Calling All Creatives: Design our First‑Ever CafeSmart T‑Shirt!
CafeSmart is heading into its 16th year, and to celebrate, we’re doing something we’ve wanted to do for a long time – finally creating official CafeSmart merch! But rather than designing it ourselves, we’re handing the creative reins to you.
It’s all about celebrating community, creativity and collective action, while producing genuinely covetable merchandise that can be worn during CafeSmart week and beyond.
The winning design will be produced as limited‑edition merch and circulated across thousands of coffee lovers nationally, helping raise funds and awareness for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Background
CafeSmart is StreetSmart Australia’s annual, coffee‑led fundraising campaign. Each year, cafes across the country come together to donate $1 from every coffee sold to support grassroots organisations responding to homelessness.
What makes CafeSmart special is its community: independent cafes, roasters, staff and customers working together to create meaningful impact through small, collective actions.
The Brief
Your challenge is to create a bold, wearable t‑shirt design that captures the spirit of CafeSmart. We’re looking for designs that reflect community and connection, coffee and cafe culture and taking action against homelessness
Designs should feel contemporary, optimistic and practical, something people would genuinely want to wear year-round. Think street flyers, gig posters, community radio, festival culture or grassroots movements. We want a nod to CafeSmart’s purpose without it feeling like traditional “charity merch”.
Your design can sit on the front or back of the t‑shirt. Illustration, typography, graphic design or mixed styles are all welcome and creative copywriting is encouraged! We’re starting with t-shirts, but the winning design (or parts of it) could live on other merch items too, think hats, tote bags, and mugs!
What's In It For You?
The winner will receive:
A $500 cash prize
A free CafeSmart merch pack
Your design produced as official CafeSmart 2026 merchandise
Credit across the CafeSmart website, social media and campaign materials
A featured story on the CafeSmart blog and EDM
Huge organic exposure across thousands of coffee lovers nationally
The Nitty Gritty
Here’s everything you need to know before you get cracking!
Technical Specs
- Maximum printable area: 35cm x 40cm
- Resolution: 300dpi
- Base garments: black or white t‑shirts
- Colour limit: no strict limit, but ideally four colours or fewer
- File formats required: Vector file (AI or EPS) and an image preview
Mandatory Elements
- The CafeSmart logo or a creative variation of the logo
- Including the CafeSmart yellow: HEX #FFE100
Black
White
Eligibility and Judging Criteria
This competition is open to anyone in Australia aged 18+, including Cafe owners and hospitality workers, Designers and illustrators, students, Coffee lovers and creatives of all kinds
You don’t need to be a professional designer, just bring a strong idea! Designs will be judged by the StreetSmart team based on:
- Creativity and originality
- Alignment with CafeSmart values
- Wearability and appeal as everyday merch
- Print and production feasibility
Shortlisted designs may also be shared for a community vote, weighted alongside the final judging.
Terms and Conditions
Eligibility
- Open to Australian residents aged 18+
- Employees of StreetSmart, their immediate families, and associated agencies are not eligible to enter.
- One entry per person
- Entries must be submitted by 11:59pm 20th February 2026
- Designs must be original and not previously published, sold or licensed
Ownership
By entering the competition, entrants acknowledge and agree that:
- The winning design becomes the sole and exclusive property of StreetSmart Australia
- StreetSmart Australia will own all intellectual property rights, including the right to reproduce, adapt, modify, distribute and use the design for any CafeSmart‑related purpose
- Ownership applies across all formats, channels and future uses, including merchandise, digital assets and promotional materials
- StreetSmart Australia will credit the designer wherever practicable
- By entering the competition, participants acknowledge that they have read and agree to StreetSmart’s Privacy Policy.
Use of non‑winning entries
StreetSmart Australia reserves the right to retain shortlisted designs for consideration in future campaigns, with permission sought prior to use
Judging
Judged on creativity, alignment with CafeSmart values, wearability and production feasibility
Judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into
Prizes
Prizes are not transferable or exchangeable unless stated
StreetSmart Australia reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal value
Promotion
Entrants consent to StreetSmart Australia using submitted designs, names and likenesses for promotional purposes
General
StreetSmart Australia reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the competition if required
Submission
To enter, email through a preview and vector artwork file to partners@streetsmartaustralia.org with the subject line “CafeSmart Merch Competition”.
Entries must be submitted by 11:59pm on 20th February 2026.
Good luck!
