Spark Awards 2010

Welcome to the Spark 2010 Competition, Designers! The Spark Awards are the exciting new competition created to promote great design and designers and encourage people to explore their creativity. Everyone is invited to participate--designers, art directors, architects, design firms, manufacturers, institutions, ad agencies and students may enter, interact and enjoy Sparking.

Graphics, product design, transportation and architecture are just a few of the many design categories accepted. Our Criteria are modern and compelling. If you or your company create great designs, don’t miss the opportunity to compete in this important event.

For 2010 Spark International, the entry process has been simplified, to make everyone's life a little less hectic at deadline time. The main way to achieve this is to utilize a single-phase entry system. (Note that regional Spark Partner organizations may vary.) In years past, there was a preliminary phase which is now eliminated. Now there is one fee per entry-- for Pro's, the same total amount as in prior years, if you became a finalist. You are asked to upload your images of your work and a description, as before, and when it's time for the live jury, to ship your work or boards to the judging site. All work entered and received by deadline will be judged by the live jury.

Winners are awarded either a prestigious Finalist, Bronze Spark, Silver Spark, Gold Spark or the ultimate Spark! Award.

Eligibility

All designers, art directors, design firms and departments, ad agencies, marketing and branding practices, clients, manufacturers, student and non-professional or novice designers are welcome to compete, or just join the Spark Community. Spark accepts and promotes a wide range of design types. As you'll see on our Categories page, this ranges from product design to advertising, digital animation to brick and mortar architecture. Professional Category admission is for designs launched from January 2000 forward, and a design may be entered again, in later years if it did not win. Students and novices (non-professionals) may enter each category, without their product being in production. (Proof of status required to win.) Each entrant may enter as many designs as they wish.

There are awards for concept or prototype design--innovative designs that have yet to find a manufacturer or are in preliminary stages of development. In 2010 these will be judged separately from developed work. Spark also tries to identify and highlight serious aspirational designs.

Each entrant may submit any number of products. This will be a single-phase competition--new in 2010. All entries received by deadline will be judged by the live Spark jury.

Jury decisions are made from the actual product or graphics. Large equipment, interiors, public spaces, buildings, digital and website design all may be submitted as visuals. Most other designs are best judged in physical, production, model or published form. Please note—designs should not be sent to Spark prior to the published delivery period.

Please remember to document your design creation process. Consider all media for this--video, still photography, text. This is important for your own development and records and potential sharing for educational and promotional reasons.

What to enter?

Spark welcomes designs from any discipline and in any medium or form.

All Entrants need to upload 3 images of their work and short mission statement to the Spark website. The images should be 72dpi, in JPG file format (NO TIFF or PDF files PLEASE!), approximately 5" x5" (12.7cm x 12.7cm).

For your Description or mission statement, please start with a headline. You may follow just below that text with a more detailed statement up to 500 words. We recommend a straight, non-sales pitch description of your design's merits, applicability, cognizance of our Criteria, etc. Do not put the designer or design firm name in the text-- only the design name.

After initial registration, log in to your registration page, where you'll see the option to enter your payment information via the credit card system. We recommend that you pay by check if you are from the USA or Canada, in which case, please notify us to expect it. Overseas entrants may also wish to make payments via Bank Wire--please inquire for bank details.

After receiving payment, we will mark your status as "Paid." With either method of payment, after the Jury Delivery announcement is made, the final step is to carefully package your design and ship it to Spark, arriving no later than deadline.

Please do not send very valuable prototypes or highly fragile models, because we can not be responsible for lost, damaged or missing work. If you do send something of great value, make sure to insure the piece for the whole timeframe.

If you are submitting work from afar, you may wish to have a display board made locally in San Francisco, instead of shipping to our Jury site. There are several good reprographic companies in SF that can produce these. Try a Google search. You send them a digital file, preferred size and credit card payment. They make a display board and deliver it to Spark. Make sure to embed your Entry Barcode in the lower-right corner of your display board-image jpg. This barcode should be the same size as the downloaded original--not larger or smaller!

Where the Upload form asks for Designer or Team Leader name, some people want to emphasize their whole team. In that case, write "Design Team" in those blanks. If you are a Spark Winner, we will be happy to list all team members in subsequent materials.

