Members > Contribute to the ADC Blog

Contribute to the ADC Blog

For decades ADC has been the voice of the creative community, but the ADC staff are not the only voices out there. Our platform is open to all ADC Members to contribute and share their wit and wisdom with the world. Whether you’re writing about one of our monthly themes or interviewing a mentor, ADC the the place for Members to get noticed for their words as well as their creativity.

While you have a lot of freedom  when contributing to the ADC Blog, we do have a handful of guidelines and rules that should help you in creating the most impactful stories for our global audience.

  • Members Only: Since ADC does its best to highlight its Members, we are only seeking contributions from within our community of Members, Young Guns, Board Members and Hall of Fame laureates. Not yet a Member? Let your membership expire? Time to remedy this!
  • First Dibs: ADC prides itself on original written and video content. If your article is to be considered, it should be an original piece, not published elsewhere. However you are free to publish it on your own or other channels once it is published on the ADC Blog.
  • The Goldilocks Principle: How long should an ADC article be? Not too long, not too short, but juuuuuuust right. Our stories are generally between 600–1500 words, but if it is exceptionally written, your article can go above or below those numbers.
  • Take a Picture, It’ll Last Longer: Don’t forget to include visuals for your story! Images work better on the ADC Blog if they are landscape rather than portrait oriented. Ideal size is 1200 x 637, and file sizes should not exceed 600 KB. Video may also be embedded within your story. And if anything needs to be credited, be sure to let us know!
  • You’re So Vain: It’s okay to talk about yourself and your work, but your story should not come across as a thinly veiled self-promotional piece. If you use yourself as an example of the topic at hand, be sure to also include examples of other people.
  • 10 Reasons Why People Will Want To Read Your Story: Buzzfeed was right; people love lists, even within our community. Last year’s “10 Portfolio Tips” article was one of the most read and shared feature in the history of the ADC Blog. If the story you wish to tell fits this format, by all means use it.
  • The Topic At Hand: While you are free to write about just about any subject, the ADC Blog features monthly themes that you might feel qualified to contribute to.  The tentative calendar of themes for the next several months is as follows
    • January 2016: Illustration — More than just drawing
    • March 2016: Photography — Professional and amateur shutterbugs of the ADC community
    • April 2016 — Typography — Letterers unite! Our most popular theme makes its return
    • July 2016 — Motion & Animation
    • August 2016 — Art Direction
  • Credit Where Credit Is Due: We will include a byline for you on anything we publish, but be sure to also fill out your ADC Members Profile, including adding your photo. If you do so, your smiling face and a link to your profile will automatically appear alongside your article.
  • Be interesting: Take a stand, have an opinion, say something that people might not agree with you on. Be bold, be brave, be the person that others will want to hear more from, whether it’s through another blog post, a chat at next month’s ADC shindig, or even a future collaboration.

Please send any submissions or questions you may have to membernews@adcglobal.org.