“The country needs, and unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something” - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1932

“This is going to be the (Green) New Deal, the Great Society, the moon shot, the civil-rights movement of our generation.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 2019

Nearly 100 years ago, staring down The Great Depression, our government put the nation’s artists to work, shaping America’s vision of itself, with President Roosevelt’s New Deal. The artists, the art, and the story of America coming together stands out in history as a model for tackling our biggest problems, and inspired us to start CAN in the first place (we even made sure our name was 3 letters, just like the WPA).

 

Today, we find ourselves in a similar position, facing down climate change, income inequality, racial injustice, and more problems too big for small solutions. That’s why we’re so excited to join the movement advocating for a Green New Deal: a set of progressive legislative proposals aimed at, among other things, curbing the effects of climate change and transforming the U.S. economy and infrastructure. While the Green New Deal is still in its infancy, at CAN we’ve taken up the charge of helping the public understand and imagine what could be possible with this exciting new set of policies -- just as the artists of the original New Deal helped to inform and advocate for those innovative programs over 80 years ago.

We’re seeking poster designs that advocate for and help visualize the Green New Deal and one or more of its main themes (see below). We launched this collection of posters at a first-of-its-kind event in Washington D.C. on March 14th, bringing together the top Green New Deal advocates, policy-makers and investors in the nation.

Topics:  

• Restoration of Wetlands
• Building Retrofits
• Ocean Health
• Climate Refugees
• Income Inequality
• Racial Equality / Climate Justice
• Lower Energy Costs for Citizens 
• Job Retraining / Continuing Education
• Zero Emission Vehicles 
• Green Public Transportation
• Reforestation

Your Poster Design Should:  

• Elevate and advocate for the Green New Deal either in its entirety or by choosing one of the themes listed above.
• Include the text "Green New Deal" in some capacity.
• Take stylistic inspiration from (but not be limited by) the art of the original New Deal/WPA.
• Emphasize diversity, equality, cooperation, coming together to save the country and the world.
• Be a vertically oriented, 12" by 16" RGB image at a resolution of 300dpi (3600 by 4800 pixels) that is a JPG or PNG
• Be full bleed (no margins or borders)
• Keep a safe area of at least 1" on all sides (do not place text too close to the edge)

 Your Design Should Not:

• Be partisan or mention any political group, candidate.
• Include urls or logos (small artist signatures are fine)
• Use copyrighted images like brand logos, editorial photography of celebrities or politicians, or someone else’s artwork. All images you use should be your own, or available under a creative commons or other similar license.

Optional: Additional Products

If you think your Green New Deal poster design would make a cool button or t-shirt, please consider submitting designs for those products as well! There’s no guarantee we’ll be able to print them all, but we think there could be a demand for buttons and apparel and we’d love to try some designs!

In addition to the Poster requirements, your Apparel Design Should (optional):

• Be free-floating (not compositionally reliant on the frame of the image)
• Be a vertically oriented, 15" by 19" RGB image at a resolution of 300dpi (4500 by 5700 pixels)
• Be a transparent or layered file with a solid background color (TIFF, PNG, PSD, or AI)

In addition to the Poster requirements, your Button Design Should (optional):

• Be a square, RGB image at 1035 by 1035 pixels that is a JPG or PNG
• Fill the entire square canvas but content should crop to a circle.
• Keep a safe area of at least 100 pixels on all sides (don’t place text or important objects too close to the edge).