Designers Institute of New Zealand
Best Design Awards

Enter

Key dates for 2020:

April 28
Entries Open

July 24
Entry Deadline

July 29
Late Entries

July 31
Supporting Material Due

Sunday 6th to 11th September
Judging Week 2020

15th September
Finalists Announced

November 13
Awards Night—Aotea Centre

Entry Fees
  • Member $60 Includes AGDA, DIA, IDSA
  • Non-Member $289
  • Student $30
  • Late Entry +$79

To support all 2020 entrants during the coronavirus pandemic, the entry fee for paid members has dropped for each entry that isn’t picked as a finalist. If, as a member or student, your entry makes finalist, you’ll receive an additional invoice for the balance of the regular entry fee, prior to awards night ($129 inc GST for members, $69 inc GST for students). If your entry is not picked as a finalist, you only pay the new, lower entry fee listed above.

Categories

  • Graphic

    • Business Communication

      This category includes both external and internal engagement work for a business or organisation. Annual reports, IPOs, profiles, brand books, guidelines and internal communication collateral (digital and printed).

      Capturing and communicating the leadership’s intent and the organisational direction. Clear and concise themes beautifully crafted across a multipage document.

      Consider how well it communicates to the audience, shareholders, Internal staff or consumers.

    • Colour Award Graphics

      This category celebrates outstanding, innovative and creative use of colour.

      Judges are looking for unexpected, delightful work that employs colour as a critical part the communication or message. It should challenge current design practice and thinking.

    • Design Communication

      Clear and clever communication of an idea across a variety of mediums ie. Brochures, catalogues, campaigns, direct response, calendars, posters, street posters and billboards.

      Beautifully crafted and consistently executed.

    • Design Craft

      Projects that qualify for this category are outstanding works of computer generated rendering/enhancement, Illustration, photography, typography, in the context of graphic design. 

      This award focusses on the crafting of a piece through inventive use of process, production techniques and materiality along with meticulous design detailing and creative construction and form.

      Work may be entered in multiple subcategories within this category, provided each has been entered as a separate entry (and entry fee paid).

      Please ensure that you show both the specific work and the context for the overall project.

      Work that has no clear design purpose will not qualify, eg. fine art, photography or photojournalism.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Computer Generated Imagery
      • Illustration
      • Photography
      • Typography
    • Editorial and Books

      Book covers, complete books, magazine covers, magazine features.

      Visually capturing the essence and the key theme of a story and or creatively amplifying messages and character through unique and impactful graphics, formats and storytelling.

      Craft, attention to detail and a high level of finish will be a key consideration in this category.

    • Environmental Graphics

      Signage and way-finding systems, interpretive graphics, trade shows and exhibition design, retail displays, street posters and billboards.

      Creating clear pathways and intuitive methods of orientation with environmental messaging that translates a brand at an environmental level to create a sense of place or deliver an experience.

      Also considered is the impact and transformation of the environment because of this design.

      Thorough and well thought through wayfinding or environmental approach will also be part of the criteria.

    • Large Brand Identity

      Comprehensive large organisation projects. 

      Creating clear architecture, design discipline and distinct storytelling in the process.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Commercial: Corporate, product, service or retail
      • Cultural: Arts, NGO, Not-for-profit, Government
    • Packaging

      Creating product standout and branded difference through inventive use of form, format, space and character to capture the brand’s story and represent a range of product/varietal offers.

      Also iconic branded products that demonstrate a clever and well thought through evolution or move forward for the brand/product.

      For FMCG large volume, local and export products, please provide any evidence of an increase of sales that directly attributes to the design or redesign of this particular products.

      This will be a major consideration for the judges in this category.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • FMCG: Large volume, local and export products
      • Boutique: A start up or small scale enterprise
    • Self Promotion

      All graphic design work completed for own practice.

      Capturing a studios culture of creativity and unique attitude with a bold idea and inventive delivery – consideration given here to unexpected and ground breaking executions given the lack of constraints.

    • Small Brand Identity

      Small scale, boutique projects.

      Both highly creative and characterful problem solving design that captures the unique offer of the brand.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Commercial: SME, product, service, hospitality or retail
      • Cultural: Arts, NGO, Not-for-profit, Government
    • Student Graphics

      Showing strong ideas-based concepts, bold originality and freshness of thinking, great technical skills, and an appreciation that the work can be successful commercially.

  • Digital

    • Digital Products

      A digital product creates specific value for customers, users and the organisation that creates it.
      From mobile and web apps to games and installations, these products should be designed to make everyday life easier and more delightful.

      Entries for this category should demonstrate excellence in the overall execution of a digital product, including its visual design, user interface, experience, navigation, responsiveness, layout, copywriting and micro interactions.

      They can be submitted directly by product companies, or by agencies working with organisations to deliver better digital products to market.

      All digital product entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Transactional, Services & Utility

        Web or Mobile App design, launch and scaling of a new digital product or an existing digital product that has been relaunched or refreshed. The judges will be looking at overall execution, how well the product improves the current digital or non-digital experience, and how well customer value is delivered.

      • Games

        Recognises design and gameplay experiences that are successful across all creative and technical fields; creating user-friendly, innovative and fluid results. All genres of game are accepted, including virtual, full-immersion, AR, website and mobile games.

    • Digital Campaigns

      Websites, landing pages, email (EDMs), brochure and microsites launched as part of a wider promotional campaign and that do not comprise the brand’s main site or product.

      Entries must explain the wider marketing context of the entered work.

      All digital campaign entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

    • Large Scale Websites

      Full websites or components of existing websites that demonstrate complexity within information architecture and/or user experience.

      If a component, the entry must clearly state the scope of the entered work.

      There is no longer a minimum budget requirement in this category. 

      All large-scale website entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • eCommerce

        Innovation in large-scale e-commerce experiences including the use of social components, personalised shopping experiences, chatbots or AI, or any design that enhances the experience of shopping online.

      • Dataviz

        Websites that make use of visual design and user experience design to display data in an interactive and informative way. These can be part of a larger product or site, or the entire project. The work will be judged on how intuitive it is to understand, how well it communicates the intended story, and visual craft.

      • Corporate & Enterprise

        Websites that deliver multiple or complex services. Government and corporate sites offering various information and services to a wide demographic or users should be entered in this category.

    • Small Scale Websites

      Small websites, landing pages, portfolios and microsites with simple information architecture (<10 pages) that are part of a brand or company’s main site.

      Completely new websites or components of existing websites may be entered.

      There is no longer a maximum budget requirement in this category.

      All small-scale website entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

    • Installation & Exhibition

      Digital experiences that make use of both physical and digital components in tandem to engage with users and deliver an interactive experience.

