Industrial design competitions provide a wide scope of finding new ideas on how to improve aesthetics, ergonomics, functionality, and usability by incorporating additional knowledge and newer technologies from various fields of arts and science. These competitions work around the process of designs that are applied to products that can be further mass produced where the form of the product is determined by its creator and hence is unique. These competitions aim at finding the design that is utilitarian and benefits society at an aggregate level.
A design award for a good industrial design is very important and relevant as the designed product is then given validation for better quality than its competitors, gets more public attention, and therefore more sale and sale value. These competitions help designers get support and a healthy open to all discussions related to good designing practices environment which is open to criticism and finding better perspectives.
A list of upcoming, eminent Industrial Design competitions has been discussed in this article.
1. Red Dot Award: Product Design 2021| Design Competitions
Organizers: Red Dot GmbH & Co. KG
Submission deadline: February 19, 2021
Announcement of winner: October 2021
Link: https://www.red-dot.org/pd/about/
The red dot product design competition provides a platform for a professional evaluation of the designing quality of the products. There are about 50 categories of products that you can apply for. The competition helps designers in launching their new products and getting a better knowledge of the risks of the design process involved while designing their products. The jurors look forward to emphasizing the functionality of the design solutions while assessing the design entries of different product groups.
2. Biomimicry Global Design Challenge
Organizers: Biomimicry Institute
Submission deadline: April 30, 2021
Announcement of winner: September 2021
Link: https://challenge.biomimicry.org/
The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge is a team’s competition open to teams of independent professionals and college and university students anywhere in the world. The challenge is to create a nature-inspired innovation which could be a product, service, or a system that works towards a sustainable development goal along with the implementation of three elements of biomimicry –Emulate, Ethos, and [RE]connect in their proposed solutions.
3. LOOP Design Awards 2021| Competition Design
Organizers: LOOP Design Awards
Submission deadline: July 31, 2021
Announcement of winner: September 2021
Link: https://www.loopdesignawards.com/
This is intended for designers, creatives, photographers and individuals involves in the fields of architecture, interior design, landscape design, product design, and architecture photography.
4. Good Design Awards
Organizers: The Chicago Athenaeum
Submission deadline: April 30, 2021
Announcement of winner: September 2021
Link: https://good-design.org/good-design-awards/
The Good Design awards look forward to contemporary design solutions and honor both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have found game-changing and inspirational design projects that are helping to shape a better and brighter future for innovation and pushed the competition of the designed products in the world marketplace.
5. World Design Impact Prize 2021| Design Competitions
Organizers: World Design Organization
Submission deadline: April 30, 2021
Announcement of winner: October 2021
Link: https://wdo.org/programmes/wdip/
This aim at recognizing and elevating industrial design-driven projects that attempt to seek out projects and recognize them for their solutions-based ability and to bridge the gap between problems and solutions, design, and purpose.
6. PAVE Student Aid – Spring 2021
Organizers: World Design Organization
Submission deadline: April 30, 2021
Announcement of winner: October 2021
Link: https://www.paveglobal.org/studentaid
The PAVE Student Aid is accepting applications for its aid program that supports students that are studying in the field of retail design, interior design, architecture, visual merchandising, industrial design, and programs similar to these fields. They aim at preparing students for careers in the retail environments industry who are experiencing financial difficulties.
7. Pentawards 2021
Organizers: Pentawards agency
Submission deadline: March 19, 2021
Announcement of winner: [not specified due to Coovid]
Link: https://pentawards.com/
The Pentawards is an annual product packaging design competition in which the product will be judged based on the quality of design, brand expression, creativity, innovation, and emotional connection. The packaging created by the designers that are released in the market anywhere in the world between July 1st, 2020 to June 2021 is eligible for entry. For the student category, only individuals currently in educational institutes are eligible to enter.
8. A ’Design Award and Competition
Organizers: ADF – A Design Factory and OMC Design Studios
Submission deadline: February 28, 2021
Announcement of winner: April 15, 2021
Link: https://competition.adesignaward.com/design-award-dates.html
The A’ Design Awards presents the world’s best design work in the fields of art, architecture, fashion, communication, and product design. The competitions aim at finding great designers and brands whose superior design products, projects, and services would inspire and advance our society.
9. C-IDEA Design Award 2020 | Competition Design
Organizers: C-IDEA
Submission deadline: February 28, 2021
Announcement of winner: May 2021
Link: https://cidea-union.com/call-for-entries/
The 2020 C-IDEA Design Award is an annual juried design competition that aims at recognizing and promoting visionary talents in a wide range of categories that include communication design, industrial design, architecture, interior design, fashion design, and new media.
10. NYC x DESIGN – The Breakout Grant | Design Competitions
Organizers: NYC x DESIGN
Submission deadline: March 26, 2021
Announcement of winner: May 2021
Link: https://www.nycxdesign.com/
The NYC x DESIGN’s The Breakout Grant is created to evaluate ideas across a range of design disciplines; Architecture, Graphics & Branding, Urban Design, Interior Design, Product Design, Digital & Technology and support independent design entrepreneurs with significant funding and visibility.
