2027 T-shirt Design Contest
Design the shirt Maryland wears for Autism Acceptance Month.
Your artwork, printed big across the back of the official 2027 Pathfinders for Autism t-shirt. Free to enter, open to everyone, and completely yours to make.
Read the full rules
Submit your contest entry!
- Free to enter
- Deadline Dec 18, 2026
- Up to 2 designs each
What to create
- A fun, welcoming design that captures the PFA spirit
- Bold shapes and lettering that read well across a shirt back
- Any style you like: hand-drawn, digital, or vector. All ages welcome
- The PFA logo goes on the front, so the whole back is yours
What you win
- Your art becomes the official 2027 PFA t-shirt
- A free shirt featuring your winning design
- A $100 gift card
- A full year of guaranteed admission to PFA events! No waitlist
- Your name recognized on our website, social media, and more
Let our mission spark your idea
Pathfinders for Autism educates and trains the community to support and improve the lives of people with autism and their families across the whole lifespan. Our work rests on three pillars. Let any of them inspire you — your design doesn’t need to spell the mission out.
Safety
Water-safety and first-responder trainings that help keep our community safe.
Community
Recreation events and connections that bring families together at every age.
Resource
Answers, guidance, and support for individuals and families throughout life.
The details
Everything you need to enter, tap a section to open it.
Who can enter
- Free and open to individuals with autism, their peers, and their families.
- Entrants under 18 must have a parent or guardian submit the design and agree to the rules.
- Limit of two designs per person, each submitted separately.
- All work must be your own original creation, not previously published or sold.
- Designs must be made by you, not by artificial intelligence. We may ask the winner to confirm the design is their own human-made work.
- No profanity, puzzle-piece imagery, other organizations’ logos, trademarks, or copyrighted characters or images. Please keep it family friendly.
- By entering, you confirm the design is original and that you hold all rights to everything in it.
What makes a winning design
- Captures the spirit of the PFA mission: supporting people with autism and their families across the whole lifespan, and educating the community.
- Fun, positive, and welcoming — something people of any age would be proud to wear.
- Reads well on a shirt back: bold, clear shapes and lettering beat tiny details.
- Uses your own words and artwork. Adding “Pathfinders for Autism” or “PFA” is welcome but not required, since the logo appears on the front.
- You’re welcome to use PFA’s brand colors and spirit, but originality and heart matter most.
File requirements
Best option: vector art
Scales to any size without blurring. Adobe Illustrator (.ai), .eps, .svg, or a vector .pdf. Created in Illustrator, InDesign, CorelDRAW, Affinity Designer, or Canva (export as PDF).
Also accepted: high-resolution images
.png (transparent background if possible), .tiff, .psd, or high-res .jpg — at least 300 DPI at full print size so it prints crisply.
Hand-drawn or painted?
Wonderful. Scan or photograph it at 300 DPI or higher in good, even lighting, and submit as a .png, .tiff, or .pdf.
Print specs to design toward
- Printed large on the back; the PFA logo goes on the front (upper left), so you only design the back.
- Design for about 12″ wide × 14″ tall, and no larger than about 14″ × 16″ so it fits every size.
- 1 to 4 solid colors is ideal for screen printing, but full-color designs are welcome and can be printed digitally.
- CMYK preferred; RGB is fine and we’ll convert. On-screen colors can shift slightly once printed.
File naming
Name your file LastName_FirstName_PFAtshirt — for example, Smith_Jordan_PFAtshirt.pdf.
Tip: Not sure your file is print-ready? Submit the best version you have. If you win, we’ll help you prepare the final production file.
How to submit
Submit your design here by December 18, 2026. Please include:
- Your design file (see file requirements)
- Your name, email, and phone number
- For entrants under 18: parent or guardian name and contact
- Optional: a sentence or two on how your design reflects the PFA mission (it helps the judges)
By submitting, you agree to all contest rules.
Judging & how the winner is chosen
A panel selected by Pathfinders for Autism reviews entries and scores them on:
- Connection to the PFA mission (support, community, inclusion)
- Creativity and originality
- Visual appeal and wearability
- Print-readiness on a shirt back
- Following the guidelines: original, family-friendly, and free of puzzle pieces, logos, or copyrighted material
Judges select a group of finalists, which PFA may share publicly. The final vote takes place at Pathfinders for Autism Night at the Science Center on Monday, February 22, 2027. The judges’ decision is final, and PFA may make minor production adjustments to the winning design.
Rights & ownership
- You keep credit as the artist. By winning, you grant PFA the right to use, adapt, reproduce, print, sell, and promote your design free of charge on t-shirts, merchandise, and marketing materials.
- The winner provides a high-resolution or layered vector file within 7 days of being notified, and works with PFA and its printer on any small production changes. If a winner can’t meet the timeline, PFA may select an alternate.
- You confirm your design is original and doesn’t infringe anyone else’s rights, and you agree to hold PFA harmless from any claim arising from the artwork you submit.
Contest timeline
Dates are built backward from the April 2027 launch to leave time for production.
- September 1, 2026: Contest opens and submissions accepted
- December 18, 2026: 11:59 PM ET Submission deadline (no exceptions)
- December 2026 – January 2027: Judging and finalist selection
- Early February 2027: Finalists announced and the public may weigh in
- February 20, 2027: Final vote at PFA Night at the Science Center
- February 22, 2027: Winner announced!
- Late February 2027: Winner finalizes the production file with PFA and the printer
- March 2027: Printing and production
- April 2027: Official t-shirt launches for Autism Acceptance Month
Quick submission checklist
Give it a final look before you hit submit.
Ready to design?
Make something people across Maryland will be proud to wear. Your art, front and center, for Autism Acceptance Month 2027.
Enter the contest
Questions? Contact us at
wfreeman@pathfindersforautism.org
or 443-585-0729.