Silent Manga Audition 2020 - Graphic design competition

by Irena Sibila on Nov 08, 2019

◷ 31/03/2020 (deadline)

Silent Manga Audition 2020 is now open for entries!

CALL FOR ENTRY: Celsys is happy to announce 2020 edition of its Silent Manga Audition organized by Coamix for its 13th iteration in collaboration with UNESCO, inviting all manga creators to submit they best works.

About ⇣

Silent Manga Audition is a manga contest run by Coamix that encourages artists to express the contest theme through a wordless story. Because there is no dialog, these high-quality manga can be enjoyed widely regardless of the reader’s language or country.

Established in 2012, the SILENT MANGA AUDITION® is an international manga contest that aims to discover and support the future stars of global manga.   “A creator’s ability to tell a story through a visual narrative” is the main focus of evaluation. Study the theme and create a simple, easy to understand and entertaining manga.

For this 13th contest, Coamix is joined by UNESCO, united by the borderless concept of silent manga. The theme is “Together for Peace", to promote understanding and empathy with others.

Organiser welcome all emotions – happiness, sadness and everything in-between. However, they recommend always ending your story with a positive, heart-warming message. Like a good chef, the mixing of opposing flavors can sometimes produce the best results.

Submission requirements:

• Use only drawings to tell your story
• It is recommended to submit black-and-white comics
• There is no limitations to what you can draw, as long as it’s an original creation that perfectly captures the theme.
• Your manga must not exceed 31 pages, so use the appropriate number of pages for the theme. Organiser welcome short, focused stories.
• Images will be displayed on the web exactly as you upload them, so please TRIM AND CROP your images. All gutter, trim marks and other parts of the image you wouldn’t present to a reader, should be trimmed off.
• Your manga must start from A SINGLE PAGE, on the left side of the spread. All Manga to be drawn from “Right-to-Left” (Japan standard). Pages MUST BE uploaded as “1 page / 1 Image”. For “Page Spreads”, please upload each page as “2 separate image files”.

Canvas size informations:

• If available use JIS Standard B4 (257 × 364), if drawing on paper. If unavailable, use any paper size you can easily obtain.
• Final output size, when printed, trimmed and bound as a book, is W 220mm x H 310mm – inclusive of in-page content margin (“20mm” all around), but exclusive of “3mm” trimming margin (the gutter).
• Draw fully to the outer trim margin (including the 3mm gutter), remembering that the gutter will be TRIMMED OFF.

They actively encourage multiple works, however the maxim “quality over quantity” also applies. If you feel your multiple works perfectly capture the theme and is a worthy contender, please send them in.

All drawing methods and all digital drawing tools are wellcome in SMA. However, please remember to NOT use any copyrighted materials as part of your creation.

The Audition Judges assess each entry for… “its message and how it makes the reader feel within a short, limited number of pages.”

There is no entry fee to participate!

It's free to enter!

Eligibility ⇣

The Silent Manga Autodion 2020 is open to all manga artist worldwide.

Prize ⇣

The followig prizes will be awarded:

• Grand Prix: ¥500,000
• Grand Prix Runner-Up: ¥300,000
• Excellence Award: ¥100,000
• Exellence Runner-Up: ¥30,000
• Honorable Mention: ¥10,000

Sponsor awards include the graphics software Clip Studio Paint EX from Celsys and drawing tablet Wacom Cintiq 16 from Wacom.

There will be UNESCO Award too and will be given to the work that most impresses the UNESCO Guest Judge, Akané Nozaki. The winner of this special award will receive an all expenses paid trip to Bangkok, where they will be presented with their UNESCO Award certificate during the opening of the “SMA13-UNESCO Round” Manga Exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre（BACC).