The Northern Illustration Prize is back for 2025
Calling for Entries
The Northern Festival of Illustration Returns in 2025 with a New Theme & Global Competition: ‘Stories of Home’
The Northern School of Art, in partnership with the Association of Illustrators (AOI), is proud to launch the 2025 Northern Illustration Prize—now in its fourth edition. This prestigious international competition has previously drawn hundreds of entries from illustrators around the globe and serves as the official lead-in to the Northern Festival of Illustration, a vibrant biennial celebration set to take place this autumn across the coastal town of Hartlepool
This years competition theme will be “Stories of Home” for the Northern Illustration Prize, inviting illustrators worldwide to explore and express what ‘home’ truly means to them. From cherished memories and cultural traditions to personal spaces and the people who shape them, this year’s competition theme challenges creatives to dig deep into their roots, experiences, and imaginations. Whether ‘home’ is a physical place, a fleeting feeling, or a person, this theme is open to personal and diverse interpretation. The Competition will again host both an Emerging Illustrator Prize and Professional Illustrator Prize categories – and for the first year will debut a brand new animation category – The Emerging Animator Prize.
There are fantastic prizes for each of the three categories:
– Emerging Animator, sponsored by Aardman Animation: £500 cash prize and showing in the Festival of Illustration animation screening event at Vue cinema in Hartlepool, plus an invitation to a 6-week Aardman Academy Masterclass Short course
– Emerging illustrator: £500 cash prize
– Established illustrator: £1000 cash prize
In addition, each of the two Illustrator Category Winners will be given progression support e.e. a free digital platform sponsored by ReadyMag or mentorship through NSA’s illustrative team.
The Northern Illustration Prize is a key feature in The Northern Festival of Illustration which takes place from September 12th to November 1st across multiple venues in Hartlepool. This years powerful theme, ‘Stories of Home’ will bring together communities, creatives, and audiences of all ages.
Rooted in the belief that illustration is a universal language, the 2025 festival highlights the illustration’s unique power to capture emotion, communicate identity, and preserve culture. Whether through picture books, comics, animation, or digital media, this year’s programme explores how we use illustration to tell the stories that matter most—those that define where we come from, and what we call home.
Enter here: The Northern Illustration Prize. Please read the Terms & Conditions for entry before submitting.
If you have any questions about the competition please contact the Northern School: [email protected]
The deadline to enter is 12th June 2025.
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