Category Archives: Posters

And the Winner of the 2012 Mars Society Poster Contest is…

The Mars Society is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2012 Mars Society Poster Contest is Caitlin Folchman-Wagner of Massachusetts.

After receiving more than one dozen submissions, a panel of Mars Society officials chose Ms. Folchman-Wagner’s design.  “We felt that Caitlin’s poster was very well done and successfully incorporated several of  the themes from this year’s Mars Society convention,” said Michael Stoltz, the organization’s Director of Media & Public Relations.

To download a print-quality version of the poster, please click here.

2012 Mars Society Poster Contest

The 2012 Mars Society Poster Contest is now underway!  The winning design will be used as the primary graphic for promoting the 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held in Pasadena, California, August 3-5, 2012.

Winner of 2011 Mars Society Poster Contest

When designing posters, members and friends are asked to use the main themes of the 2012 convention: “Mars Science Laboratory rover”, “robotic exploration” and “finding life on Mars”.  The poster should seek to emphasize the critical importance of robotic research and exploration of the Red Planet as a key stepping stone to a humans-to-Mars mission within the decade.

The winner will receive free admission to all sessions of the convention in Pasadena, which will include a ticket to the main convention banquet and (tentatively) the viewing of a live broadcast of the MSL landing on the Martian surface on the evening of August 5.  [Airfare and hotel accommodations are not included.]
The deadline for submitting all poster designs is Friday, February 3, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

With regard to technical requirements for the contest, the poster size should be 11″ x 17″.  There are no restrictions on color.  If your poster is chosen, in addition to the full color poster we will need a gray-scale copy.  Posters can be submitted as a .pdf file, although it is preferred in the original format (i.e., Photoshop).

To submit your poster, please e-mail the sample to: [email protected]  Please also use this e-mail address for any questions regarding the contest and/or the submission process.

Mars Society Convention

Please tell friends, students, relatives – anyone you may know in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana or within driving distance of Dallas to check out the Mars Society’s Conference from Thursday through the weekend. “Get in the car and drive over.” Single day tickets are available; events run from early morning thru parties late into the night.

Attending can be less expensive than everyday costs of staying home: student discounts are available; free brunch will be served; a lounge area will serve snacks and hold evening parties – crash in the lobby, your car, or a friend’s room.  Ask relatives and friends to donate air miles; take a bus or shuttle from the airport to the hotel. Put your brain at the conference and enjoy sharing ideas about Humans to Mars.

THE MARS SOCIETY INVITES YOU to attend the 14th Annual International Mars Society Convention in Dallas, Texas.  The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, as well as the State of Texas, are considered by many the heart of the aerospace industry in the United States.  Lockheed-Martin, maker of the F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, is headquartered in Fort Worth, while Bell Helicopter is located in the DFW area.  SpaceX’s McGregor propulsion test grounds is a short drive south of DFW, and NASA’s famed Houston Space Center is also a few hours driving from the DFW metropolitan area.

http://www.marssociety.org/home/join_us/convention
http://www.marssociety.org/home/join_us/convention/marsconv2011speakers

Update (coverage from the Dallas Star-Telegram):

“The Mars Society, founded in 1998, isn’t made up people dressed up like Star Trek officers or aliens. They’re physics teachers, scientists and engineers. While they talk about the ethics and religious meanings of interplanetary travel, they’re also practical. Society members examine means of propulsion and train crews to live and work in Mars-like environments in far-flung regions of the Arctic as well as Utah, with some cooperation from NASA.”

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/08/04/3270751/international-mars-society-meets.html#ixzz1UA56P25q

Congratulations to The Mars Society’s 2011 Convention Poster Winner: Markus Iske

“The German Mars Society’s member Mr. Iske’s submission was well-designed, being both aesthetically pleasing while also incorporating a number of the major themes from our organization’s upcoming international convention [scheduled to be held in Dallas, Texas on August 4-7], said Susan Holden Martin, the Mars Society’s Director of Public Affairs.

_____2010 International Mars Society Convention Poster____ Designed by Former Ogilvy and Mather Art Director Mike Neal

Congratulations Mike Neal! Easily the coolest design for any space-related event
in the last 10 years; exceptional artists by nature want to see humans on Mars.

Mike Neal is a design and architectural writer currently completing his MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City as part of the inaugural class of its graduate design criticism program. He was born and raised in Southern California, where he worked for many years, first as a graphic designer, then as an art director for the Los Angeles office of the worldwide branding and advertising agency, Ogilvy and Mather.

As part of his critical studies, Mike has focused on examining the fields of space architecture. His graduate thesis deals specifically with the historical links to Modernist design theory in relation to current planning and design that would accompany the first human explorers to Mars. For first hand research Mike served as the journalist and executive officer for the Mars Society’s 84th crew at MDRS.

The concept for Mike’s design for the Society’s upcoming convention was initially inspired by a quote by architect and designer, Buckminster Fuller, who decades ago had tried to pioneer a design/science revolution. Always a challenger of the status quo, Fuller was particularly scrutinizing of the language we use to describe our universe; he once noted, “If you still use the terms up and down, you’re still thinking in terms from the dark ages.” Fuller argued instead there was only “in”, towards the Earth’s gravitational center, and “out,” towards space.

This idea is translated in the convention poster in the constantly shifting perception of orientation of both space and time. Up and down—in and out—are in a state of flux between the gravitational centers of blue Earth and vermillion Mars, as ground and sky interchange. The conventions theme also changes though maintaining its intent; “Reaching Higher,” as the Wright brother’s did in their first flight, and continuing on that trajectory to the “Higher Reaching” goal of Mars.