Wacom Launches the 2023 Character Design Contest

High school students will showcase their creativity and skills in national contest

Portland, Ore – February 17, 2023 – Wacom, the world’s leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays, and digital interface solutions, is opening the call for entries for the 2023 Character Design Contest. Character design is an integral part of the creative process as it plays a crucial role across various fields including animation, video games, and comic books. 

Students will have the opportunity to showcase their talent and have their work reviewed and recognized by a leading technology company in the digital art industry. This contest is for students ages 13 and up in the United States taking part in a high school art or CTE program.

To enter, students must create original artwork on a Wacom tablet and the software of their choice. The artwork will then be reviewed and submitted by their teacher. It is required that all submissions must be made by an authorized representative of the school. Teachers can download the submission packet here and view the full contest terms and conditions here.

Artwork will be scored by a panel of judges on shape, color, pose/silhouette, and overall design. The panel of judges is made of up various digital art industry leaders, including Joshua Leonard, a character designer and creator, and Mike Morris, an episodic director, story artist and animation supervisor.

The top three selected entries will be notified via email by the end of May 2023. The first-place winner will receive a Wacom Cintiq 16. The second-place winner will receive a Wacom One and the third-place winner will receive a Wacom Intuos Pro. Winners’ artwork will also be promoted on Wacom social channels.

It is free for teachers to enter student artwork and the deadline to enter is Saturday, April 15, 2023. To learn more about Wacom and the 2023 Character Design Contest, visit content.wacom.com/acton/media/43270/high-school-art-contest.

About Wacom 
Founded in 1983, Wacom is a global company based in Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6727) with subsidiaries and affiliate offices around the world to support marketing and distribution in over 150 countries. Wacom’s vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world’s leading manufacturer of interactive pen tablets and displays as well as of digital styli and solutions for saving and processing digital signatures. The advanced technology of Wacom’s intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world and provides business and home users with their leading interface technology to express their personality. Please visit www.wacom.com for further information.

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