2025-2026  Pin Design Competition

Purpose: To create a design for the lapel pin which represents the unique aspect(s) of Kansas, Kansas TSA, or the annual National TSA theme. Lapel pins are given to all attending members and volunteers at the State Conference. Additionally Attending members can trade with fellow members at the annual National Conference.
 Award: The winning design will be used as the State Conference logo and the winner will receive a FREE State Conference Registration PLUS package of the winning pins! – – If the design is a group/chapter effort- only one package of pins and one Free Registration in the amount matching the chapter registration will be given. – –
Selection Process:

  • The State Advisory Board (all affiliated Chapter Advisors) will vote on the submitted pin designs. In the case of a tie the State Officers will have one vote as a collective (majority vote).
  • If similar or numerous entries are received, the Kansas TSA Board of Directors reserves the right to narrow the entry numbers to electronically post the designs for voting in a reasonable manner.
  • The Kansas TSA BOD may utilize multiple rounds of voting to achieve an entry with a majority vote.
  • If no legal and or complete entries are submitted and received by the deadline, the contest may be re-opened for up to one month and any Kansas TSA Alumni, Advisor, Board Member or Parent may enter a design.
Pin Design Competition References and Deadline The Official TSA Brand Guide provides specifics concerning the TSA logo. The History of Kansas TSA Pins is a good source to view past winning designs, some are more unique than others. **The most tradeable pins are the less formal and more whimsical designs, think in the moment spoofs, puny takes on Kansas, or something tastefully off the wall. For reference The Bee-Plane pin from 2023 was one of the most sought-after pins that year. ** www.tsapindatabase.com and www.tsapins.org are repositories of past pins that have been traded at the National Conference. The produced pin typically is either Epoxy Dome or UV Printed. Other production methods can be considered if included in the submission. The Design of the Pin and Checklist plus Reference pages (as needed) must be submitted to tsakansas@gmail.com OR uploaded via this link https://forms.gle/iDvjEmYmzDVqjM7YA by midnight on December 1st.
Competition Criteria 1. Pin Designs must be the original work of the individual or group submitting the design. **The responsible use of Artificial Intelligence: AI may assist in developing a design but cannot be submitted as final design. The use of AI MUST be included on the Pin Design Checklist.
2. Pin Design Checklist must be submitted with the design (PDF preferred) and contain any links, images and/or other sources that inspired the design. This is to safeguard against plagiarism. A general rule of thumb is if you make five changes to the original design you have altered it enough to make it your own design. Plagiarized designs will be disqualified from competition.
3. The design must be submitted in .jpg format and at minimum 300 dpi resolution. Additional file formats may be submitted but .jpg is most accessible
4. The design submission must indicate the desired actual size of the finished pin. For example, it could be one inch (1”) wide and one and one-half inches (1 ½”) tall. The Trading Pin size is on average 1 ¼ inches wide by 1 ¼ inches long.
5. The design must include an unaltered TSA Logo or the words Technology Student Association- See Official TSA Brand Guide for specifics concerning the TSA logo.
6. The design must include the year of the national conference
7. The design must showcase some unique aspect of the state of Kansas. Check the History of Kansas TSA Pins and note that some aspects relating to Kansas have been used repeatedly making them less unique for this competition.
8. The design may, but is not limited nor required to, incorporate: the current national theme, a unique feature of the host city/state for the National Conference, or other inspiration that display both TSA and Kansas in a positive view.
9. The design must be camera ready and retains its clarity/integrity when scaled
10. The pin design and checklist and must be submitted to tsakansas@gmail.com by midnight on December 1st. December 20, 2025