Safety Belt Poster Contest

Break out those markers and dust off the paint brushes, it's time to enter the GEICO Safety Belt Poster Contest! As students across the country jump back into the swing of the school season, GEICO hopes they'll keep an important message in mind while on the bus and in cars: buckle up!

GEICO urges all young artists to enter the 2008 Safety Belt Poster Contest to help spread the safety belt message and save lives.

Students are invited to use their creativity to graphically design, draw, paint, color or cut and paste an original picture and message emphasizing the importance of using safety belts. Computer-generated posters are eligible and will be judged separately from hand-drawn posters.

Congratulations to the 2007 winners and to all the students who entered the contest. Let's all continue to reinforce the message that buckling up does save lives.

Four age groups

The contest is now divided into four age groups:

  • 6-to-8
  • 9-to-11
  • 12-to-15
  • 16-to-18

And our computer-generated artwork category!

There are eight GEICO geographic regions in the contest and entries are initially judged against other age-group posters from the same region. Computer-generated artwork will be judged on its own, not against other age groups.

First-place winners in each of the age-groups from the eight regions all advance to the national judging. One national winner in each age group will be selected as well as one computer-generated winner.

Prizes

First-, second- and third-place prizes of $150, $100, and $50 are awarded in each region for each age group.

Each of the four national age-group winners earns an additional $500.

$500 for art supplies to the four national winners' schools.

$600 to the winner of the computer-generated category.

Contest Rules

  • The GEICO Safety Belt Poster Contest is open to public, private and home-schooled students who are between the ages of 6 and 18 as of September 1, 2008.
  • Students should not include their name, a brand-name logo, GEICO, the Gecko, or the Caveman in their poster design.
  • Any illustration depicting pain, injury or death in their poster will be disqualified.
  • Bodiless heads should not be depicted. Students should include the entire body with proper usage of a safety belt in the poster.
  • Children of GEICO employees are not eligible to enter.
  • Students should make sure they illustrate a regulation safety belt, with both lap and shoulder strap.
  • Only one entry per student will be considered.
  • Students must design and complete their posters WITHOUT the help of friends, parents, teachers or siblings.
  • If a grand prize winner is home-schooled, the $500 school prize will go to a local art program benefiting children in the community.
  • GEICO reserves the right to use the names of winning student artists and their artwork for publicity purposes.

Entry Specifications

The entry must meet the following specifications:

  • Size: 11" x 17", either vertical or horizontal.
  • Color or black and white entries are acceptable.
  • Medium: any two-dimensional medium (charcoal, watercolor, marker, cut-and-paste, etc.)
  • Entries in the computer-generated category must meet the 11" x 17" format size, either vertical or horizontal. Entries may be in color or black and white.

Official Entry Form

All entries must have an official entry form taped securely to the back of the poster. Entry forms are on the geico.com site as well as inside the fall issue of GEICO Direct magazine. Posters without an entry form cannot be considered.

Contest deadline

Entries must be postmarked no later than January 16, 2009. Judging will be held in February; winners will be notified in April.

Reminders

  • Posters will be judged on originality, clarity of message and quality of artwork by a panel of experts in the fields of art and highway safety. Decision of the judges will be final.
  • Students agree by entering the contest to give GEICO ownership of their artwork with the right to reproduce it should it be selected a grand-prize winner.
  • Posters will not be returned.
  • Only winners will be notified by mail; individual entrants will not be recognized due to the high number of entries.
  • Mail entries early.