      All installation and exhibition entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

    • User Experience

      Creating impact through a customer-centred approach to the challenge that shows how research, insight and a user-focused approach to design, solution architecture, testing and development enabled the delivery of a highly impactful digital experience or interaction.

      Entries should demonstrate how the project resulted in better accessibility, greater engagement, stronger user empowerment and demonstrable value for target audiences, customer groups and/or the internal staff of the product/service provider. 

      Showing a user-led approach to problem-solving that has been upheld throughout the project, ultimately delivering metrics that validate both user and commercial value. 

      All user experience entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Optimising

        Making existing experiences and daily activities more accessible, efficient and valuable for users. This award is focussed on a ‘current’ product or service experience made better, in either digital, spatial, service or product design, or via a combination of these aspects.

      • Empowering

        Inspiring and enabling people to go beyond their limits and achieve more through existing or new experiences. This award is focussed on how enabling users and improving self determination has unlocked significant effect and value for customers/users/citizens.

      • Innovating

        Creating wholly new products, services, markets or value by meeting latent or emerging user needs in new ways, or re-imagining completely an existing product or service to create greater accessibility, benefit, value, behaviours and interaction models.

    • Student Digital

      Fully realised or conceptual design work produced as part of a recognised tertiary course.

      Showing strong ideas-based concepts, bold originality and freshness of thinking, great technical skills, and an appreciation that the work can be successful commercially.

       All student entries that require sign-in must include access credentials if the submitted work does not accept open registrations.

  • Moving Image

    • Interactive

      Moving image within website/app/games etc

    • Long Form

      Animated or moving image graphic design created for film, broadcast, TV, internet or in-house videos.
      Over 90 seconds (e.g., film, music video channel idents).

    • Short Form

      Animated or moving image graphic design created for film, broadcast, TV, internet or in-house videos.
      Under 90 seconds (e.g., commercials)

    • Student Moving Image

      Showing strong ideas-based concepts, bold originality and freshness of thinking, great technical skills, and an appreciation that the work can be successful commercially.

  • Toitanga

    Toitanga

    Tupu te toi, Ora te toi, Whanake te toi, Te toi i ahu mai i Hawaiiki.

    The Toitanga award acknowledges the unique lineage and origin of Māori storytelling and artistic expression. It celebrates these taonga through a meaningful collaborative process between designers, cultures, clients and our environment.

    The Designers Institute of New Zealand wishes to thank Ngā Aho Inc for the partnership that developed the Ngā Aho Award in 2012 to 2019.

    • Toitanga

      Evaluation Criteria:

      The Aotearoa Way:
      - Kaupapa / Intention
      - Tikanga / Process
      - Auahatanga / Innovation
      - Āhuatanga / Expression

      Mahitahi/Collaboration:
      - Whakawhanaungatanga / Relationships and reciprocity
      - Kanohi ki te kanohi / Face to face
      - Pakahiwi ki te pakahiwi / Shoulder to shoulder

    • Student Toitanga

      Evaluation Criteria:

      The Aotearoa Way:
      - Kaupapa / Intention
      - Tikanga / Process
      - Auahatanga / Innovation
      - Āhuatanga / Expression

      Mahitahi/Collaboration:
      - Whakawhanaungatanga / Relationships and reciprocity
      - Kanohi ki te kanohi / Face to face
      - Pakahiwi ki te pakahiwi / Shoulder to shoulder

  • Product

    • Colour Award Product

      The award recognises the outstanding and innovative application of colour in product design.

      Consideration will be given to the following criteria:

      • Enhance brand recognition and desirability  
      • Enhanced usability, ergonomics and or safety
      • Aesthetic innovation
      • Awareness of issues concerning contextual, environmental and experience over time
    • Concept/Experimental

      Concept and experimental design studies which have not been implemented.

    • Consumer

      Product for the retail market including appliances, electronic, household items, sporting and recreational products.

    • Designed Objects

      Domestic consumer objects, artefacts and products that are produced in a low volume series or at least in part made by the designer.

    • Furniture

      Domestic, commercial and office furniture, kitchen and bathroom ‘furniture’.

    • Lighting

      Domestic and commercial lighting products intended for either interior or exterior applications.

    • Non-Consumer

      Including agricultural, industrial, heavy equipment, transport, professional and medical products.

    • Structural Packaging

      The overall 3 dimensional design, form, structure and ergonomics of structural packages used for distributing, protecting, and marketing at point of sale products including, but not limited to, manufactured goods, cosmetics or food.

      Emphasis in this category is the 3 dimensional structural design content of the package.

      Graphic content will only be considered where this is an integral part of the structure of the package.

    • Sustainable Product Design

      This award recognises outstanding examples of sustainable product design.

    • Student Product

      Showing strong ideas-based concepts, bold originality and freshness of thinking, great technical skills, and an appreciation that the work can be successful commercially.

  • Public Good Award

    Public Good Award

    Design for Public Good recognises and celebrates work that has been undertaken for the welfare of communities and for public interest.

    Design for public good can result in a product, system, amenity, commodity or service typically provided without profit to all members of society or for underprivileged or at risk groups.

    The award demonstrates the important contribution design can make to social, cultural and community wellbeing, quality of life and identity.

    • Public Good Award

      Design for Public Good recognises and celebrates work that has been undertaken for the welfare of communities and for public interest. Design for public good can result in a product, system, amenity, commodity or service typically provided without profit to all members of society or for underprivileged or at risk groups. The award demonstrates the important contribution design can make to social, cultural and community wellbeing, quality of life and identity.

    • Student Public Good

  • Spatial

    • Built Environment

      This is an opportunity for entries whose project has included a significant architectural component as part of the design solution.
      A significant architectural intervention.

    • Colour Award Spatial

      This category recognises the innovative and creative use of colour within the built environment. This may include natural materials and other elements that contribute to the completed scheme.

    • Emerging Designer

      Entrants in the Emerging Designer category will be 35 years or younger submitting a realised project either wholly or substantially under their responsibility or leadership.

      Projects that might be entered in any of the other spatial categories are eligible for this award. The entrant must be 35 years of age or younger on the last day for entries to the awards programme.

      There is one winner of the Emerging Designer category and the person will not be revealed till the Awards night. Therefore there are no Finalists announced nor shown until the awards.

    • Exhibition & Temporary Structures

      Exhibitions, installations, studios and stage sets

    • Healthcare & Wellbeing

      Clinics, aged care, childcare, surgeries, hospitals, spas, wellbeing centres

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Up to $3 million
      • Between $3 and $10 million
      • Over $10 million
    • Hospitality

      Bars, cafes, hotels, motels, lodges, retreats, spas.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Food and Beverage - bars, cafes, restaurants
      • Accommodation - lodges, spas, retreats, hotels, motels
    • Lighting Design

      This category celebrates lighting design that:

      • Enhances the experience of the space - internal or external
      • Adds to the overall design in a unique and interesting way
      • Is seamlessly integrated and considered as part of the overall design.
    • Offices & Workplace Environments

      Offices, factories, specialist facilities.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Up to 200 square metres
      • Between 200 and 1000 square metres
      • Over 1000 square metres
    • Public and Institutional Spaces

      Hospitals, schools, community/conference centres, museums, outdoor spaces and parks.

