Project Background 

What is spiritual innovation? How do spiritual innovators in the 21st century interpret and iterate on ancient wisdom to meet contemporary and future challenges? How can such evolving wisdom be made accessible to all who seek it in an increasingly global, religiously pluralistic, digital world?

Following more than a year of research, Sacred Design Lab is producing a public-facing report on spiritual innovation worldwide. The project is funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, which supports innovations that contribute to human flourishing. You can learn more about the project at this link. The audience for the report is spiritual innovators, religious leaders and institutions, funders, investors, and other potential partners looking to support spiritual innovation. 

Sacred Design Lab’s founding members were trained at Harvard Divinity School and have spent a decade working to map and understand the spiritual landscape in the United States, with a particular focus on supporting innovators. This is the first time we have expanded our research globally and we are eager to include artwork that reflects the spiritual lives of people around the world.

Request for Proposals

We are seeking Illustrations for a public-facing report on global spiritual innovation, which will most likely take the form of a PDF document housed on Sacred Design Lab’s website. We define spiritual innovation as “A novel way to address spiritual longings that leads to flourishing people and planet.” 

We plan to commission six illustrations from artists in six different parts of the world on this theme. The design guidelines for your illustration are as follows:

• For the content of your illustration, respond to the question: What does spiritual innovation mean to you? 

  • Consider: Relationship between past and future, ancient wisdom and emergent technologies, religious traditions and lineage, creativity and possibility, soul needs of the present and future

• Illustrations should be detailed, multi-faceted, and represent the individual illustrator’s style and point of view, while taking into consideration any art direction provided in terms of color, style, and sizing.

• We encourage you to draw on themes based on your personal experience and your own cultural and / or religious context.

Approach/Style

Here are two previous reports by Sacred Design Lab for an idea of past approaches to the work: project 1, project 2. Some descriptive words for this project: Welcoming, soulful, spacious, expert but non-academic, some iconography, non-corporate, pathos not cutesy.

Candidate Qualifications 

• Experience creating professional quality illustrations.

• Must live in or have deep familiarity with a culture within one of the following regions

  • Asia

  • Latin America

  • Africa

  • Europe

  • Middle East

  • Oceania

• Strong communication, organizational, and time-management skills.

• Kind, collaborative, able to work independently.

Proposal Requirements 

In an email or document please provide:

• Examples of your illustration work, ideally in context of a report or other written materials

• Resume

• Paragraph and sketch describing your proposed illustration

Timeline

We will select illustrators, one from each of six regions, for this project by February 26, 2024. Upon selection, each illustrator will be provided with art direction and any additional context. Illustrators are to submit their piece by March 8, 2024. Any feedback will be delivered to the illustrators within 5 business days. Final illustration and file hand-off will be due by mid- to late-March, 2024. (Exact deadline to be decided in conversation with project team.)

Budget and logistics

• Budget for the project is a flat rate of $350 per illustration. 

• To process your honorarium if outside the US, we will request a W8-BEN form, outgoing wire form, and bank authorization (if inside the US, W-9 form and ACH info) 

• Selected illustrators will have their name, one-line bio, and website/social link included in the final report alongside their illustration.

To apply, please submit a proposal by Feb 26, 2024 to Ben Poretzky at ben@sacred.design.