Design a Resource Responsible Apartment In today’s modern society individuals use an immense amount of energy and resources to just live out their daily lives.
Some say that the wave of the future is to live more responsibly by curbing our overall impact on the environment.
The Jovoto Life Edited Product Design Contest wants designers to take up the challenge of creating the apartment of the future, which will substantially be more energy/resource efficient and present a smaller physical footprint. . The sponsor states: .
With some design and technology magic, even small space can allow for almost anything - so we’re asking you to redesign a small space thinking about these core ideas:
* Transforming space - use one space for work, play, sleep, guests * Digitize everything - photos, books, music * From ownership to access - think car-sharing instead of owning, pay-per-view instead of ….downloading, smart space-sharing and subletting * Only the essentials - cut down on extraneous stuff, leaving only what’s really necessary
Contest Details The apartment design must allow the apartment dweller to work, cook, and entertain. . According to the contest guidelines, other considerations for your design should include:
* Comfortable lounging option for 8 people * Space for 2 guests with some visual and ideally auditory ….privacy * Home office * Work area with space for a rolling tool chest * Hideable kitchen
Judging Criteria Entries will be critiqued according to the following standards by a jury panel and community feedback:
* Does the design meet the contest requirements? * Is the design feasible and can it be produced in with a ….reasonable budget? * Will the design be attractive enough for people to consider ….from an economic perspective? * Will the design look good in 25 years? Will it influence people to “leave large and love little?”
Prizes and Awards Winners in all the various categories win cash awards, products and prizes. The total value amount that will be distributed is $70,000.
Contest Links and Other Information Follow these links for important contest resources and details.
“Danger, Danger, Danger Will Robinson!” Most fans of science fiction recognize these words as the warning mantra from the robot of the classic television series Lost in Space.
The show was produced in the mid 1960s but through the magic of syndication and DVD boxed sets the classic series continues to be popular with fans, new and old alike.
The fascination with robots has been a mainstay for the imaginations of individuals in science, literature and the general public.
Robots are now a part of our daily lives, although a great deal of their contributions is unseen. Robots assemble our cars, fabricate household appliances and are essential in the production of electronics, consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals.
But what will robots of the future do? Will they be involved in the social aspects of our lives rather than just automatons that assemble products?
The International Conference on Social Robots (ICSR) believes that the importance of the social function of robots is where robotics is heading and is announcing an open call for ideas and designs of what the robots of the future will be like.
The Contest The sponsors want your unique ideas of how robots will interact with humans. Will they become electronic friends, robots that can tend to our children or act as sports competitors? The ICSR states:
“We invite you (not limited to Industrial Design undergrad, graduate & professionals) to create [design] a social robot (robot interactions) for the year 2020, an age where intelligent social robots built with consilience (unity of different knowledge) will gray the boundaries of human & machine interaction.”
Your submission should demonstrate visually and through written descriptions how your design fulfills the contest theme of the social robot while also adhering to Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics. Contest entries must include:
* A passport photo of the applicant. (35×45mm, jpeg) * PDF document (no more than 3 pages) with visuals and an overview of your concept * Related materials that explain the creative process of your entry and any innovative aspects ….related to your robot design.
Full submissions guidelines can be found in the submission links section of this article.
Judging Criteria and Prizes A jury will select three winners based upon “originality, quality of content and impact of message. The jury will award designs and concepts which best meet the judging criteria mentioned in the brief.”
Cash awards will be given to three winners:
First Prize: $1,000 USD Second Prize: $500 USD Third Prize: $200 USD
In addition, a select number of entries will be chosen for fabrication into 1:5 scale models.
Important Contest Links and Information Only one submission is allowed per contestant. This competition has no entry fee. Please follow these links for contest information and details:
The Dyson Story Does the name James Dyson sound familiar to you? If not, you have probably heard of the invention he developed—the Dyson Cyclonic vacuum cleaner.
An industrial designer by trade, Dyson was dissatisfied with the performance of a store-bought vacuum cleaner he was using.
He noticed that the vacuum power of the unit decreased dramatically after using it several times and decided this was unacceptable. His solution—begin a quest to design a vacuum cleaner that would be superior to the ones he was using.
After fifteen years and over 5,000 prototypes, Dyson achieved his goal and utilized a vacuum cleaner technology based upon the principle of centrifugal force to filter out dirt. He had done what others could not—he solved the problem of reduced suction power in vacuum cleaners.
The Dyson Design Contest The Dyson Awardis an international contest that is held for designers and engineers.
The theme and project requirements of this competition are to design something that solves a problem. The official contest site states that entrants should:
“…describe the problem solved and how it does this. Two versions should be submitted, firstly in the entrant’s mother tongue, and secondly in English. This description should be no longer than 200 words.”
Submissions should contain low resolution images of your sketches and plans, one hires (300dpi) image on white background, a video of the prototype in action (uploaded to YouTube) plus an optional 3D CAD rendering of the device.
For a complete description of eligibility requirements and detailed submission guidelines, follow this link to the official contest website.
Judging and Awards According to the official contest rules:
“…Projects will be judged purely on their merits and quality…[a] shortlist of up to 180 projects will go through to a second round. Each panel of local judges will also select one ‘national winner’ from each country chosen to participate in the JDA (James Dyson Award).”
“…the 15 with the highest ratings will be submitted to James Dyson who will select the international JDA winner as well as two international JDA runners-up.”