      Subcategories that may be be entered are:

      • Outdoor Spaces - up to $200,000
      • Outdoor Spaces - $200,000 to $2 million
      • Outdoor Spaces - Over $2 million
      • Built Environments - up to $3 million
      • Built Environments - up to $10 million
      • Built Environments - over $10 million
    • Repurposed Spaces

      Shopping environments, banks, supermarkets, salons, showrooms, galleries, retail stores.

      Entries in this category will reflect design solutions that transform existing spaces through renovation and demonstrate the challenges of working with existing spaces to find a solution that gives new life to an existing space.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Up to 150 square metres
      • Over 150 square metres
    • Residential

      Apartments, private homes, multi residential living, mobile homes.

      Entries should convey the design of a minimum of 2 spaces/rooms within a single residence demonstrating a cohesive and creative design response to the client’s brief and highlighting any specific design considerations with respect to brief including but not limited to location, cultural considerations, end user requirements. 

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Residential Architecture
      • Residential Interior Architecture
      • Residential Interiors

      Residential Architecture: entries in this cover architecturally designed and built residences and demonstrate a cohesive and creative architectural statement both to the exterior and interior of the residence.

      Residential Interior Architecture: entries should include new or refurbished residential interior environments that demonstrate architectural design application.

      Residential Interiors: entries in this category demonstrate the creative decoration and furnishing of interior space.

    • Retail Environments

      Shopping outlets, banks, supermarkets, salons, showrooms, galleries, retail stores.

      Subcategories that may be entered are:

      • Up to 150 square metres
      • Over 150 square metres
    • Spatial Design Communication

      This category recognises and celebrates the design process through recognition of the tools, processes and outputs required to realise a project.

      The project must have been realised and completed to be eligible for this category.

      Rendering, animation, sketches, models and other modes of presentation supporting the development of the design process on a given project may be entered. Examples include but are not limited to: developmental sketches and drawings, models, animations and fly-thru’s, finished renderings or similar.

      Entries will be assessed on the basis of:

      Appropriate media selection for intended outcome e.g. demonstrate that the selected media is appropriate for the purposes it was chosen. Why was it selected (best way of demonstrating intended outcome, cost, time)?

      Quality of execution e.g. present the information to its best effect demonstrating the quality of the output.

      Effectiveness of outcome e.g. demonstrate how the piece(s) impacted the project and the role they played in the ultimate outcome. Comparative images between design communication pieces submitted and the realised outcome along with explanations of differences (as the design process progressed) would be an advantage.

    • Student Spatial

      Showing strong ideas-based concepts, bold originality and freshness of thinking, great technical skills, and an appreciation that the work can be successful commercially.

  • Value of Design Award

    Value of Design Award

    Championing the power of good design to create massive impact.

    Creating Value
    These awards recognise the substantial value that can be created by the skilful, systematic and consistent application of design.

    This category doesn’t judge the design itself but recognises the organisations that recognise the value that design can realise.

    To judge these awards we are looking for the outcomes that great design has realised.

    We need to see your design work but want to understand what this design enabled you to achieve.

    This is probably a step change in sales and profits, culture and behaviour change, or opening up completely new products and markets. 

    We want to see those step changes, things that don’t happen by themselves.
    We want to celebrate the power of design to make a positive impact. 

    Entries could be a single product or service.

    We need to recognise and celebrate our very best stories of design impact. Stories that demonstrate both the nature of the design activity and the tangible value it has created. 

Entry Criteria, Process & Rules

Graphic

Graphics Entry Criteria

GRAPHICS CATEGORY ENTRY CRITERIA

Award Eligibility
Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Awards.
There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year.
Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented. Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words.

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/tertiary is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

Graphics Evaluation Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

GRAPHICS EVALUATION CRITERIA

Thinking 


  • Demonstrates evidence of clear thinking and a compelling strategy


  • Understands and responds to the brief


  • Understands the context and audience for the work 

Concept


  • The work demonstrates a high level of creativity and originality
  • Demonstrates a strong idea or message 


  • Is visually compelling 


  • Is fresh and surprising 


  • Is aligned with other brand material, messages or narrative

Execution

  • Translates/expresses both Thinking and Concept well


  • Demonstrates best current practice in the selected medium 


  • Execution of the work is of a high technical standard
  • Understands and exploits the medium/resources used

Graphics Supporting Material

Additional supporting material such as a video or samples of work such as a poster or book may be submitted.
The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material, as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.

ALL Submitting supporting material

Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.
Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER sheet that was emailed to you is sent with your supporting material. 
This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging.

NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Video submissions as additional supporting material

  • You can submit a short 60-90 second video as supporting material
  • Flythroughs, renders and process videos all help to communicate your design process
  • The same rules apply to videos as other supporting materials - the videos should not have identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week

Digital

Digital Entry Criteria

DIGITAL CATEGORY ENTRY CRITERIA

Award Eligibility
Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Award.

There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year.

Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented. Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words.

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

USER EXPERIENCE ENTRY CRITERIA
The judges will need to understand the brief/objective of the project and the nature of the challenge. They will need to assess user research, understand how you determined user needs, and understand how the design team approached, modelled and delivered the solution. Entries will need to demonstrate the impact of the solution as measured by changes in channel, user patterns, user behaviour and other user/business benefits and effect. 

The User Experience Award judges require entrants to demonstrate how the user has been designed for within the project and to be able to evaluate entries by assessing the effect for users. Entries will ideally consist of two key elements;

  1. A video (of up to 3 minutes duration) profiling the users, project team, articulating the key points around objectives, approach, design and deployment of the project and outcomes that  demonstrate user benefit;

  2. A written submission (up to 500 words) with accompanying images to explain: 

Context – A background to the project including business objectives, project challenges challenges and an outline of the user groups being targetted

Approach – A summary of research & user insights, methodologies/tools used and your approach to meeting user needs within the project

Execution – Evidence of clear thinking, a compelling strategy and optimisation of user experience through the life of the project

Effect – Provide validation through analytics, pre/post deployment research, KPI’s or other measurement.

Digital Evaluation Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

DIGITAL CATEGORY EVALUATION CRITERIA

Concept

  • Judges will consider design thinking, conceptual development, research, innovation and creativity. Successful projects will chart an intersection between clients’ requirements, user needs and technological opportunity.

Design

  • More than simple aesthetics, judges will assess the complete user experience including look and feel, context, brand alignment, and ease of use.

