The Office of the State Fire Mar­shal is holding an infographic de­sign contest open to all Kansans currently enrolled in a secondary education institution.

The infographic must be relat­ed to fire safety and entrants are strongly encouraged to use infor­mation found on the Kansas Fire Incident Reporting System website.

First, second and third prize will be awarded to the best infograph­ics. Winners will receive $200, $100, and $50, respectively, see their work featured on the Kansas fire marshal website and see it pub­lished in the 2013 KFIRS Annual Report. Additionally, winners may have the opportunity to present their work at the National Fire In­cident Reporting System Workshop in Kansas City.

“The opportunities to speak will depend on the winner,” said Sarah Wood, NFIRS Program Manag­er. “If first place isn’t comfortable speaking or can’t make the particu­lar event we’ll move down the line of winners. We have a couple of different events and may offer the opportunity to multiple people.”

Winning artists will also have new material to add to their profes­sional portfolio.

“The portfolio is the most im­portant tool when students seek positions in the design field,” said Glenda Taylor, chair of the art de­partment. “Having a strong portfo­lio that includes designs that have been used for promotions, informa­tion, or sales is important to docu­ment design ability as well as suc­cess in the ‘real’ world.”

Since 90 percent of information transferred to the brain is visual, an infographic may prove to be a more effective way to convey informa­tion about fire safety.

“You can read statistics all day about fire but seeing it for yourself in black and white data just might be the kick someone needs to tight­en up on fire safety,” said Wood

For info and rules, visit www. ksfm.ks.gov/visualize.