NEW YORK, NY, September 16, 2005 -- Building on the successes of its two previous competitions, the Association of Graphic Communications (AGC), in conjunction with its Education Foundation for the Graphic Arts, is proud to announce its Third Annual Graphic Arts Design Competition for High School Students. The initiative offers graphic arts students from public high schools in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut an opportunity to create a digitally produced poster for use by The Actors’ Fund, a not-for-profit organization that supports the nation’s entertainment community. AGC is seeking experienced creative professionals from the graphic arts, publishing, advertising, and corporate communications sectors to mentor student teams and guide them through the creative process, as the students design and produce a poster fulfilling a creative brief provided by The Actors’ Fund. The timeframe of the competition simulates the urgency of a professional creative deadline, spanning only five weeks. The registration date for school participation is September 21 and the submission deadline is October 26th. Previous winning designs created by high school students included an ad campaign for Literacy Partners, another NYC-based not-for-profit organization, which ran in Newsweek magazine and on MTA buses in New York City. “We are most pleased to work this year with The Actors’ Fund on such an exciting initiative,” stated Diane Chavan, AGC’s Vice President of Education & Training. “This competition provides public school students with important work experience—exposing them, at an early age, to the creative process of a real ad campaign and giving them a chance to work with professionals on an exciting non-profit project. The contest also offers our industry the opportunity to help mold the next generation of professional graphic artists within our workforce.” The winning entries will be announced at a special Education Awards Ceremony at AGC’s Graphic Communications Day, scheduled on November 16, 2005 at Pier 90 in New York City. Mr. Tom Saggiomo, president, Graphic Systems, North America, at Agfa will deliver a closing education keynote address. Sponsors for the Education Awards Ceremony are Xerox, Adobe and XMPie. To participate as a graphic arts design competition mentor, contact Diane Chavan at [email protected] or (212) 279-2100, ext. 109.