2nd Annual Desmos Global Math Art Contest

Banner with the text Desmos Global Art Contest 2021

Update as of February 4, 2022:

Thank you to the more than 10,000 participants from around the world who participated in the second annual Desmos Global Art Contest! The winners and finalists were chosen from countless examples of incredible effort, artistry, ingenuity, and creativity.

View the 2021 winners

Did you know the Desmos Graphing Calculator is a fantastic tool for making art? Using only graphed mathematical expressions, people around the world have created awe-inspiring masterpieces, from geometric patterns and architectural scenes to self-portraits, renderings of famous paintings, and beyond.

Three artistic graphs- a little clock with a bubbly drink and a little plant, a portrait of Marilyn Monroe made entirely of polygons, and a 3-D rendering of an airplane, together with a peek at some of the equations that generated them.

After the huge success of our 2020 Global Math Art Contest, featuring over 4,000 graphs from over 100 countries, we had to bring it back! Everyone from around the world can submit their entries for the 2nd Annual Desmos Global Math Art Contest and win prizes for their hard work. This year, we added more ways to submit and a category for ages 19+.

Who Can Enter?

Any student from any country, ages 13–18, plus individuals ages 19+ may submit a Desmos graph to the competition via the Desmos Graphing Calculator or a Desmos activity launched by a classroom teacher. Judging will be based on four categories for participants by their age as of December 31, 2021:

  • 13–14 years old
  • 15–16 years old
  • 17–18 years old
  • 19+ years old

What Are We Looking For?

Your original art created in the Desmos Graphing Calculator. Original means that a) you made it yourself and b) it doesn’t contain any copyrighted images. While you cannot submit graphs of copyrighted images, you may submit graphs of works that are in the public domain.

Want to impress our judges? We’re looking for submissions that have some combination of the following: Creativity and originality, including:

  • Visual content
  • How you use the math you know

Delight. There are lots of ways to show this, such as:

How Does Judging Happen?

10 finalists in each of the four age categories will be selected by our in-house panel of judges. All 40 finalists’ graphs will be featured on our website and will then proceed to a final round of judging.

The Prizes

In each age category, the following prizes will be awarded:

  • First Prize: $500
  • Second Prize: $250
  • Third Prize: $100

All 40 finalists, including the top three in each category, will get:

  • Desmos T-shirts.
  • Their work displayed publicly by Desmos on our company website and social media channels (with permission from the finalists).

How to Submit Your Entry

Individuals can submit their entries through the Desmos Graphing Calculator on desmos.com. In addition, teachers can launch a Desmos activity through which students can submit their entries. All submissions must be made on or before January 15th, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Desmos will follow up by email with teachers who submit graph entries through the Desmos Activity that are selected to be finalists to ensure that we can properly credit the student.

The Fine Print

  • All contestants must be ages 13+ as of midnight on December 31, 2021 to participate. Age categories will be determined as of December 31st, 2021.
  • Some international contestants may be ineligible due to various international age restrictions in online privacy laws. Complete the starter questions in the Desmos Graphing Calculator to determine your eligibility to participate.
  • We will only consider a contestant’s last submission, so if you need to make any edits after you submit your graph, just submit it again. All graphs must be the original work of the contestant and created using the Desmos Graphing Calculator. We cannot accept submissions that include copyrighted images. Specifically, submitted graphs may not include the use of content that is not the intellectual property of the person who made the graph.
  • Before distributing prizes, we reserve the right to verify a contestant’s eligibility and application information. It is the contestant’s responsibility to ensure that they are abiding by local data privacy laws.

Resources

Brand new to graphing with Desmos? Not so new, but want to learn more? Check out any of these links to get started.

Questions? Contact us at contest@desmos.com.

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