The international James Dyson Award winner (student, individual or school team) will receive £10,000 (12,206.33 USD) plus a £10,000 award in the form of equipment to the university or college where the winner attends or previously attended (within the past four years as a design or engineering student).
Other Details The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2010. Contest winners will be announced in October 2010. There are many important details as far as entry guidelines so be sure to read the contest rules by going to the Dyson Award website.
See Your Design on Every Citroën 2011 DS3 Car? Now you can use your graphic design skills and talent to help automobile manufacturer Citroën in designing graphic elements for the dashboard and roof of its sporty DS3 supermini car.
The winners of this graphic design contest will be awarded cash prizes and have their designs evaluated for use in a possible production run of DS3 models in 2011. . . The Contest Details This competition is international and anyone may enter who is 18 years of age or older. Citroën provides two templates for graphic designers.
To download the PDF document for the specific dimensions of the roof graphic, follow this link. Download the PDF template for the dashboard graphic by going here.
You will need Adobe’s PDF Reader to view these files. If you do not have this program, Adobe provides a free download of the application at its website.
Submissions to this contest must have two completed designs including perspectives of the exterior, interior and highlighted areas that focus on the important details of the graphic.
Only entries accompanied by a written description and thoughts (in English or French) of the project theme will be accepted.
Judging According to Citroën, designs will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
* Relevance of the solution to the competition challenge ….provided by the project * Ease of use / integration of innovations * Creativity, playfulness and originality * Application for mass production and internationalization of ….project
The winning designs will also be displayed at the Citroën Creative Awards ceremony on October 5, 2010.
Other Contest Information For complete details about the contest, go to Citroën’s contest website. A PDF document of the guidelines and rules for this contest can be downloaded at this link. All entries must be received by July 4, 2010 (France time zone) to be eligible.
******************************************************************************** Do You Know Who Syd Mead Is? The name Syd Mead may not be familiar to you but his art and design work influences the look of films, planes, video games, automobiles, water craft, and architecture.
The Contest Submissions should reflect the style and flavor of futurist Syd Mead. To gain some insight and inspiration of his techniques go to this link to see examples of his work. . . Among other parameters, general guidelines for this contest state:
* All entrants must be registered with CGTalk or CGSociety and agree to abide by the Terms and Conditions as describe at this link. In order to be a registered member, go to the official website.
* Try to keep images under 2MB. Compressing them with something other than Photoshop will help, as will using a lower compression setting - there is no need for 100% quality when compressing JPEG files.
* Entries should remain unpublished outside of CGSociety prior to the close of the challenge.
* The final model, both digital and real, remains the exclusive property of the entrant.
* For a complete set of rules and contest guidelines, follow this link.
Prizes The sponsors of this contest offer the following awards:
1st prize: Total value of US$17,000 $10,000 cash 2 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at $7000.00 (USD)
2nd Prize: Total value of US$9,000 $2000 cash 2 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at $7000.00 (USD)
3rd Prize: Total value of US$4,500 $1000 cash 1 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at $3500.00 (USD)
4rth Prize: Total value of US$3.500 1 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at $3500.00 (USD)
5th Prize: Total value of US$3.500 1 x NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 4GB - 240 CUDA Processors (or latest model) valued at $3500.00 (USD).
Other Information Entries will be accepted until June 30, 2010. The winners will be announced at the end of July 2010. There is no entry fee for this contest.
In this new series we’ll explore what sorts of traits successful professionals in design or creative positions commonly possess. .. . . What the Employers Say They Want The original information was researched by Preston Lee, an award winning graphic designer, who queried design professionals from different firms.
He asked them what sort of traits they believed are inherent in people who work in jobs that required creativity.
The following list of attributes isn’t exhaustive by any means but may be useful in determining whether you have “the right stuff” to work for a design or media firm.
The List What is interesting to note is that of all the traits that were mentioned as valuable for a career in design, very little was said about actual talent.
The responses were generally about personal character, good attitude, and good communication skills.
Of course talent is a factor, but this seems to be a given and employers are looking for that extra “something” from potential hires in addition to talent alone. We’ll list the top responses here with a short comment for each trait.
Be motivated and eager to learn. Design methods and software are constantly changing, so a graphic designer who continues to learn becomes a valuable team member to the company.
Be curious about the industry. This could also be rephrased, “Be interested in your work.” A fresh perspective of where the industry is heading shows employers that you are involved and engaged in your work.
Get a good education. Preparing yourself for a career in graphic design, illustration, or one of the many related fields in the arts means getting the best education that is available to you. Graphic design schools and graphic design colleges can help you to receive the graphic design education you need to qualify for jobs in the industry. Most entry level jobs require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree.
Be authentic. It is sometimes hard to admit a lack of knowledge when searching for a solution to a design problem. But pretending to know everything isn’t the way to go either. Just be yourself. Employers want people that can fit into their organizations.
Network constantly. Or in other words, communicate! Errors in design concepts can sometimes be attributable to nothing more than just a misunderstanding of project guidelines or the assumption that the other party knows what is expected. Design companies need people who can effectively communicate.
. Next Time… We’ll list some more traits that graphic design employers seek in their new hires.
We’ll also discuss some of the things that you can do to increase your chances of becoming hired with a design company, or other firm dealing with the visual arts.
Design a Resource Responsible Apartment
Contest Details
Contest Links and Other Information