Technical Resolution and Craft

  • Communicate any technical aspects of the site, including challenges overcome, or novel uses of technology. Judges will assess the quality of execution including responsiveness, use of standards, consideration of accessibility and appropriateness of technology.

USER EXPERIENCE CATEGORY EVALUATION CRITERIA
The judges will be assessing research, business objectives, approach, how significant challenges were navigated or overcome, how the design team delivered the solution, and the ultimate success of the execution - as validated/measured by the effect on usage, user behaviour and key metrics demonstrating the user and business benefits. 

The criteria includes:

Context  > Demonstration of the project intent and business case > Assessing what customer/user research/insight helped to inform this > Gaining a clear understanding of brief - business goals/objectives/vision > Considering the scale of the opportunity to enable users, drive performance or unlock innovation.

Approach > Reviewing the research approach and outputs > Understanding of the user testing and prototyping approach taken to define solution and experience > review the insights/tools used, the translation of that information/value to the business and the project > Consider challenges and constraints faced and the success in resolving these.

Execution > Evidence of clear thinking and a compelling strategy > Assess the user focus through the life of the project > Consider execution of the outcome (e.g. is of a high technical standard) > Assess the end to end user experience > Demonstrated user value and and ease of use.

Effect > Assess the impact of the project on the business and customers > Review analytics, pre/post deployment research, KPI’s and other measurement.

Digital Supporting Material

The online Entry Process will require you to include a URL to judge the work entered.

Please ensure this link is live during judging week which is the first week of August.

Additional supporting material such as a video, USB, URL or disc may be submitted.

The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.

Submitting supporting material
Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.
Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is sent with it.
This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging.

NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Links, USB or video submissions as additional supporting material

  • You can submit a short 60-90 second video as supporting material
  • The same rules apply as for other supporting materials - there should be no identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week 

USER EXPERIENCE AWARD SUPPORTING MATERIAL
The judges require that entrants submit each entry with a short video (presenting a profile of the users for the project, alongside a project presentation or interview with the project team to articulate key objectives, approach, design solutions, deployment success and metrics of the project).

Moving Image

Moving Image Entry Criteria

Award Eligibility
Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Award.
There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year.

Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented.

Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explain your project
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words..

Keeping your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

Moving Image Evaluation Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

Moving Image Evaluation Criteria

Concept

  • Judges will consider design thinking, conceptual development, research, innovation and creativity. Successful projects will chart an intersection between clients' requirements, user needs and technological opportunity.

Design

  • More than simple aesthetics, judges will assess the complete user experience including look and feel, context, brand alignment, and ease of use.

Technical Resolution and Craft

  • Communicate any technical aspects of the site, including challenges overcome, or novel uses of technology.
  • Judges will assess the quality of execution including responsiveness, use of standards, consideration of accessibility and appropriateness of technology.

Moving Image Supporting Material

The online Entry Process will require you to include a URL to judge the work entered.

Please ensure this link is live during judging week which is the first week of Date TBC

Additional supporting material such as a video, USB, URL or disc may be submitted.
The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.

Submitting supporting material
Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.
Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is sent with it.
This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

C/O Cathy Veninga, CEO
Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging. NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Links, USB or video submissions as additional supporting material

  • The same rules apply as for other supporting materials - there should be no identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week 2nd to 8th August.

Toitanga

Toitanga Entry Criteria

Award  Eligibility
The Toitanga award is open to any designers, design businesses, design collaborations, or design clients, who believe their project aligns with the Award Kaupapa / Purpose.

Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Award.

There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year. 

Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented.

Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words.

Also provide:

  • Joint submission of entry by both designer and client
  • Client testimonial or endorsement of entry
  • Written and or visual account of the relationship or engagement  
  • A suitable referee of standing who can be contacted by the judges

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

Toitanga Evaluation Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

The Toitanga award Evaluation Criteria:

The Aotearoa Way:
- Kaupapa / Intention
- Tikanga / Process
- Auahatanga / Innovation
- Āhuatanga / Expression

Mahitahi/Collaboration:
- Whakawhanaungatanga / Relationships and reciprocity
- Kanohi ki te kanohi / Face to face
- Pakahiwi ki te pakahiwi / Shoulder to shoulder

 

Toitanga Supporting Material

Additional supporting material such as a video or samples of work such as a poster or book may be submitted. The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material, as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.


Submitting supporting material
Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.

Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is sent with it.

This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material.
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging. NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.Video submissions as additional supporting material

  • You can submit a short 60-90 second video as supporting material
  • Flythroughs, renders and process videos all help to communicate your design process
  • The same rules apply to videos as other supporting materials - the videos should not have identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week.

Product

Product Entry Criteria

PRODUCT CATEGORY ENTRY CRITERIA

Award Eligibility
Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Award.

There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year. 

Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented.

Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

NOTE:

  • For all categories except Student and Concept/Experimental, all images MUST be photographic
  • Photographic images must be of production product
  • Images of rapid prototypes and models are not acceptable
  • CAD rendered images may be used ONLY to explain operations or details not evident in external photographs of the product

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words.

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT DESIGN AWARD (SPD)
This award recognises outstanding examples of sustainable product design.

Claims about sustainability performance and compliance must be supported by verifiable evidence.

Judging will consider functional, economic, environmental and social impact factors. Consideration will be given to product improvement, product redesign, function innovation and system innovation.

Entries should demonstrate a clear understanding of the product life cycle impact and have successfully integrated SPD within the business enterprise and value chain.The following criteria will be considered:

  • Product life cycle analysis and impact
  • Environmental impact (does product carry Eco label)
  • Energy efficiency
  • Product life extension
  • Avoid/Eliminate waste, toxicity and pollution
  • Reduce size, weight, materials, transportation and packaging
  • Recycle, reuse, repair or safe disposal (are appropriate standards communicated)
  • Socially responsible life cycle (Financial responsibility, human rights, health and safety, diversity and inclusiveness, enhanced community, ethics and business conduct)

Product Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

PRODUCT EVALUATION CRITERIA

Concept design creativity and innovation


  • Does the product pioneer or lead the market?
  • Does it anticipate latent (existing but dormant or not yet developed or not yet realised) and emerging trends in similar or related products, services or technologies?
  • Is the design novel and creative in relation to its competitors?

Fit for purpose and ergonomics


  • Is it highly likely to satisfy the requirements of stakeholders in the value chain from manufacturing to end user ?
  • Is the product fit for its intended purpose?
  • Is it safe to use, does it comply with appropriate standards and is it intuitive and easy to use?
  • Does it comply with ergonomic requirements in terms of operation, experience, convenience and well-being.

Aesthetic/Appearance and style


  • Is the product form, shape, size, proportions, composition, colour, texture and graphics appropriate for its intended purpose and context of use?
  • Is there harmony between the technical, functional (including user interaction) and aesthetic resolution of the product?
  • Does the design express appropriate brand qualities including product identity and differentiation from others of its type?
  • Is the product aesthetic meaningful, attractive an desirable and is it structurally convincing with no unwanted visual disturbances?
  • Does the design appropriately stimulate our intellect and senses?

