RECOGNIZE is a design anthology that features essays and commentary from indigenous people and people of color — the next generation of emerging design voices.
Masthead
RECOGNIZE is a project from designer Maurice Cherry, 2018 recipient of the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary from AIGA.
The first volume of this anthology was funded through a grant from the Design Forward Fund from InVision.
Volumes 2 and 3 of RECOGNIZE were sponsored by Lunch.
What We’re Seeking
We are seeking original essays about design, design culture, the design community, or the design profession. Essays can come in any format — a narrative, a critique, a manifesto, an argument, etc., and they can be expository, descriptive, or whatever you like.
For each volume of RECOGNIZE, all essays share one word as a common theme. The theme for Volume 3 is reboot. It is up to the author to determine how they will incorporate this as a prevalent theme into their submission. The word can have many interpretations, so be creative and have fun with it!
Essays should be no more than 3,000 words; please do not exceed the word count if you want your submission to be considered.
We especially encourage submissions from LGBTQIA+ and gender diverse writers, writers with disabilities, and religious, ethnic, and cultural minorities.
More Details
Your submission must be an essay. Please do not submit songs, podcasts, videos, images, illustrations, poems or any other media for your submission that is not an essay.
Your submission must be original and not published anywhere else. That means your personal website or blog, Medium, a series of tweets, an Instagram caption…whatever.
Submissions must be in MS Word format (.doc, .docx), rich text format (.rtf) or plain text format (.txt). Google Docs links or PDFs will not be accepted for submission.
Please do not make multiple submissions with revisions — if we accept your submission, you will be connected with an editor to help edit and polish it for publication. We reserve the right to disqualify anyone for multiple submissions.
Finished volumes of the anthology are published on the RECOGNIZE website between September – December.
Submission Period
Submissions for Volume 3 of RECOGNIZE will open on February 1, 2021.
Deadline
The final deadline to submit is May 2, 2021 at 5:00pm Eastern Time.
There will not be any extended deadlines.
Payment
Every contributor with an accepted submission that is published on RECOGNIZE will be paid 600 USD for their essay, including digital publishing rights.
Payment will be issued after the final work, author bio, and any notes have been edited and approved.
How to Submit
Submissions for Volume 3 of RECOGNIZE will open February 1, 2021. The opening announcement, along with other news regarding RECOGNIZE, will be posted on Twitter from @mauricecherry as well as on Twitter and Instagram at @revisionpath.
Questions?
Iif you have any submission-related questions, please contact us and we’ll answer them as soon as we can.
Please do not send your RECOGNIZE submissions via email; they will not be accepted or read.