FIFA World Cup 26™ Kansas City Poster Contest
The beautiful game.
Our beautiful city.
Your beautiful artwork.
The FIFA World Cup 26™ Kansas City Poster Contest was an open call initiative inviting artists to submit their designs that celebrate the region’s involvement in the upcoming global soccer event. The response was remarkable, with more than 100 submissions showcasing extensive creativity and unity within the region. Following the close of the entry window, five artists were selected as finalists through a blind selection process, each receiving a cash prize of $1,000. Meet the finalists below.
Jadie Arnett
Jadie Arnett grew up in Columbia, MO, and then moved to Springfield, MO, where she attended Missouri State University. There, she earned a dual bachelor’s degree in graphic design and illustration. After graduating, she moved to Kansas City to work as a designer for Boulevard Brewing Co., where she has been for almost three years.
Max Gregg
Max Gregg is currently a senior at the University of Central Missouri and will graduate with a BFA in graphic design in May 2025. Throughout his time at school, he has participated in various internships at places such as Populous and Whiskey Design and engages in freelance projects between his studies. He has lived in Kansas City his whole life and has been pursuing design and illustration seriously since 2020, but he has loved illustration and storytelling for as long as he can remember.
Julianne Melograno
Julianne Melograno is a designer who loves branding, social media, and finding simple solutions for complex ideas. Her work is characterized by a clean, clever style that is full of personality. Submitting a FIFA poster design marked a career highlight for her—a love letter to Kansas City, a place that fuels her creativity.
Outside of design, Julianne is a collector of forgotten things—including mid-century ads, vintage ephemera, and bold food packaging—all of which influence her creative approach. When she’s not thrifting for the next great find, she can be found cooking, reading, or exploring Kansas City’s best coffee spots.
Tom Patrick
Tom Patrick is originally from Kentucky. After graduating from the Columbus College of Art & Design in Ohio, Tom moved to Kansas City to work in various creative departments at Hallmark for a number of years before starting out on his own as a freelance illustrator and designer. For more than twenty years, he has worked in Kansas City creating images for a variety of clients—regional, national and international.
Tom resides in Kansas City with his wife, who is also a freelance illustrator with a similar story. Their son has grown up there and works at a local creative firm. The FIFA World Cup 26™ Kansas City poster contest has been a fun project for Tom to be a part of. He is thrilled that his work was among the finalist designs because he knows what a strong creative community Kansas City has.
Eric Winter
Eric Winter is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Johnson County Community College, where he teaches a diverse range of subjects from design foundations to career preparation. Originally from a small farming community in North Central Kansas, he now resides in South Kansas City. Winter holds an MFA in Visual Communication from Kansas State University.
His professional experience encompasses roles as a civilian designer on Fort Riley Military Base, an environmental graphic designer for Gensler Architecture in Dallas, and a freelance brand designer. Winter’s professional work and research into design pedagogy have received recognition and publication both regionally and internationally, and he has held esteemed positions on multiple boards.