Curious about design awards but have not yet made a decision to enter? Here is the guidance you may be looking for to present your team's work to a jury.

If you are reading this unconvinced of the merit of entering a design awards program, please let us to take a moment to remind you of the incredible promotional benefit to your team and client if you win, the community connection built by putting your work in front of a jury of your peers, and how the very act of documenting your process and achievements engenders a sense of accomplishment and pride throughout your organization.

Powerful imagery prefaced with a brief explanation of why the project is significant is a winning combination. 2024 C77DA Consumer Technology Cricut Venture.

Your Mission: Hone Your Story, Connect with Your Jury

We've run the Core77 Design Awards for over a decade and have found that the most important part of our job is assembling the best design juries possible. We recruit leading creative professionals across a broad range of expertise, experience and backgrounds. They review entries online and meet virtually to debate. We ensure that every qualified entry gets in front of them. Your job is to seize that opportunity and engage them in your project's story.

STEP ONE

Carefully consider the Category or Categories for your entry — a well-chosen category significantly enhances the relevance and appeal of your submission. Review the category definitions thoroughly to ensure your project is positioned to capture the jury's interest in the most fitting context. Enter your project into as many categories as are relevant - good projects and presentations often bring home multiple accolades. The Core77 Design Awards honors both professional and student work in all its categories. If you created your project at school be certain to make a student entry. On the professional side we honor only work that has been released, published or otherwise realized. Except for concept work whose purpose is "cultural commentary, intervention, or exploration" which has a home in our Speculative Design category.

STEP TWO

While jurors may not review entries in an elevator, it is important to approach your presentation as if they are—you have a brief window to capture their attention. Begin filling out the Solution/Project Description, where you have 1500 words to introduce the jury to your concept, its design features and how it fits both the market and end-user. Do that and you'll have framed the context for what follows. If you believe your entry would benefit from further explanation delve deeper, describing your process, perspective, and the project's comprehensive journey. This entire narrative should not exceed 1500 words and should focus on the innovative and impactful aspects of your work. Should you need more words than 1500 there is an additional option to add 100 more words.

The end results of a design project might be too complex for images and words alone to communicate. If your entry's story would benefit from it, use supplemental materials like project PDFs and videos to present a fuller picture of your project, creating a more dynamic presentation of your achievement. In considering how much and what to share with the jury you should seek to balance depth and brevity. Consider how each piece illuminates your key points. Keep PDFs under 15MB and videos short, under 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Video attachments must be hosted on video sites such as YouTube or Vimeo so be prepared to provide a URL for the video.

STEP THREE

Seeing is Believing - We cannot overstate the importance of imagery in an entry. It is vital for conveying your project's aesthetic and functional qualities. Show details of the realized project. Show it in context. If a user interacts with it, show the chief modes of operation. Give a complete sense of the work but edit your final collection of images with an eye toward removing repetitive, or potentially confusing, imagery. At their best, images go beyond documentation and express the spirit of the project. Submit project images in JPEG or PDF files formats, bigger is better, but for ease of uploading, limit your images to 15MB per file. A maximum of 11 pieces can be uploaded with your entry and can include exploded views and charts in PDF form.

Renderings can nail vibe and offer insight, here to an outdoor experience that had yet to be built. 2024 C77DA Built Environment winner TMC Helix Park

For Branding, Identity and Visual Design entries it is important to show their application in context to one another. 2024 C77DA Branding & Identity Award Honoree, Halsa.

The rare and elusive money shot: a single image that conveys the unique proposition of the entry. 2024 C77DA Robotics winner, Da Vinci 5 Surgical Systems.

Projects benefit from imagery depicting the experience of using them. 2023 C77DA Transportation Utility Scooter.

STEP FOUR

Projects that overlap categories should enter all that are pertinent. "Charlie by Channing St. Copper Co" was recognized in three professional categories: Sustainability, Home & Living, and Consumer Technology.

Stakeholders in a project can share ownership and recognition. 2024 C77DA Design for Social Impact winner, Indigenizing Design

STEP FIVE

Entering an awards program is an expression of pride in work, both the work put in and the work that came out. So, it is important, and beneficial, to acknowledge the collaborative effort behind your project. Include the project team, as well as the client or surrounding portions of your operation in gathering materials and names for credit. This is entered on the Entry Information page where you can add the whole team in the Additional Design Credits section. This not only highlights the collective talent behind the project but also enriches the submission's narrative by showcasing the depth of collaboration and expertise involved.

Don't be intimidated, the work is done and the story has written itself, just collect your assets and contributors then get it in front of the jury. That's enough to get you in the running. Take our advice and work your story into a tight, compelling narrative — you'll honor your team and make a case for the jury to as well.

Core77 Design Awards final deadline is March 25, 2025.