted by one applicant, please be selective when submitting your work, and ask friends to help edit if needed. Please do not send multiple colourways, we will only be able to put one forward to the panel if you do.
Criteria for selection
- Designs presented to a high standard
- Creativity, uniqueness, and offer fresh approach to the theme of holiday
- Commercial viability, for example have wide public appeal
How To Enter
Upload your design by 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025 via shopocadu@ocadu.ca, adhering to the following design requirements:
- Submission file type: High resolution JPEG (300 dpi) with max size of 1MB. NB: If selected you will need to supply an Illustrator, EPS or Tiff file.
- Image format: 150 x 150mm or 120 x 170mm (with allowance for a 3mm bleed around outside edge)
What makes a good Holiday Card design?
When designing your card consider:
The audience, and who will buy and who will receive it.
- We are looking for designs that are appealing to a diverse audience, such as art lovers, families, overseas tourists and Toronto locals.
- The design needs to work in an art environment and successfully communicate holiday whilst offering a fresh contemporary take that cannot be found in a typical card shop.
Think about the message you want to convey with your design
- Successful designs will be able to visually communicate the festive holidays without additional context as they will be instantly recognizable to a customer as a holiday card.
- Consider if your design will be received positively by loved ones and professionals.
How does the colour palette impact your design?
- Consider if the colouring elevates your design to stand out if on a busy card display.
- Check if the colouring works well together by doing a test print.
Terms and Conditions
- This call is open to current students from OCAD U
- Students are welcome to collaborate on the design(s), but to note that the prize money will be divided equally between them should their design be selected.
- You can submit up to three design entries but only one card per student will be selected.
- Designs should be commercially viable and may be required to be adapted to increase suitability (in agreement with the entrant).
- Artwork can be produced in any medium but must be submitted as a high-resolution digital image.
- Chosen applicants will need to supply the final artwork to ShopOCADU as an Illustrator, EPS or Tiff file and provide a short designer biography.
- The intellectual property of designs submitted but not selected will remain entirely with the students who created them.
- Designs entered must be your own, existing original artwork, of which you hold and will maintain the copyright to.
- License agreement will be between designer and ShopOCADU. Once selected, the winning designers will contacted by ShopOCADI production team via email to discuss agreement and production.
- Winning designs will be exclusively licenced to ShopOCADU for the purpose of reproduction until the end of the festive season. At this point the license will end and you will be entitled to seek new outlets for the design.
- Selected designs cannot be used commercially elsewhere during the selling period (such as on other products or cards in other retailers)
- Initial fee money will be paid to designer by OCADU
- If in the following year (2025) OCADU wishes to reprint the design, they will contact the designer and pay a fixed fee equivalent to a royalty payment based on the amount of cards they will reprint (6% of RRP ex VAT).
- The chosen designs will also be used across OCAD U marketing and advertising materials to promote ShopOCADU and future submission solicitations. You will be credited whenever image is used.
- Production costs of cards will be managed by ShopOCADU.
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OPTION 1 – CALL FOR DESIGNS - COFFEE MUG DESIGN BRIEF
ShopOCADU is giving OCAD U students the opportunity to design our next limited-edition coffee mug. The chosen design will be featured on ceramic mugs and sold online at ShopOCADU.ca
We're looking for a design that is bold, giftable, and uniquely OCAD U. Your artwork should translate well to a curved surface and look great in the hands of students, alumni, staff, or anyone in the public. The design may be humorous, abstract, typographic, pattern-based, or illustrative—but must feel contemporary, creative, and aligned with the spirit of an art and design school.
Design Requirements
- Mug format: Standard 11 oz ceramic mug (approx. 3.75” tall, 3.25” diameter)
- Printable area: 8.6" x 3.7" (wraparound design or centered graphic)
- Submit initial design as a high-res JPEG or PNG (300 dpi, max 2MB)
- If selected, you must supply an Illustrator (AI), EPS, or layered PSD file
- Avoid metallics, gradients, and fine details that may not transfer well to ceramic
- Use CMYK colour mode; max 4 colours preferred for cost-effective printing
Eligibility
- Open to all current OCAD U students
- You may submit up to three designs, but only one may be selected
- Submissions must be your own original work and not sold elsewhere
Selection Criteria
Designs will be judged by the ShopOCADU team on the basis of:
- Creativity and visual appeal
- Suitability for mug printing (scale, colour, and legibility)
- Connection to OCAD U or student life
- Commercial potential (will people want to buy this?)
