How to win a design award: A handy guide - Yanko Design
If you haven't read our piece on What Awards Exercise For Your Design Career, I do recommend you check that out outset. An award is instant validation. Information technology puts a postage stamp of approval on your work, your process, and even yous as a designer, helping you stand out from the residue. Awards, aside from validation, likewise accept a number of additional benefits. Cash prizes, trophies, internship opportunities, interested funders/clients, collaborators, and just a fast-rails to getting your work seen by thousands if not millions. Here, we try to suspension down the process of applying for a pattern award and evangelize some insights on what y'all tin can do to maximize your chances of winning ane. This is, by no means, some cheat-sail or a hack, simply just a very structured way of choosing your battles properly and having the correct strategy in place to win them. And so let'south swoop in, shall nosotros?
WHAT ARE YOU GUNNING FOR?
You lot've got a project, y'all want an laurels. Pretty simple, right? Really, it'due south much more complicated than that! Awards, every bit many as they are, don't operate on the aforementioned principle. Yeah, they do advantage bully design, but a few things change from award to award… the nearly noteworthy ones being –
A. Unlike honor programmes reward different aspects/types of design. Not all awards are the same.
B. Jury panels vary from award to honour, and from location to location.
C. Prizes vary from award to award too.
D. Budget – Perchance the near crucial part of a pattern award. Awards crave money. Some more than others.
So ask yourself what you're gunning for. You could be looking for a postage stamp of approval on your work/portfolio, or you could be looking for potential collaborators/investors, or even press coverage. You could perhaps do it for the prize money, or a dream task. Based on what you exactly want to achieve, your selection of which design accolade to apply for will modify. Hither are a few steps to help you get on the right path.
KNOW YOUR AWARD
Every award is unlike. It's important to do a little research on the awards, their requirements, etc. If you lot've got a conceptual production, peradventure an honour for design concepts is your best bet. If you've got a product/proof of concept and you're looking to accept it forward, an award that grants you that sounds like a perfect programme of activeness. Some awards are category-specific too. There are awards that are strictly for architecture, some specifically for designs aimed at enabling people with special needs, and some just for consumer electronics, or even earth-friendly. Sometimes an award could be country-specific besides. Knowing which accolade suits your requirements, and which award your project fits best into actually goes far to help secure your spot on the winner'due south stand up.
Spend a healthy amount of time reading the award'southward About Us folio. Run into what their aim is, what their ethos is. Take things a step further and look at past winners to become a ameliorate idea of the qualitative standard the honour demands. Inquire yourself if your work compares to theirs. Yous wouldn't pattern a product without putting in a healthy amount of research, and then why would yous send your product for an honor without doing your due diligence too, right?
The MOTOROiD by Japanese Yamaha Motor Co Ltd won the Luminary Award at the 2022 Red Dot Concept Design Award. Cerise Dot is arguably one of the most well-known international award programs and is divide into ii legs, one specifically for product design, and one for concept blueprint.
KNOW THE JURY
An award is perhaps the best way to become a console of established designers and judges to look at your piece of work. Look at the jury panels to see whatsoever noteworthy figures. Not merely does the jury speak of the award'southward qualitative standards, the jury is also a pretty great way to stick your human foot in the door at a good design business firm. Non sure what I meant? Imagine your favorite designer is on the jury panel for a design laurels. Sending your work to the award is a sure-fire style to get them to run across your work. If they do similar information technology, chances are they'll remember y'all because of your project, making it easier to strike up a chat with them, or to even get an opportunity to piece of work for/with them!
A camera for the visually impaired, the 2C3D Photographic camera secured a win at the Asia Design Prize in 2018. The 2022 jury panel is presided over by none other than Karim Rashid, among some incredibly noteworthy talents.
KEEP YOUR Optics ON THE PRIZE
Here's the virtually interesting bit… The advantage! First and foremost, figure out what you're really looking to reach. Some awards requite you media-coverage, some awards give you a cash prize, some awards give you lot chore or internship opportunities, and almost awards come up with their fair share of recognition. If you're looking to put your proper noun on the map, choose a reputed national or international award… preferably i that has a strong marketing/publication component. If yous're looking for a cash prize to fund the growth of your production, some awards do give out hefty rewards to their winners, although winning them is definitely an uphill battle. If yous're looking to launch a production, expect for an award that'due south interested in prototyping your ideas. If y'all're looking for a stellar work opportunity, some accolade programs advantage internships or exchange programs too! (We've got a nifty blueprint honor guide coming up soon!) And hither'due south a disquisitional chip. Always be prepared. Without sounding like a complete buzzkill, being handed an honor is a great feeling, but it can oft come up with unintended consequences. Winning an award tin often result in a lot of media coverage, and may open up you upwardly to a wide variety of counterfeiters, embroiling you in a copyright battle… and moreover, all awards require NDA clearance from your client, or your college, so make certain you've taken proper legal advice earlier applying for an honor… Peculiarly if you're looking to file a patent later down the road.
