Submissions Frequently Asked Questions

How does Critique work?

Critique is a helpful tool for people who want to get feedback from the Infectious community before submitting into the main voting gallery. This is a good route for artists who are submitting art to Infectious for the first time. You can resubmit a design multiple times to Critique and get helpful hints from the community for improving your design. When you're ready you can submit the best version to be voted on in Open Submissions.

How does Open Submissions work?

At the moment we're only accepting Laptop Art submissions, stayed tuned for the launch of Wall Art and the re-launch of Car Art submission. We hold an Open Submissions contest once a month. You can submit any idea you like, there are no creative constraints. Infectious staff, our community of artists and the general public vote on submitted artwork for two weeks and at the end of the month we select designs to join the catalog. Remember once we accept a design into the Open Submissions voting gallery you cannot amend your design. If you'd like to get feedback from the Infectious community to help tweak your design then we recommend using the Critique section.

How do Themed Contests work?

We regularly present Themed design contests here at Infectious, for the last one we invited artists to create Obama art by blowing the bumper sticker into big and beautiful Car Art. These contests have a start date and a deadline. All submissions are judged based on the design theme, sometimes we have guest judges. Winning designs receive some combination of cash, royalties and free product that can vary from contest to contest.

What do I get if I win?

Our Open Submissions favorite design of the month receives $500 cash, up to $400 worth of Infectious product and 5% net sales. All other Open Submissions that are invited into the catalog receive $100 cash, $400 of Infectious product and 5% net sales. For Themed Contests, it changes from contest to contest. However all accepted designs (Themed or Open) always get at least $100 upfront cash and 5% royalty.

How long will the process take?

If your design is accepted into the Open Submissions gallery, we'll get in touch right away. For both Open Submissions and Themed Contests, we'll contact the winners within a couple of weeks of the deadline expiring. We'll then work with you to help convert your vision into something that works well on a laptop, wall or car over the next month or two. After that we'll publicly announce that you are the winner to the Infectious community and add your art up to catalog soon after. If you do not hear back from us straight away at the end of a contest period we ask that you give us 90 days to consider it for our catalog before repurposing it.

Do I maintain rights to my artwork?

We do not own submissions. We only have limited rights for creating our product. Please read through our Design License Agreement for a thorough description.

Why has my art been declined?

We will always let you know why your design has been rejected. Common reasons include:

• Your submission must be a 650px by up to 800px image which is 250 kb or less. Our website will not accept submissions that do not conform to these dimensions. Sorry.
• Your artwork has not been submitted on an image of a laptop, wall or car, which means we don't know what your intended lay-out is.
• The cut lines are too complex, we need relatively simple outlines to the vinyl so that it it easy to cut out and install. Avoid tendrils/filigree lines and designs that have lots of vinyl cut out from the center.
• You've used too much vinyl. This is a common issue for Car Art submissions - they are not full vehicle wraps. Please check the Submissions instructions for size limitations for each Infectious product.
• Your composition simply doesn't work. Especially for Car Art, we don't want the design to look as if it's just stickers slapped on the side of the car. It has to be conceived as Car Art, have a strong theme and flow across the car as a composition.
• Copyright issues. Only submit your own work. Your own words, your own images, your own photos.
• It is a duplicate submission. You've resubmitted a piece that has previously been declined and the design has not been significantly changed.
• The resolution is too low or we can't see any details of your art. Be creative with your submission form and show us lots of crops and zoom ins.

What kind of vinyl will my art be printed on?

Designs are solvent printed onto the highest quality vinyl. Our vinyl is easy to put on, easy to remove and durable. Each of our product lines has been developed with a vinyl designed for its specific purpose.

How many colors can I use?

There are no limits on colors. We ink jet print the full color spectrum, which means we can capture all the beautiful little nuances of your work. If you're designing for cars remember though that your design needs to works on a variety of different color cars.

How many layers of vinyl can I over-lay over each other in my design?

We do not recommend layering vinyl.

What subjects are taboo when I'm designing vinyl for you?

Our only request is that we do not receive images of celebrities because of trademark infringement issues. Aside from that, we are into collaboration not censorship. Please bear in mind though we sell art that is in the public space. Please use your best judgment.

Can’t find an answer to your question? Please email us at designs [at] infectious [dot] com