Technical resolution, sustainability and quality


  • Is the product made to a high standard of construction, fit and finish?
  • Does it satisfy appropriate performance and quality standards?
  • Does it use materials, processes and technology in innovative, sustainable and desirable ways? 

On a case-by-case basis, the above criteria may need to be supplemented by additional product specific considerations as deemed appropriate by the judges.

Product Supporting Material

Additional supporting material such as a video or product samples of work may be submitted.

The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.


SUBMITTING PRODUCT SUPPORTING MATERIAL
Product entries supporting material is not required till Judging Week. An email will go out to Product Entrants on the DATE TBC advising when and where to send their product samples.

Judging will be at AUT Rooms TBC - a map will be provided on the email as to the exact location of the judging rooms.
Product samples must be delivered on Wednesday Date TBC - between 1.00pm and 3.00pm.

NOTE: product samples for judging MUST that a finished example, not a prototype (unless Concept & Experimental).
Judges WILL look at the quality of how the product is finished.

Students are NOT required to submit product samples.

The ENTRY NUMBER must be attached to the supporting material.
It is your responsibility to have the entry delivered and collected at your own expense.

If the product is too large to transport, and at the Conveners discretion, we will arrange site visits where deemed necessary and possible.

Collection of supporting material
Ensure the freight/courier company knows what item they are picking up for the Best Awards team to locate.

Any Product samples not picked up by 5.00pm Friday Date TBC will be left and any cost to AUT to dispose of them will be forwarded to the entrant.

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging.

NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Video Submissions as additional Supporting Material

  • You can submit a short 60-90 second video as supporting material
  • Flythroughs, renders and process videos all help to communicate your design process
  • The same rules apply to videos as other supporting materials - the videos should not have identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week 

Public Good Award

Public Good Entry Criteria

PUBLIC GOOD ENTRY CRITERIA

Award Eligibility
Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Award.

There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year.

Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented.

Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words.

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

Public Good Evaluation Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

PUBLIC GOOD EVALUATION CRITERIA

Context

  • Value and purpose of project intention, scale, objectives and anticipated outcomes
  • Demonstrate what customer/user/audience research/insight helped to inform the project
  • Understands and empathises with the context and audience for the work 

Concept

  • Responds creatively and responsibly to the context and audience for the work 
  • Is visually compelling and appropriate
  • Demonstrates clear, creative thinking and a compelling strategy

Execution and Evaluation

  • Design standard and general execution of the project
  • Demonstrated user access, value, ease of use and functionality
  • Uses resources responsibly and effectively
  • Evaluation/evidence of how well project meets intended outcomes (impact/uptake)

Public Good Supporting Material

Additional supporting material such as a video or product samples of work may be submitted.

The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.

Submitting supporting material
Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.

Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is sent with it.

This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging.

NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Video submissions as additional supporting material

  • You can submit a short 60-90-second video as supporting material
  • Flythroughs, renders and process videos all help to communicate your design process
  • The same rules apply to videos as other supporting materials - the videos should not have identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week

Spatial

Spatial Entry Criteria

SPATIAL CATEGORIES

Award Eligibility
Any work that has been commercially released no later than 31 July 2020 is eligible for entry to the 2020 Best Award.

There is no timeline restriction for an entry that is from a prior year.

Where appropriate, you may enter the same work in more than one category or subcategory.

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented.

Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the brief and the context, your thinking, the concept and the execution – refer to the Evaluation Criteria.

This section can be up to 500 words.

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on the project images, explanation or supporting material.

Spatial Evaluation Criteria

Awards Criteria

Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

SPATIAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

Aesthetic and appearance

The judges will look, not only at the aesthetics, but the consideration and resolution of the elements that drive the aesthetics, e.g. context/location, brand alignment and choice and use of materials in support of design.

Concept and creativity

This encompasses design thinking, conceptual development creativity, originality, and critical reasoning, e.g. appropriateness of response to the brief, relevant research and themes for inspiration.

Answering the brief

What was important to achieve as an outcome for the client and how does the design achieve this, and fit for purpose from a user experience point of view.

Technical resolution and innovation

This is the opportunity to communicate any technical aspects. It may include special details, challenges or opportunities and how they have been overcome or used to their advantage. Explain if innovation was important or a driver in the design.

Consistency and clarity

Have all the elements been resolved with consistency and clarity through the process.

Spatial Supporting Material

Additional supporting material such as a video, plans, sections, mood boards may be submitted.

The judges highly recommend that you send additional supporting material, as they will take these into consideration during the judging process.

Submitting supporting material
Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.

Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is sent with it.

This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging.
NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Video submissions as additional supporting material

  • You can submit a short 60-90 second video as supporting material
  • Flythroughs, renders and process videos all help to communicate your design process
  • The same rules apply to videos as other supporting materials - the videos should not have identifiable reference to the entrant/studio/company
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week 

Value of Design Award

Value of Design Award Entry and Evaluation Criteria

VALUE OF DESIGN - Championing the power of good design to create massive impact

Creating Value

These awards recognise the substantial value that can be created by the skilful, systematic and consistent application of design.

This award doesn’t judge the design itself but recognises the organisations that recognise the value that design can realise.

To judge these awards we are looking for the outcomes that great design has realised.

We need to see your design work but want to understand what this design enabled you to achieve.

This is probably a step change in sales and profits, culture and behaviour change, or opening up completely new products and markets. 

We want to see those step changes, things that don’t happen by themselves. We want to celebrate the power of design to make a positive impact.

AWARDS CRITERIA
Purple - Best of the Best 

Gold - Best entry in category
Silver - strongly considered for Gold 

Bronze - worthy of award recognition  

Finalist – meritorious

AWARDS GIVEN

  • Gold, Silver, Bronze - Will be awarded where Design can demonstrate it has had a significant impact on the success of an individual product or service. The tangible value the product or service has created.

  • Purple Pin - To win the Purple Pin we need to see that the company has fully embraced design thinking. This wasn’t done in isolation by a skilled designer or design agency but a result of a company that embraces design thinking.

  • The Black Pin - Like the John Britten Black Pin and Designers Institute Black Pin for Outstanding Achievement where nominations are put forward that meet a criteria the Value of Design Black Pin will be nominated. In this category it represents consistent application of design thinking over years of work.

CRITERIA

  • Gold, Silver, Bronze - Can be awarded for an individual design project where it can be demonstrated that the design thinking drove a step change in value for the company.

