Receiving an honor in the Core77 Design Awards takes a little more than just an exceptional design project- it requires turning that exceptional project into an entry that will grab the jury’s attention. With Regular pricing coming to a close on March 8th, there is still plenty of time to submit your best work in a way that thoroughly impresses the jury and helps you stand out from your competition.

We’ve created the following guide to help you nail every step of the submission process so your entry is presented in the best light possible. Included are tips and tricks to highlight your project’s strengths, and maximize your entry’s potential.

Step One: Sign In or Create a Core77 Account

Already have an account? Great! All you have to do is sign in. If not, create an account through Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Email. Creating an account not only allows you to enter the Core77 Design Awards, it automatically gives you access to all the other great features on Core77.

Step Two: Begin your Entry

Once you’ve signed in, head over to the “Awards” tab near the top of the page, to the right of the “Profile” tab.

Next, choose your entry type: Professional or Student. If the project you are submitting was completed while you were actively enrolled in school between January 1st, 2021 and April 1, 2022, select “Make a Student Entry”. For all other circumstances, choose “Make a Professional Entry”.

Step Three: Fill Out the Elements of your Entry

The following elements of your entry are REQUIRED for submission, so your entry won’t be complete with out them:

• Project Title
• The Designer Name (whether it’s you or someone else)
• The Client Name 
• The Thumbnail Image (must be at least 400 pixels tall and 400 pixels wide)
• The Project Overview
• At least one Project Image
• The Project Details
• At least one Category selected

The following elements of your entry are OPTIONAL for submission, though we highly recommend completing as many as you can:

• Project PDF
• Project Video
• External Link
• Title Image
• Team Credits

• Designer Twitter Handle
• Client Twitter Handle

Helpful tips for filling out REQUIRED entry elements:

• Your Project Overview should give the jury a brief idea of what your entry is in 500 words or less. It should be short, but informative, and convey the basics of the entry. (Your Project Details section is the place to write about your work in much greater detail.)

• Your Project Images must be either JPEG, GIF or PNG formats. The maximum image dimension is 3000 pixels tall or wide and the maximum individual file size is 15MB. Sorry, but we can’t accept Zip, Stuffit or other compressed files.

• Your Project Details section is where you may write about your entry in greater detail. Describe your intent as you approached your project. What is your point of view? Talk about the process that informed your project. Think about research, ethnography, subject matter experts, materials exploration, technology, iteration, testing and anything else that went into it.  It also helps to describe the stakeholder interests your project considers, such as audience, businesses, organizations, labor, manufacturing and distribution. The jury loves to read about these facets of the project, but be sure to keep it to 1500 words or less.

• The final point to consider when describing your design in your Project Details section is how your project earns its keep in the world. What is its value? Discuss the type of social, educational, economic impact it has, whether it’s paradigm-shifting, sustainable or if it creates an environmental, cultural or gladdening effect. 

• When you are uploading your files, double and triple check that your sizes and file types are correct! Also check that you haven’t exceeded the character limit in your Project Overview or Project Details, especially if you cut and pasted your text from another file. We don’t want your words to get cut off!

• Think carefully when selecting the category or categories in which you are entering your designs. We have full definitions here on the Categories Page. We recommend reviewing them all to ensure you are entering the most appropriate category. You never know… your design might be perfect as a Consumer Product entry, but it might also fit into the Interaction category. 

Helpful tips for filling out OPTIONAL entry elements:

• The Project PDF is a chance to showcase details of your project that can’t be expressed in Project Details. Please note the PDF cannot be larger than 15MB and no longer than 30 pages. 

• The Project Video helps demonstrate your entry in a dynamic way, and is always appreciated by the Judges. Your video should be simple and short- please keep it to under 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The video file needs to be in mp4 format and cannot be larger than 200MB. If you run into any troubles uploading, check that the video codec is H264. We have even more Project Video Tips here.

• The External Link is a great way to offer additional information about your project, especially if your client or school wrote about it.

• The Title Image acts as a introductory image for your entry, and is yet another way to visually illustrate your project. It’s the biggest image the juries will see, so choose wisely.

• In the Team Credits section you can give recognition to those who helped your project become fully realized. Make sure to list everyone here who was involved so we can congratulate all the right people if your project is honored. 

Step Four: Completing and Paying for your Entry

After you fill in all the required elements, and any of the optional elements you want to include, click on the Add to Cart button near the bottom of the page.

If you click Add to Cart, but you have not completed all required elements, you will see the following message which lists what still needs to be filled in:

If you click Add to Cart, and have completed all required elements, you will be presented with the option to Make Another Entry, or Continue to Payment.

If you are not planning on creating another entry, click Continue to Payment, and you will be brought to the Checkout page.

Before you click Continue to Billing, be sure to check the two boxes in the yellow rectangle. You won’t be able to continue until both are checked. Once you have, click Continue to Billing and you will be brought to the Payment page where you can complete payment for your entry.

With this guide, the power to build the perfect Core77 Design Awards entry is now in your hands. If you find you’re still running into problems, please contact us at [email protected].

Regular pricing for the 2022 Core77 Design Awards ends on March 8th. Start your entry and knock the socks off the Judges today!

Source: core77