The splendid, portable, lightweight, foldable EcoHelmet received the James Dyson Inventor Award in 2016. The James Dyson Award is e'er looking to notice young innovators with life-changing ideas for products. The winning designs are reviewed by Sir James Dyson himself, and are entitled to a hefty cash prize to help boot-start their career or their production journey.
AWARDS ARE BUSINESSES TOO… You lot Need TO PAY TO PLAY
It'southward important to expect at the accolade from the organizer'south perspective too. Medals, trophies, prizes, juries, exhibitions, galas, and a lot of moving parts in between them, they all require a budget… and more than often than none, that budget comes from award application payments, which means you demand to pay to enroll for the awards program. Depending on how grand the award is, its enrollment fee varies as well, which can sometimes make awards an expensive ordeal. So, factor your budget into your selection of awards besides. Some awards are cheaper for students, which is just great if you're studying with no source of income and you're looking to bootstrap your future career. In fact, some schools will even pay the entire or a portion of the fee only to aid students out (after all, a schoolhouse's reputation does increase if its student wins an award). If y'all're not a student, you may be required to pay total price, so make sure y'all allocate a sufficient amount. If you've worked with a customer on the project, you lot can fifty-fifty ask them to pay for the award too… after all, they benefit the virtually from it because the honor also goes to the product AND the company. Some companies use the award logo on their websites, products, or packaging, so it's a win-win for everyone! Forth with money, time plays a big role likewise. Make sure you're set up with your project way in advance, so yous can enroll during the early-bird stages of the honour, and conveniently skip the hefty late-application fee if you cross the deadline. Conversely, if the award is costless for all (considering their business concern model relies on something else altogether), more than power to y'all! Become for it, you rockstar!
The Humla Forest Recon Drone won the iF Pattern Talent Award in 2018. A separate award plan dedicated to rewarding upcoming talent, the Design Talent Award is a branch of the widely known, international iF Pattern Accolade. It'south exclusively for design students and is completely free of whatsoever charge.
Called THE Honour You WANT TO APPLY FOR? NOW PREPARE FOR IT.
Selecting the correct honour is only a mere first stride. The application is the daunting chip. Brand sure y'all practice the following. First, carefully read through the guidelines to see if y'all and your design are applicative. One time that's done, brand sure you lot're aware of the deadlines, and more importantly, the deliverables. Some awards require JPEGS in certain aspect ratios and sizes, some require PDFs, some actually crave printed documents, and some make information technology a point to ask for videos of proof-of-concept, or fifty-fifty your actual product (to examine and/or to showcase at their exhibition). Go through your project with a fine-toothed comb making sure the renders aren't pixelated, colors are accurate, and DEFINITELY avert grammatical errors or typos. Ask a friend, colleague, or mentor for feedback on the layout, the aesthetics, and whether the information and design intent looks crisp and clear. You can even go ane step further and enquire by-winners of the award for some central pointers and tips. Never underestimate the power of a fresh perspective or a slice of disquisitional advice.
Lastly, check to make sure your client, university, pattern-teammates, or even your boss are all okay with you lot sending the projection for an award. Getting that approval is crucial because the final thing yous desire is to violate confidentiality agreements, or not credit an individual or arrangement if they played a office in your project! In one case you lot get a greenish bespeak, and you're happy with the quality of your output, and you've checked everything off your to-practice listing, send the application in! The before yous send your application, the meliorate. Not simply practice you relieve money on regular or late fees, but some competitions offer preliminary judging to give you pointers and feedback that can assistance make your awarding ameliorate. It's always great to know that yous've put in every chip of try to deliver your best work!
What side by side? Well, y'all know what's better than one accolade? Multiple awards! Securing accolades from multiple honor programs and competitions is a sure-fire way to brand yourself equally a great designer. Whether you lot're a student, a professional person, a squad, or even a studio, winning awards is a cracking style to gain a reputation. It helps put you, your product, your client, your academy, and even your own company/brand on the map! Applying for awards can be a daunting task, but the benefits definitely outweigh the demerits – likewise, if you don't apply, you can never win, right!? So I hope this guide should bear witness incredibly handy when you're looking to send your piece of work in for a design award! And hey, all the best!
Also Check Out: You've Won A Design Accolade, What Side by side?
Source: https://www.yankodesign.com/2019/05/09/how-to-win-a-design-award-a-handy-guide/
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