Call for Submissions: Black Rock City 2023 “ANIMALIA” Sticker Designs

It’s that time again! The moment has arrived to create your designs for the 2023 Black Rock City stickers. With a theme like ANIMALIA, I can’t wait to see what wild creativity flows.

Jump to the end of this post for design specs, submission guidelines and the deadline (spoiler: it’s May 12, 2023).

Every year we print many different sticker designs, and typically over a dozen submissions find their way to the playa. Last year we printed even more due to the many amazing submissions! That’s right, we aren’t sitting over here behind our laptops designing a bunch of weird stickers — YOUR lovely brains are in charge. We just print a ton of them and magically transport them to the playa… and hopefully into your hands (and onto your stuff). So if you’ve ever wanted to see one of your own designs on a BRC sticker, this is the moment. Live it! 

Think your style is a little wacky? Fear not. We like variety! Get weird. Bring that snark. Tap into that inner child and get playful. Indulge your love of symmetry. Truly, create whatever your heart desires. 

Feel free to submit a couple different designs. Don’t forget, there is a theme (hint: it’s ANIMALIA); if a sticker has at least something to do with our animal friends, it’s more likely to get printed. Want to improve your chances even more?  Submit a square design, since most submissions we receive are circles.

One more thing! Before you submit a design, please read through the requirements below. No custom shapes. No low-res JPGs. And if the type isn’t outlined, our laptops turn your font into something like Comic Sans or Marker Felt (the horror!).

Black Rock City 2023 Sticker Design Specs

1. Design(s) will need to be one of these die sizes:

• 3” diameter circle
• 3″x 3″ square with a 0.062” corner radius
• 2.5″ x 6” with a 0.125” corner radius

2. You must OUTLINE all fonts, meaning vector text is no longer a font but rather it is vector shapes. This eliminates issues for us and the printer not having the font, which is a dealbreaker.

3. If using one to three colors, set up the file to print as PMS. If using four or more colors, set up the file to print as CMYK.

Designer Tips

• Did you read the specs? Read the specs!
• Include “Burning Man” or “Black Rock City” and the year 2023 in the design for bonus points. 
• Incorporate the ANIMALIA theme. Or don’t. It’s your sticker. Just remember what I said above.

Submitting Your Art

• Send the original Adobe Illustrator (.ai) file to stickers@burningman.org. You can also send a high resolution PDF, but the original file is preferred.
• Whether sending a design or questions, please put your first and last name in the subject header as well as the phrase “2023 Sticker Submission.”
• DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOUR DESIGN MEETS ALL DESIGN SPEC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE. 

Sticker Art Submission Deadline:

Wednesday, May 12, 2023. No art can be accepted after this date!

P.S. Did you read the specs? If you send the wrong file type, color settings, or dimensions, we won’t be able to consider your design. And we don’t want that. So double check, then triple check. Is it vector? Is the text outlined? Yes? Then send it on over! 

Cover image is a collection of BRC stickers from 2022 (Photo by Jamen Percy; the hands are the author’s)