Timeline
- Submissions Due: 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025
- Designers Notified: Sept. 29, 2025
- Mug Launch: Nov. 2025
How To Enter
Upload your design by 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025 via shopocadu@ocadu.ca, adhering to the following design requirements:
- Submission file type: High resolution JPEG (300 dpi) with max size of 1MB. NB: If selected you will need to supply an Illustrator, EPS or Tiff file.
- Image format: 150 x 150mm or 120 x 170mm (with allowance for a 3mm bleed around outside edge)
What Makes a Great Mug Design?
- Think “shelf standout” — Would this catch someone’s eye in a retail display?
- Think “giftable” — Could someone give this to a friend, parent, or prof?
- Think “OCAD spirit” — Is the design clever, creative, or tied to our school’s culture?
Terms and Conditions
- ShopOCADU will hold an exclusive license to produce and sell the selected design for one production run
- Intellectual property remains with the designer
- The selected designer will be paid a flat fee of $100 plus 5% of sales profit
- The mug may be used in ShopOCADU and OCAD U marketing (with full credit to the artist)
- If the design is reprinted in the future, a secondary licensing fee will be negotiated
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OPTION 1 – CALL FOR DESIGNS - TOTE BAG DESIGN BRIEF
ShopOCADU is inviting current OCAD U students to submit a design for our next limited-edition tote bag, launching in Nov. 2025.
This tote will be sold online at ShopOCADU.ca. We are seeking bold, art-forward designs that represent the creativity, diversity, and energy of the OCAD U community. The selected design should appeal to a broad audience—including students, alumni, art lovers, and the wider Toronto community.
Whether your aesthetic is illustrative, typographic, abstract, or conceptual, we encourage all interpretations—as long as your design makes a visual impact and feels uniquely OCAD.
Design Requirements
- Final print area: 11" x 13" (portrait orientation), max 1-colour screen print (black or white ink)
- Background fabric: Natural cotton (off-white/beige) or Black
- Avoid fine lines or gradients; design must be screen-printable
- No large solid blocks of ink (to ensure wash durability and reduce cracking)
- Submit your initial concept as a high-resolution JPEG or PNG (300 dpi, max 2MB)
- If selected, you must provide an Illustrator (AI), EPS, or layered PSD file
Eligibility
- Open to all current OCAD U students
- You may submit up to three designs, but only one may be selected
- Submissions must be original artwork and not currently sold elsewhere
Selection Criteria
Designs will be reviewed by the ShopOCADU team and judged on:
- Visual impact and originality
- Connection to OCAD U's creative identity
- Commercial viability (e.g. would someone want to carry this bag?)
- Suitability for 1-colour screen printing
Timeline
- Submissions Due: 5:00pm on Monday, September 22, 2025
- Designers Notified: September 29, 2025
- Tote Bag Launch: November 2025
How To Enter
Upload your design by 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025 via shopocadu@ocadu.ca adhering to the following design requirements:
- Submission file type: High resolution JPEG (300 dpi) with max size of 1MB. NB: If selected you will need to supply an Illustrator, EPS or Tiff file.
- Image format: 150 x 150mm or 120 x 170mm (with allowance for a 3mm bleed around outside edge)
What Makes a Great Tote Design?
Think about:
- The bag as a walking billboard — Does it grab attention on the street, in the studio, or at the market?
- The user — Would students, staff, and visitors all find this wearable and functional?
- The purpose — Does your design feel connected to the OCAD U spirit, art and design culture, or the student experience?
Terms and Conditions
- ShopOCADU will hold an exclusive license to reproduce the winning design for one production run
- The intellectual property remains with the designer
- Artists will receive a flat design fee of $100 plus 5% of sales profit
- The winning design may be featured in ShopOCADU and OCAD U marketing materials (credit will be given)
- Reprints beyond the initial run may be negotiated separately
