The first officially recognized Celebration of Black History in the U.S. began in 1926 founded by Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week, the second week of February. Woodson purposely chose to place Negro History Week – now Black History Month – in February as it is the month in which the African American orator, reformer, and abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, 16th President were born. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.

The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State 1970. It began being celebrated as a month-long event six years later across the U.S. in educational institutions.

The celebration of Black History Month has grown far beyond educational institutions and in February 2020 Forbes noted that "much of corporate America is commemorating" black history month including The Coca-Cola Company, Google, Target Corporation, Macy's, United Parcel Service and Under Armour. (Wikipedia)

This project is meant to tap into the roots of Black History Month in celebration of Black History.

design project option #1: 

For Design Project Option #1, you are asked to design a placed graphic/illustration or allover print design that recognizes the history or past achievements of African-Americans and/or members of the African diaspora.

Review the inspiration board and color direction and use them as guidance to create your design submission.

• Designs should align with Target's purpose of bringing joy to all families.
• Designs should be inclusive, for adults and/or children.
• Designs must be original and not infringe on existing copyrights or intellectual property ownership
• Artwork must be designed to be printable on a standard t-shirt knit top.
• Files should be high resolution (150dpi+) and to scale. Low resolution submissions may need to be resubmitted if the applicant reaches the finalist phase of the competition.
• Acceptable formats include: jpg, tiff, .pdf, .ai, .psd, or .png.

resources:

• Black History Month 2020 at Target
• Black History Month 2019 at Target
• Black History Month 2018 at Target
• Target-Essence Partnership

preparing your entry:

1. Review the design project descriptions, associated resources (mood board, palette, reports and articles) and program FAQs for additional context to inform your proposed solution(s). 
2. Develop a design for one or both design project option(s). 
3. Submit your entry via the online submission form. (Note: The submission period for this program is now closed). 
4. You are welcome to also submit a maximum 1-page note giving additional context for your design. This is optional. 
5. Entries will be reviewed and evaluated by a cross-functional team based on the judging criteria below. 

After submission of your entry you can add the HBCU Design Challenge to your resume using the following language: "Competed in Target's inaugural HBCU Design Challenge to propose creative design solutions the 2021 Black History Month collection"

judging criteria: