The Rialto Theatre Rial-Tee Design Contest is turning control over our next t-shirt design to you, Arizona. In this fast-paced race to the top of the tee, we’re inviting our fans to submit YOUR DESIGN for a new Rialto t-shirt. If you are an artist who loves the Rialto Theatre, this is the contest you’ve been waiting for!

Not only is this a great way to show off your artistic talent, but you’ll also help the nonprofit Rialto Theatre fundraise for our year-end goals! The winning design will be printed on an official Rialto Theatre T-shirt to be released just in time for holiday shopping and our end-of-year outreach to the community for support.

Are your design gears already turning? Perfect! See below for all contest guidelines and rules and information about how to submit your design for consideration.

Eligibility Conditions

The Rialto t-shirt design competition is open to Arizona artists and residents, including current university students living in the state. Competitors must be 18 years or older to participate. A maximum of two (2) designs will be accepted per entry. You can enter via this form.

T-Shirt Design Contest Prizes

  • 1st Place – The winning design will be featured on the first official Rial-Tee Design Contest t-shirt, receive recognition on social media and on the Rialto Theatre and El Regalo websites, and will receive:
    • $150 compensation for art
    • A Rialto Ampitheatre annual membership ($150 value)
    • Your designed t-shirt
    • El Regalo gift certificate ($50)
    • Drink tickets for R Bar ($24)
    • A pair of tickets to the concert of your choice ($100 total value)
    • Rialto swag bag
    • Social and web accolades and an eblast award announcement featuring your design!
  • 2nd Place – Will receive recognition on social media and on Rialto Theatre website and will receive:
    • A Rialto Theatre annual membership ($50 value)
    • El Regalo gift certificate ($25)
    • Rialto swag bag
  • 3rd Place – Will receive recognition on social media and on Rialto Theatre website and will receive:
    • El Regalo gift certificate ($25)
    • Rialto swag bag

Submission Requirements
Read on for contest rules, guidelines, and prizes:

  • Designs must be submitted as a PDF or vector file (.AI or .EPS) no later than 11:59 PM MST on March 1st
  • All submitted files must be at least 300 DPI
  • Designs are limited to a maximum of four (4) colors TOTAL within the pallet of Red, Black, White, and Gold. Colors outside of this pallet may be used as highlights within a maximum of four colors used.
  • A maximum of two (2) design submissions per person are allowed.
  • Designs should reflect what you love most about the Rialto or what makes the Rialto so impactful in the Tucson community.
  • Designs may be music-related, use historic or current Tucson iconography/identification, or be genre-based in theme (black and white check for ska, art deco for typography, etc.)
  • No AI-generated art will be accepted for this contest. If providing digitally created artwork we may reach out to view a layered file to confirm authenticity.
  • No submissions will be considered if they include band names, musician or celebrity likenesses, or otherwise copyrighted materials including lyrics, logos, and song/album titles.
  • Designs must be an ORIGINAL idea and created by a single artist. Do not use or submit the work of another artist. Do not submit work that has already been published
  • All art submitted must be eligible to be printed and advertised without any personal or commercial copyrighted, trademarked, or claimable restrictions.
  • Submissions that do not meet all of the requirements and required agreements will not be accepted or considered
  • The top five (5) designs will be chosen by a panel in-house. The top five will be announced on Monday, March 10th. Following this announcement, voting will open up to the public to decide the rankings of 1st through 5th place.

Recommended Art Guidelines:

  • Line art works best on our screen-printed shirts
  • Small, thin lines of detail may get lost in the printing process
  • Work as large as possible to create appropriately sized art files that can be used in screen printing (link with minimum size requirements here)
  • Designs should reflect the spirit of the design contest as outlined above
  • Designs should assume a front-of-shirt “traditional” print space, but other printable areas including the arms/sleeves and the back of the shirt will be considered
  • Colors should reflect the Rialto brand colors of red, black, gold, and white. Complementary colors may be added as the design warrants a maximum of four color printing.
  • No DMs on social media channels, direct comments or tagging, and/or emails to other Rialto spaces will be accepted as submissions. Contestants must use the correct submission form.

Submission Guidelines

Complete contest rules and guidelines are available for download here. Final first-place winner will be required to submit a W9 upon acceptance of compensation.

Are you ready to share your design? Submit your artwork now via this Google Form.

Good luck! We can’t wait to see your designs!