This fall Columbia is hosting the second Manifest Design Competition, a student-based art contest to design the official artwork and graphics for Manifest 2010. All current students can propose work and vote for the winning design on Columbia’s Web site after the submissions are posted.

The winner of the competition will win a $500 prize and work with a creative printing service to get the final product ready for distribution.

Given that Manifest is a student-driven event that is held to help senior students launch their careers, it’s great that the annual design will be student-produced. Columbia’s efforts to showcase student work through this competition are admirable and represent an ongoing commitment from the college.

The competition is an excellent example of Columbia’s dedication to student work and should continue for every Manifest celebration in the future.

Last year’s winning design, made by then-senior art & design major Rachal Duggan, was clever and well-received by the student body. Some students stole screen-printed posters with the official design from the bulletin areas throughout campus and many still wear the 2009 Manifest T-shirts.

The design competition is a great chance for a student’s work to gain exposure and be seen across the college, the city and the country. Even the work that isn’t chosen as the official design will be seen by some of the student population.

“This is an opportunity for a student to become world famous,” said Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs at Columbia.

The design competition echoes an issue the Editorial Board has previously discussed—that students should create the media and advertisements that represent the college, not an outsourced design team. In an editorial from the Sept. 21 issue, the board suggested the idea of students designing billboard advertisements for class credit.

Student work is what propels Manifest and having a Columbia artist design the official graphics is an exceptional idea that shows the community what students are capable of creating.