Categories

ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS
Buildings
Public Architecture
Interior design, living spaces
Offices, working spaces
Universal access systems
Temporary structures
Infrastructure, urban planning
Arches, bridges, viaducts and gateways
Landmarks, symbolic structures, memorials
Public spaces, parks, vistas, plazas
Pedestrian walkways, amenities
Community planning and design

DIGITAL
Games
Video: interstitials, PSA’s, station ID
Digital video effects & animation
Web and interactive

BRAND
Brand and business strategy and organization

EXPERIENTIAL
Exhibition booths and pavilions. Events. Environments. Simulators.

GRAPHIC
Identity, logos
Print: publishing, advertising or direct mail
Corporate and financial
Packaging, point of sale
Wayfinding, informational kiosks and terminals

PRODUCT
Leisure, sports, health and outdoor recreation
Industrial and consumer tools and equipment
General consumer goods and appliances
Kitchen and bath
Electronics—telecom, home entertainment, computers, etc.
Lighting
Jewelry, timepieces. awards, trophies and luxury goods

FURNITURE AND OUTDOOR
Residential
Street furniture and fittings

MOBILITY
Vehicles (Please click for detail)
Air, marine and space
Mass Transit and transportation

MICRO
Wire EDM, Circuit, and Nano Tech-- component designs in top-end watches, micro
machines and robotics

ADVERTISING
Design-driven marketing themes

GREEN
Carbon-lowering and environmental
EcoDesign

SYSTEM
Education, software and data
Design Engineering

WORLD-CHANGING
Both "design for the other 90%" and the policies, systems and services needed to design a sustainable existence

MEDICAL
Medical devices and related equipment

Submission Deadlines and Fees

2010 ProSpark Call For Entry Began March 1, 2010. Final, Late Deadline, October 20

Take advantage of Spark's Super Special Spring and Summer Promotional Entry Fees. Save big money and get long exposure in the 2010 Spark Entry Galleries!

►Cool Spring Spark Promotional Entry Fee $285, Students and Non-Professionals, $110. Sale lasts March 1 to May 31, Midnight PST, 2010

►Hot Summer Spark Promotional Entry Fee $325, Students and Non-Professionals, $130. Sale lasts June 1 to August 15, Midnight PST, 2010

►Sizzling Spark Standard Entry Fee $375, Students and Non-Professionals, $150. Available August 16 to October 10, Midnight PST, 2010

►Our "Not Too Late to Spark Offer," add $50 Late Entry Surcharge, for Pro's, Students and Non-Professionals. Available October 11 to October 20, Midnight PST, 2010

Series or campaign entries may be submitted with a single registration with an additional $75 surcharge

Entry deliveries to the Jury site: September 01 to the noon, October 20 Deadline. No materials accepted before or after these dates.

For payment of the entry fees, cheques and moneyorder are preferred. For questions on payment you can contact the Spark Awards team:

Email: entries@sparkawards. com
Toll free: 866-846-6715
Intl: +1-914-481-6106
 

Evaluation Criteria

The submitted designs are evaluated by expert and independent judges from design and related fields. Their knowledge and experience are the ultimate arbiters of the Spark Awards. The criteria below reflect some of the factors that they take into consideration (in no particular order). These criteria also pertain to the Student and Novice entries. May the most fabulous applications be nominated and win!

Inventiveness and innovation
Does the design "stretch the envelope" and enhance the human experience in a tangible new way?

Sustainability
Everything in question and of importance in 21st century design: footprint, toxicity of manufacture or materials, land-fill afterlife, effect on atmospheric warming, recycled raw materials, energy consumption, educative value, et al—how environmentally sustainable is the design, from manufacture through packaging to use and final disposal?

Elegance & beauty
Whether classic or modern, symmetrical or no, ah or aha! Does the design send you?

Functionality
How well does the design perform its function—and work? Is it efficient, economical—essential?

Integration
Does the design fit the system? Does it mesh well and extend, achieving more than the concept alone?

Durability
Is the design's lifespan appropriate to its usage and good sustainable practice?

Implementation
What was the design strategy—how was progress measured—was the process itself innovative? Was the process multi-disciplinary? Did the design sell or fulfill its goals?

Safety and ergonomics
Is it safe and user-friendly? How well does the design suit a wide (and appropriate) range of users?

Personal connection
Does the design help create feeling? Joy, delight, pleasure, inspiration or reverence?

Aspiration
Does the design contribute in significant ways to overarching societal goals? Is it truly "design that makes a difference?"

FAQ and further information

To find out more about this award, please visit the Spark Awards website: www.sparkawards.com
There you will find more information including the jury, details on delivery and pickup and a list of FAQ.