Wanting to join a design competition, but questioning yourself on why you are joining in the first place? Just to win? Thinking of joining a design competition, but stuck at coming out with a game-changing idea? Looking at submitting your design for a design competition, but not sure how to stand out? Discover with me on the 3 keys on acing your next design competition and how I use my 3 Peas Strategy to win over 10 design competitions both locally and internationally. This is my first presentation on Slideshare, so do let me know your honest feedback on how I can improve and do better. I would really appreciate the support! :) Enjoy, Joseph

1. 3 Keys
To Ace Your Next
Design Competition
by @josephlouistan

2. I called it the
3 Peasstrategy

3. Purpose
Prepare
Proposal

4. Purpose
Prepare
Proposal

5. Purpose
Why are you entering a design competition?

6. Winning should not the main goal.
Solving a meaningful problem.
For exposure and fun.
In search for new challenges.
To update my skills and abilities.
Purpose
for entering design competitions

7. Winning should
not the main goal.

8. That’s one of
my many
failed designs
I did solely
focused on
winning a
furniture
design
competition.
Not pretty.

9. What’re all
these about?
Well, these are
some of the
comments I got
for my design…

10. Ouch!
Lesson learnt.
Never focus on
winning.

11. Solving a
meaningful problem.

12. Here’s a packaging
design competition
that I entered during
my university studies.

13. The usual design process…

14. Researching on the
users’ problems,
needs, wants,
needs and desires.

15. My winning
design!

19. Bad hair day hahaha!

20. Lesson learnt.
Focus design
solution for users.
Discover their
needs and sovle
them.
Sounds simple
enough.

21. For exposure and fun.

22. Here’s another lightning
design competition that I
entered with one of my past
designs I did in university.

24. So here’s my final
design that I did for
my studio project.

26. And then there was a lighting design
competition whose design brief fits
my design project I did previously,
so I decided to give it a go!

27. And guess
what?
I won the
competition!

28. Yay! So humbled
to be recognised
for my design :)

29. Sometimes
you just never
know what the
future will
hold, but if you
try and give it
your best, you
may surprise
yourself.

30. In search for
new challenges.

31. For this furniture design,
I decided to try a different
design approach.

32. So I opted for
an inspirational
design influence
approach

33. So here’s it!

34. Don’t leave me alone…

35. And so I participated in
a couple of furniture
design competitions
and had opportunities
to showcase my design
at furniture fairs. Yay!

36. My first printed
newspaper
article feature!

37. One of my proudest
moment to date!
So just go for it,
because you never
know what will
happen :)

38. To update your
skills and abilities.

39. So the story goes…
my friend and I
decided to
collaborate on a
design project
together during the
school vacation.

40. We followed the
design brief
closely and
created this!

41. Watch it grows!

43. In the end, we didn’t win anything,
but we had gain so much more.
Gained an opportunity to update
our skills and a new design project
to put in our portfolio.

44. Purpose
Prepare
Proposal

45. Prepare
How do you approach a design competition?

46. Brief. Theme. Requirement. Rules.
Deadline. Prizes. FAQ.
Brainstorm. Keywords. Expand.
Ask Why. Ask Why Again.
Research. Company. Brief. Jury.
Past Winners. Future Trends.
Prepare
for entering design competitions

47. Brief. Theme.
Requirement. Rules.
Deadline. Prizes. FAQ.

48. Read all of these
information!

49. These
information are
critically useful
for you in having
an advantage in
your entry.

50. Brainstorm.
Keywords. Expand. Ask
Why. Ask Why Again.

51. Do google about IDEO’s
seven brainstorming
guidelines to find out
more. Great resource!

52. www.wordle.net
Another good resource
to quickly identify
keywords of the
competition brief.

53. Credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q89tdSjE-0

54. Research. Company.
Brief. Jury. Past
Winners. Future Trends.

55. Researching past winners is a
fanastic way to gauge on the
expected quality of entries.

56. Research and discover who
the jurors are, their previous
works and their design
philosophies. It will you an
insight into their minds, and
may help you in crafting a
better entry to suit their
preferences.

57. www.awoltrends.com
Research on the latest
trends in design as well,
as this will help keep
your designs relevant.

58. Purpose
Prepare
Proposal

59. Proposal
How to make a kick-ass competition entry?

60. Contents. Deliverables. Project
Description. How it works.
Communication. Spellcheck.
Grammar. Clarity of Design.
Presentation. Layout. Alignment.
Individual Style. Fonts. Colours.
Proposal
for entering design competitions

61. Contents. Deliverables.
Project Description.
How it works.

62. So here’s my entry for
the packaging
competition I talked
about earlier.

63. Current
Situation/
Problems
Description
of Solution
Make sure you explain
your design concisely.

64. Product
Details
How
it works
The jurors only have a few mintues
to understand your design.

65. Communication.
Spellcheck. Grammar.
Clarity of Design.

66. Use these programs to spellcheck your
work. It shows a lot about you as a designer
if you mis-spell. FYI it is really bad.

67. Use arrows, cross sections,
annotations and inspiration
images to explain your
designs if needed.

68. Use a human silouette
to show the scale of
your design.

69. Presentation. Layout.
Alignment. Individual
Style. Fonts. Colours.

70. Notice how the typography,
colours, alignment and style are
similar for all of my posters?

71. It helps a lot to make
your entry looks and
feels as a whole.

72. Same thinking
for my other
competition
entries.

73. Purpose
Prepare
Proposal
A quick re-cap!

74. Winning should not the main goal.
Solving a meaningful problem.
For exposure and fun.
In search for new challenges.
To update my skills and abilities.
Purpose
for entering design competitions

75. Brief. Theme. Requirement. Rules.
Deadline. Prizes. FAQ.
Brainstorm. Keywords. Expand.
Ask Why. Ask Why Again.
Research. Company. Brief. Jury.
Past Winners. Future Trends.
Prepare
for entering design competitions

76. Contents. Deliverables. Project
Description. How it works.
Communication. Spellcheck.
Grammar. Clarity of Design.
Presentation. Layout. Alignment.
Individual Style. Fonts. Colours.
Proposal
for entering design competitions

77. All hyped up to start designing?
Visit www.futuredesignstars.com
to search for your next design competition to participate!

78. Keep
Calm
And All The Best :)
@josephlouistan
Credits
StockSnap - https://stocksnap.io/
Think Design - http://thinkdesignblog.com/