  • Purple Pin - We are interested in understanding four simple things
    - Quality: The quality of the design work itself

    - Commitment: The broader organisation-wide commitment to design as a way of being and of driving value

    - Processes: The people, systems and processes that illustrate the skill and depth of your application of design mindsets and methods

    - Proof: The extent of the tangible value created, whether
    • monetary by way of increased market share, margin, efficiency, revenue or profit,
    • better cultural and societal outcomes by way of community development, health and wellbeing improvements
    • or any other value you care to prove and pitch to us.

  • The Black Pin - Creating substantial and enduring value, typically over a number of years, by consistently and skilfully developing a design ethos across the entire organisation.

JUDGING
The Value of Design Awards will be judged by a panel of leading business people and designers with deep experience of design skills, processes and effectiveness.

ENTRY PROCESS

Images
Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented.

Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. 

Images must be in JPEG or PNG format (RGB mode) in portrait or landscape orientation with minimum dimensions of 2,475 × 1,755 pixels (A3 @ 150dpi).

Explaining your work
Explain your project so that the judges are able to understand the challenge, your process, your solution, and the results.

We are not looking for a novel. This section can be up to 500 words.

Simple bullet points under each of the sections would be sufficient,
1. The Challenge,
2. Your Process,
3. Your Solution,
4. The Results.

We understand entry information may be confidential or commercially sensitive so such information is provided in confidence to the Designers Institute, it is not available to the public and is used for judging only.

All Judges sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to judgin

SUPPORTING MATERIAL
If the above limitations inhibit your ability to communicate your work adequately you may physically submit supporting material, print or digital presentations, samples etc where practical. See next tab for Supporting Material.



Value of Design Award Supporting Material

Submitting supporting material
Supporting material must be delivered to the Designers Institute office by 6pm Friday 31st July.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to courier the supporting material.
Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is sent with it.
This will be emailed to you once your entries are completed and paid for.

Address your delivery to:

Designers Institute of New Zealand
Ground Floor, Suite 5
27 Gillies Avenue
Newmarket
Auckland

Keep your work anonymous.
It is critical that the name of the entrant/studio/company is not visible anywhere on supporting material.

Return of supporting material
During the online entry process, you can choose to pay for supporting material to be returned to you by the Designers Institute following judging.

NOTE: We cannot return supporting material to addresses outside of New Zealand.

Video submissions as additional supporting material

  • You can submit a short 60-90 second video as supporting material.
  • Flythroughs, renders and process videos all help to communicate your design process
  • Simply upload your video to Vimeo or YouTube and include the URL as a part of the entry process or at the end of your Description
  • Ensure any links are still live for judging week

Rules

Best Design Awards Entry and Competition Rules

1. Best Design Awards is a programme of the Designers Institute of New Zealand Inc (“Designers Institute”),

PO Box 10 9423, Newmarket
Auckland 1149
Email: info@bestawards.co.nz
Phone: 09 523 1407
Fax: 09 529 1714

2. By entering, you acknowledge and accept the following terms and conditions.

3. Eligible Designers

3.1 Entry is open to any individual, group of individuals or company who has designed or commissioned a design,

3.2 Entrants under 18 years must have a parent/legal guardian contact the Designers Institute to confirm they have permission to enter, and agree to these rules.

3.3 Entrants do not need to be members of the Designers Institute, however, by entering, entrants agree that they will be bound and will abide by the Designers Institute Code of Ethics. Entry in the Best Design Awards does not constitute, nor carry the rights and benefits of, Designers Institute membership.

4. Eligible Works

4.1 Works entered into the Best Design Awards must have been released before 31st of July in the year of entry.

4.2 There is no restriction to when the work was created up till 31st July in the year of entry.

4.3 Entries (including all supporting information) must be received before 6.00pm NZST on the specified closing date, unless stated otherwise by the Organisers.

4.34 Works will not be eligible if they have been entered by another Entrant or submitted in a previous year, unless the work has been entered previously, but changed or updated, with the re-launch representing a significant design development.

4.5 No more than one entry may be entered for a single Work i.e. a studio or a client or other cannot enter the same Work.

4.6 Works must fit into one of the following classifications:
a) The Work has been produced for, and approved by the client. The following categories may be exempt from this requirement: Product Concept/Experimental, student entries
b) The Work has been produced by an agency or entrant pro-bono i.e without paid comission
c) The Entrant is also the client for the work, which falls into the self-promotion category;
d) Student Works eg Works created by a tertiary student at an accredited government learning institute, and accepted for coursework credit; or
e) The Work does not fit into the above classifications, but the Organisers have granted express written permission for the entry of the Work.

4.7 Works must also fit the criteria of at least one of the Awards Categories.

4.8 Works created solely for the purpose of entering competitions are not eligible. The following categories may be exempt from this requirement: Product Concept/Experimental, student entries

4.9 Submissions to the awards are only valid upon receiving payment in full of the entry free as specified by the Best Design Awards Organisers. Entry fees are not refundable as per dates stated under Refunds.

4.10 Without prejudice to the Organisers’ absolute discretion of entry under Rule 8.3, the Organisers may refuse to admit works which are pornographic, profane, discriminatory, inflammatory, illegal in content or in any other way offensive to a person or the principles of the Best Design Awards, the Designers Institute, or Designers Institute sponsors or members.

5. Awards Categories

5.1 The Best Design Awards categories are at the Organisers’ discretion and may be changed/added/varied without notice at any stage prior to judging.

5.2 The Organisers reserve the right to move any entry into a different category, at any time, without notice, if they deem that category to be most suitable. 

6. Authorship, Contributors, Acknowledgment, Originality and Licensing

6.1 By submitting your entry, you warrant that:
a) that the Work submitted is original;
b) that you are the originator of the Work (or part of a group of originators);
c) that all originators, contributors, clients, and owners of the work consent to the entry and use of the Work in accordance with these Rules and the general requirements of the Best Design Awards;
d) if you have completed a Work as an employee, that you have gained the permission of your employer to enter the Work; and
e) that you have obtained any required licensing and/or permission to use comprising third-party materials (including typefaces, photography, vector images, trade marks, patents, and other licensed and/or copyrighted materials) for the Work to be entered, published, promoted etc. in accordance with these Rules and the general requirements of the competition.

6.2 Where any contributor/ author/ relevant client or employer objects to the entry, the Work may (in the absolute discretion of the Designers Institute and the Best Design Awards Organiser under Rule 8.3) not be accepted for submission to the Awards. The Organisers reserve the right to remove any entry where authorship and/or acknowledgement is disputed.

6.3 All significant contributors must be acknowledged with appropriate entry credits, and their contact details must be provided by the Entrant. The Organisers may contact contributors and Entrants to verify details, including authorship and contribution, and may require this information to be modified. Without prejudice to the Organisers’ absolute discretion of entry under Rule 8.3, entries with inadequate or contested contributor acknowledgment may be disqualified.

