Each year, the Fest has an open call for tshirt designs responding to the visual theme that inspires all of our festival art and visual identity.
T-shirt designs can be inspired by the theme or one of the prompts included in the outline. We are very open-minded about what the theme may spark creatively and are looking for concepts which explore the theme’s ideas visually.
It is free to submit your design concept and if selected, you receive either 2 Classic passes or a small cash stipend. Our merch team will work with you after selection to ensure the final design is the best representation of your concept. We ask that applications include at least one reference/design image, either a jpg or pdf, and selected designs will need to be delivered as illustrator files.
Submissions open in the Fall and successful applicants are informed by early January each year.
Design Theme & Prompts
In 2025, the theme is ALL THE TIME.
We measure our lives in duration – seconds, minutes, hours – and whether we like it or not, the hands of the clock keep marching forwards. This year’s theme reflects our fascination with the framework of our existence – time. Time can feel circular, following motions and rhythms to remind us of the eternal recurrence – what has come before will come again. From ecological imprints to the inheritance of habits, we are constantly reminded that although we are in the present, the past is always with us. The Fest itself is a fleeting moment in the calendar and encourages us to embrace the ephemeral experience of coming together and make the most of every passing second.
PROMPTS
- Remembrance of Things Past
- Climate change countdown
- Cyclical nature of time – night and day, seasons changing, routines
- “four minutes and 33 seconds”
- The Earth as an archive
- Duration / Endurance
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Chronos or Kairos
- Rituals to mark the passing of time
- Inheritance / Intergenerational
- Ephemerality, temporary, fleeting
- How to live in the moment
- Theory of relativity – a unified entity of space and time
- History repeats itself
- Shadows (for example, sundials)
- Pivotal moments
- A daily record – diaries, journals, calendars.
Application
Submissions for True/False 2025 are now closed. Questions? email: [email protected]