Design a Guitar Competition
For schools and young people’s groups
We want to make sure that Music for the Senses filters down to the grassroots and inspires the next generation of artists.
The Design a Guitar Competition will give schools, colleges and young people’s groups the opportunity to elevate their young people’s creativity and contribute their voices to this city-wide celebration of art and music.
We need you to make it happen
We’re calling on young people from schools, colleges, and youth groups across Greater Manchester to get creative and come up with eye-catching, imaginative, and unique designs for an acoustic or electric guitar which will transform it into a stunning visual masterpiece.
We’re looking for bold, colourful, creative designs – designs that tell a story, represent your community, or simply look amazing!
Themes for inspiration
- Icons of Manchester Music – celebrating legendary artists and bands that have shaped the city’s sound
- Soundscapes and Rhythm – translating the energy and movement of music into visual form
- Manchester’s Cultural Tapestry – exploring the diverse influences that make up the city’s creative identity
- Urban Harmony – blending Manchester’s industrial history with its vibrant modern music scene
- Lyricism and Storytelling – using lyrics, poetry, or abstract narratives to express the emotional power of music
- Nature and Sound – drawing connections between natural elements and the harmony of musical expression
Please note: we can’t accept designs that infringe on 3rd party intellectual property, so please avoid direct copies of album artwork or using copyrighted lyrics.
How to take part
The competition is open to all learning establishments (Primary, Secondary, PRU, SEN, Colleges) along with youth organisations (Scouts, Guides, youth clubs, etc.)
Each learning establishment or group can submit up to three original guitar designs.
Decide which group(s) of students or young people you wish to take part in the project. There are no rules over who can take part – you might choose to work with a single class, a whole year group, an extra-curricular club etc. The design can be a collaborative effort created by a group of young people or by an individual. Please indicate the individual or group’s name on the entry form.
Use our Guitar Design Templates to design your entry, either the acoustic or electric, or a mixture of both. You could run your own internal competition structure and then select up to three designs to represent you school or group.
Send us your completed designs by email to art@musicforthesenses.co.uk by 5pm on Monday 2 June 2025. Remember you can submit a maximum of three guitar designs and you must include your completed entry form(s) as attachments to your email.
The winners will be announced on Friday 6 June 2025. All entries will be featured on the Music for the Senses website.
Competition Guidelines
- Your entry should include two separate parts: up to three guitar design sheets and the completed entry form. The entry form should include the names of the individuals or groups who have created the designs.
- Entries should demonstrate engagement with the Music for the Senses themes and Manchester’s musical or cultural legacy.
- Winning schools/groups must agree to their work being recreated by an artist on a guitar and featured in the Music for the Senses trail.
- By entering this competition, you also consent to your entry being featured in our online gallery.
- If you have any questions and for full competition terms and conditions, please have a look below
Send us your completed designs by email to art@musicforthesenses.co.uk by 5pm on Monday 2 June 2025. Remember you can submit a maximum of three guitar designs and you must include your completed entry form(s) as attachments to your email.
The winners will be announced on Friday 6 June 2025.
1. The competitions open to all learning establishments (Primary, Secondary, PRU, SEN, Colleges) along with youth organisations (Scouts, Guides, youth clubs, etc.)
2. Each learning establishment or group can submit up to three original guitar designs.
3. Entries must be created on the guitar templates provided
4. The closing date for entries is Monday 2 June at 5pm
5. Three winning designs will be selected by the judging panel. The winners will be announced on the Music for the Senses website on Friday 6 June 2025
6. The three winning designs will be created on a real guitar by professional artists and displayed in a window display in Manchester city centre as part of the Music for the Senses trail. The winning schools/group will be credited on signage alongside the display, on the trail map, website and app. Representatives from the winning schools/groups will receive tickets to a VIP launch event for the project. At the end of the trail the winning schools/groups will receive a replica of their winning design, vinyl printed on to a guitar.
7. Reasonable efforts will be made to contact the winners. Failure to respond and/or failure to meet the eligibility requirements may result in forfeiture of the prize. If they cannot be contactable, or are unable comply with these terms and conditions, Wild in Art reserves the right to choose an alternative winning design.
8. The winning schools/groups agree to the use of their school/group name and photograph and will co-operate with any other reasonable requests by Wild in Art relating to any post-winning publicity.
9. Wild in Art Limited is the promoter of this competition. Wild in Art will use information supplied on the entry form in relation to this competition. With your consent, Wild in Art will also add your data to our School/Group database and may contact you in the future about relevant creative opportunities for schools and young people. Personal data will be processed in accordance with Wild in Art’s Privacy Notice available at https://wildinart.co.uk/privacy-notice
10. The decision of the judges is final based on the criteria set out in the competition and no correspondence will be entered into over this decision.