6.4 In the event judges query the eligibility of an Entry under this section, you will be required to provide documentary evidence (e.g. correspondence, records, design concepts, applicable patents and/or trademarks) to demonstrate the eligibility.

7. Designers Institute and Best Design Awards use of Works and Related Material

7.1 By entering you warrant that:
a) the Designers Institute has the right to reproduce all materials provided by the entrant(s), in whole or in part without payment of release of licensing or royalty fees to the holder of the publication rights and/or copyright;
b) the Designers Institute and the Organisers have permission to use, publish, broadcast, exhibit and promote the name, image, and the content of the submission, works, and any interviews or other material supplied to the Designers Institute/the Best Design Awards, in any way that the Designers Institute deems appropriate, including for the promotion, marketing and commercial motives of the Designers Institute, the Best Design Awards and their sponsors; and
c) Notwithstanding the above, you accept that the Organisers and the Designers Institute have no obligation to display, promote or publish any Work or Entry in any way.

7.2 By entering you warrant that you will use your best endeavours to comply with the reasonable requirements of the Designers Institute and the Organisers to obtain and use the Work in the manner described in Rule 7.1. You agree that you will provide the Organisers / Designers Institute with the opportunity to use, photograph and display the Work.

7.3 The Designers Institute and Organisers will use all reasonable efforts to acknowledge the Entry/Work originators and contributors in accordance with the information provided by the Entrant(s), wherever possible, in any publications by The Designers Institute and/or Organisers.

8. Absolute Discretion of the Designers Institute and Best Design Awards Judges

8.1 All judges are required to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement binding for ten years.

8.2 The decisions of the judges are final and are made at the sole and absolute discretion of the judges.

8.3 Without prejudice to the absolute discretion under Rule 8.3, if the Designers Institute establishes that an Entrant has broken the Awards Rules, the offending Entry shall be suspended from the Awards.

8.4 The Designers Institute and the Best Design Awards Organisers and judges retain an absolute discretion to, without reason or refund:
a) Disqualify an Entrant/Entry from the Awards;
b) Admit/exclude/remove Entries to the Awards;
c) Require any Entrant to modify their Entry;
d) Bar any Entrant from submitting further Entries (including in future Best Design Awards);
e) Refuse to judge an entry;
f) Change the competition dates, including entry, judgment and ceremony dates;
g) Change/replace the prizes without further notice;
h) Refuse future Designers Institute membership and/or revoke/suspend a Designers Institute membership on the grounds of an Entrant’s conduct with regards to these Awards; and/or
i) Strike off an award where a Work or Entrant is later found to be in breach of these Rules.

8.5 Further correspondence (if any) is at the sole discretion of the Designers Institute CEO.

9. Intellectual Property Rights Reserved

9.1 All rights related to the name “DINZ”, “Designers Institute of New Zealand”, “Best Design Awards” and associated images, branding, trade marks and all intellectual property are exclusively owned by the Designers Institute, and may not be used without the express written permission of the Designers Institute CEO.

10. Privacy and Contact Information

10.1 You hereby warrant that you and each significant contributor has authorised the entry of their personal details for these purposes and consented to participating in the Best Design Awards in accordance with the Entry and Competition Rules.

10.2 All contact details provided may be used from time-to-time by the Organisers and the Designers Institute for communications related to the Best Design Awards and promotion of other Designers Institute news and events.

10.3 All other personal information will be kept confidential and used solely by the Designers Institute for the purposes of the Best Design Awards. You can request access to and correction of your details at any time. You may unsubscribe at any time from our email database.

11. Prizes

11.1 Any prizes offered are non-transferrable, not substitutable with cash, and subject to change without notice.

12. Warranties

12.1 The Best Design Awards, Organisers, Designers Institute and its sponsors and members shall not be liable for any loss, injury, liability, expense or damage suffered by the Entrant(s) or any third party whatsoever, whether indirectly or directly, howsoever arising, including that resulting from the negligence of the Organisers and/or Designers Institute, by our cancellations, terminations, disqualifications, modifications, variations, or through the failure or omission on the part of Organisers and/or Designers Institute to comply with obligations under these Rules, or arising by operation of law and whether suffered by the Entrants, contributors and/or a third party for any amount that exceeds any entry fee actually paid by the Entrant to pursuant to these Rules.

12.2 Without prejudice to Rule 12.1, the Best Design Awards, Organisers, Designers Institute and its sponsors and members:
a) do not warrant the safety or protection of your property. Any property is entered and held at the Entrant’s risk;
b) will not be responsible for the content/editorial control for entries and associated information submitted by entrants, including the legality and/or veracity of that information;
c) do not make any claims or warranties as to the ownership of copyright or intellectual property of the designs entered in the Best Design Awards, and will assume no liability on work submitted accused of plagiarism, copyright issues, intellectual property rights issues or contractual disputes related to the entries and works submitted. The Entrants must take sole responsibility and in such case, the Entrant(s) shall indemnify the Designers Institute, the Best Design Awards and sponsors for any loss or damages and his/her/its admission to the competition shall be terminated immediately.

12.3 By entering, you warrant that you have the legal standing and relevant permissions to make the commitments required by these Rules and the general nature of the Best Design Awards, and that you indemnify the Best Design Awards, Organisers, Designers Institute and its sponsors for any loss or damage incurred (directly or indirectly) by you, a contributor or any third party, in relation to your entry in the Best Design Awards.

13. Cancellation of Entry

13.1 Entrants may cancel or remove Entries via written request (email us at events@dinz.org.nz) up until 5pm Friday 3rd July 2020 after which point no Entries may be withdrawn.

13.2 Refunds The Designers Institute is under no obligation to refund payments made for either Student or Studio Entries from 5pm Friday 3rd July 2020

14. Interpretation

14.1 Singular words include the plural and vice versa.

14.2 References to any party shall mean and include a reference to that party, its successor, executors or personal representatives (as the case may be), and transferees.

14.3 Any covenant on the Entrant not to do something shall also constitute an obligation not to suffer, permit, cause or assist any other person to do that thing.

14.4 Any reference to any legislation, regulation, or code includes reference to any modification, substitute for, c13.3 onsolidation or re-enactment of it.

14.5 In these Rules, the following definitions shall apply:

“Awards Categories” Means the categories of awards available in the Best Design Awards, as specified from time to time by the Organisers

“Closing Date” Means the final date that entries will be accepted by the Organiser for judgment in the Best Design Awards, as notified by the Organisers

“DINZ” or “Designers Institute” Means the Designers Institute of New Zealand Incorporated

“Entrant” or “You” Means the person submitting the Work for entry in the Best Design Awards

“Entry” or “Entries” Means the Work(s) submitted in the Best Design Awards, together with any other documentation or materials, including the entry form

“Intellectual Property” Means all and any patents, patent applications, trade marks, service marks, trade names, copyrights, know-how, trade secrets, domain names, rights in confidential information, and all and any other intellectual property rights, including all applications and rights to apply for any of the same

“Organisers” Means the Designers Institute of New Zealand and its delegates and sponsors, in their capacity as proprietors/organisers of the Best Design Awards

“Work” or “Works” Means the creative work product which is submitted for judgment in the Best Design Awards

15. A special clause introduced 2020 for Covid-19

15.1 Members who have paid their fees for the Financial year (starting 1st April 2020 but invoiced 29th May), or, who are on Member payment plan and have committed to paying the annual subscription fee in order to obtain the Member benefits will be eligible for a drop in price from $189 to $60 per entry that isn't picked up as a finalist.  

As a Member you will pay $60 per entry on submission. If your entry is a finalist, you'll receive an additional invoice for the balance prior to the awards night ($129 per finalist entry).

The invoices for any Finalist entries must be paid 20th October 2020 in order to be published on the website and awarded at the Best ceremony.

The Institute reserves the right to withdraw entries where the Finalist payment rules have not been met.

15.2 Tertiary and Student. The usual $99 fee for tertiary and students will drop for 2020 to $30 per entry if that entry isn't picked up as a finalist.

If your student entry is picked up as a finalist, you'll receive an additional invoice for the balance prior to the awards night ($69 per finalist entry).

The invoices for any Finalist entries must be paid 20th October 2020 in order to be published on the website and awarded at the Best ceremony.

The Institute reserves the right to withdraw entries where the Finalist payment rules have not been met.

Best Design Awards 2020 Campaign

Thanks to Marx Design and Never Sit Still for the Best Design Awards 2020 campaign.

FAQs

Eligibility

Can I enter self-promotional work?

Self-promotional work (ie. identity for your own company) is eligible only if it was released commercially and distributed / made available to potential customers. We may ask for clarification for any entry.

Can two companies enter the same project?

Two entrants can't enter the same piece of work. If you have collaborated on an entry, play nice and check if your collaborators plan to enter. In case of duplicate entries, only the first entry to be paid for will be accepted.

What work will you accept?

Work must have been produced, published and released before Judging Week of the entry year. If work has been previously entered it is ineligible unless there are significant evolutions to the work.

Who can enter?

Anyone. You don't need to be a member of The Designers Institute to enter, however members (including AGDA and DIA members) pay discounted entry fees.

Entry Process

Can I edit my entry after I have paid for my entry?

Yes you can edit your entry after you have paid for it. You can go back into your entry and make text, image or acknowledgement changes  anytime.

However after you have submitted there will be an edit fee of $79 per entry.

ALL changes will show on the website and can be made at any time though the year.

However after judging week we will export all finalist content to create the certificates and AV for the Awards ceremony. 

Any edits after the after the final export will not make it onto the certificates or AV.

Your edited updates may be fine for the Best Design Awards 2020 Annual as this is exported after the awards ceremony.

Should images and text identify the studio or student?

No, there shouldn't be anything on your images or within the text submitted that identifies the entrant. Nor should any supporting boards or samples identify you. The work must be anonymous during judging.

However in some instances it is impossible to hide the client or studio (eg in product design as projects entered will show the company 's brand as marketed). 

What are the image specifications?

Upload up to 10 images of your work, in the order you want it presented. Drag images to reorder them – the first image is your hero image. Images must be A3, 150dpi and RGB, in JPEG or PNG format.

Judging

Do designers judge their own work?

No, never. A judge with a conflict of interest to a specific entry submits a ‘no vote’ and does not take part in discussion, evaluation or awarding that entry. This is enforced by the convenor at all times.

What is the role of the convenor?

The Convenor is not a judge. He or she, along with the Head of Judges, selects and appoints a group of judges and facilitates the judging process. The Convenor ensures that all categories and work is judged fairly, that all judges are given equal opportunity to comment and provide critical input and he or she manages any conflicts of interest.

Who is the Head of Judges?

This role will normally be undertaken by the CEO of The Designers Institute unless otherwise agreed to by its Board. The HoJ selects and appoints Convenors in consultation with The Institute's Board, and can instruct judging panels to reconsider judging decisions where overall standards of quality or fairness and have not been achieved.

Who will be judging my work?

We select judges from the local industry in Australia and New Zealand and past winners of the Best Awards.

The Head of Judges and the Convener appoint a good cross section of respected judges from the following broad criteria:
• Respected in the industry
• Past winners
• Known for the high calibre of their work
• Able to be objective
• Those that have had a significant role to play in the industry
• Skill set to compliment across the disciplines categories
• From related organisations in the industry (eg. Better by Design) or from offshore (eg. AGDA,DIA, GDA, WDO & ico-D etc).

Prices and refunds

Can I cancel entries?

Entrants may cancel or remove Entries via written request (email us at bestawards@dinz.org.nz) up until the entry deadline. The Designers Institute is under no obligation to refund payments made after entries close.

How much does it cost to enter?

The Best Design Awards costs $289 for each entry. We have special rates for students and Designers Institute, AGDA and DIA members. If you'd like to join the Institute prior to entering, visit designersinstitute.nz

Where does the money I spend on my entries go?

The Designers Institute is a not-for-profit organisation. Entry fees contribute to funding programmes like The Best Design Awards publication and re-invested back into the awards programme. In doing so, we want the Best Design Awards to be recognised internationally and provide an archive of New Zealand visual culture.

Supporting Material

Are samples returned?

Yes, if you pay the courier fee at the end of the entry process.

Except for Product sector entrants can collect their work on the day advertised in a eDM two weeks prior to judging week

How can I submit supporting information?

Send all supporting material along with your ENTRY NUMBER (a confirmation slip with the ENTRY NUMBER will be emailed to you once entry payments are made) to:

The Designers Institute
27 Gillies Ave,
Suite 5, Ground Floor
Newmarket,
Auckland 1023,
New Zealand

Product sector entry samples will be requested by the Product convener to be delivered to AUT (a map will be sent when request issued).

An eDM will go out to product entrants in advance for deliver date and location.

Ensure your ENTRY NUMBER is attached to your product.

In the Product sector if the product is too large to transport, and at the Conveners discretion, we will arrange site visits where deemed necessary and possible.

If entering the Product sector DO NOT send any product to the above address.

May I submit supporting information?

Supporting information can be used in the judging process.

• Graphics – submit samples of the work entered eg packaging, books, posters
• Spatial – mood boards, sections, plans. At the discretion of the judges and where possible there may be site visits
• Product – Product samples will be requested by the convener.

In the Product sector if the product is too large to transport, and at the Conveners discretion, we will arrange site visits where deemed necessary and possible.

Contact The Designers Institute

Contact

Please direct all enquiries to the Best Design Awards team:

Email: 
Phone: 027 473 2399