IDEA Award Rules

(Download terms and conditions as a PDF)

Quick links:

• Timeline
• Sponsor
• Entry Cost
• Eligibility Criteria
• Judging Criteria
• Categories
• Entry Process
• Judging Process / Awards
• Disclaimer
• Award Notification
• Conditions

IDEA® 2008 TIMELINE

*Any edits to your entry between February 29, 2008 at 11:59 PM PST and March 7, 2008 at 11:59 PM PST will constitute a late entry and the extended deadline fee of $110 USD per entry must be paid by March 7, 2008 at 11:59 PM PST, or the entry will not be judged. Entries cannot be submitted after March 7, 2008, 11:59 PM PST and will not be judged, returned or refunded. (Foreign late payments must be made with American Express, Visa or MasterCard or with a check or money order in US funds drawn on a US bank.) In the event of a dispute over timing of submission, the time used will be that time which is stamped on the digital submission in the online entry software. Entry fees and late fees that are not paid for in full by the final deadline will be subject to immediate disqualification. ENTRY FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

SPONSOR

The IDEA 2008 Competition ("Contest") is presented by IDSA - The Industrial Designers Society of America located at 45195 Business Court, Suite 250 / Dulles, VA 20166-6717 ("IDSA" or "Sponsor"). It is co-sponsored by BusinessWeek Magazine, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY 10020.

ENTRY COST

IDSA Member - $235 per entry
Non-member - $335 per entry
Student with ID - $60 per entry
Late fee - $110 per entry
Hanging Fee for final round of judging - $250 per entry (Finalists only; students will be exempt from this fee.)

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible for IDEA 2008, the following criteria must be met:

Participant Qualifications

• Open to designs and designers worldwide.
• Open to students worldwide. Student entries can only be submitted in the Student category, even if the design is in research, production or corporately funded.
• If you entered last year and didn't win, and if your product still meets all the other criteria you can resubmit.
• Entrants may enter as often as they like, but each entry must be purchased and submitted separately.

Distribution qualifications

• Products must have been placed in distribution between February 28, 2006 and February 29, 2008. This means the product must be available for sale in its final form to its intended end users through normal sales channels during that period.
• Student entries must have been submitted to the school between February 28, 2006 and February 29, 2008.
• Design Concept entries must not be scheduled for production. If you are submitting a Design Concept, it must have been finalized or submitted to the client between February 28, 2006 and February 29, 2008.
• Research designs must have been submitted to the client or school between February 28, 2003 and February 29, 2008.
  

JUDGING CRITERIA

The IDEA 2008 judging is based on the following criteria of industrial design excellence. These criteria are weighted by the judges as they deem appropriate for the category:

1. Design innovation;
2. Benefit to the user (performance, comfort, safety, ease of use, user interface, ergonomics, universal function and access, quality of life);
3. Benefit to the client (increased sales, market penetration);
4. Benefit to society (importance, economic viability, manufacturability);
5. Ecological benefit (responsible use of materials and processes
throughout lifecycle, including material durability, toxicity, source and waste reduction, energy efficiency and repair/reuse/recyclability);
6. Visual appeal and appropriate aesthetics;
7. Usability testing, rigor, reliability (Design Research category); and
8. Internal factors and methods, implementation (Design Strategy
category)

ENTRY PROCESS

Entries will only be accepted online at http://www.omnicontests3.com/idsa/omnicontests for the first round of judging. Eligible entrants in certain categories that conform to the core judging criteria will be asked to submit physical samples of their designs for the final round of judging. Finalists in other categories will be asked to send in video or scale models/prototypes, extra images, product spec sheets, or other category-specific material. Check the category list at www.idsa.org/idea for the most up-to-date entry requirements by category.

Before you log in to upload your materials, be sure to review categories and sub-categories and choose the most appropriate for your entry. Have all of your information ready to submit, including:

• A complete and accurate list of design credits and clients including contact information;
• Answers to entry form questions. For categories requiring special entry forms (Research, Strategy and Interactive Product Experiences), please refer to the corresponding entry form template for specific requirements. All other categories use the general IDEA entry form.
• Images should be PDF or web-standard .JPG or .GIF, 96 dpi, in RGB colorspace, 960 x 720 px and no larger than 1MB each.  Images may be color or black & white. PDF files should be no larger than 1MB each at 8.5” x 11." You will be prompted to upload:
  • one "glamour shot" with a white background showing the product's best view
  • up to three (3) images/storyboards to explain the design challenge
  • up to three (3) images/storyboards to explain the design solution
    
• Video: An optional video not to exceed 60 seconds and 10 MB. Acceptable file formats are .MOV, .WMV, .AVI, .SWF, and .MPEG/.MPG
  

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your entry.

JUDGING PROCESS / AWARDS

The judging is blind: the designers, their names and the names of consulting firms may not appear anywhere in the entry form. Failure to abide by this rule results in immediate disqualification. Names or logos of manufacturing companies/clients may appear if they are inherent to the product.

Jurors do their initial scoring online in teams of two for their assigned categories. In this first stage of judging, the jury will evaluate all entries for eligibility, completeness, thoroughness, appropriateness and general conformance to award criteria. Specific criteria may be weighted differently in different categories, at the judges' discretion.

Finalists meeting a minimum score after the first round will be invited to submit supplementary material, according to the category of entry. For certain categories, submitting the actual product will be optional but highly recommended. For other categories, entrants will be invited to submit mounted photographs, storyboards, videos or models/prototypes. Complete instructions will be provided to Finalists upon notification.

In the second stage of judging, after reviewing the supplementary entry material sent in by the Finalists, judging teams will meet in person to decide which entries exemplify the key principles of design excellence and recommend a Gold, Silver or Bronze IDEA Winner at this time. The entire jury will then have the opportunity to review the category judges' recommendations, and additional votes may be required before final award determinations are made. The jury's decisions are final.

Best Student Design, Best Concept Design, other Best of Category Awards and Paradigm Shifter Awards (or other ad hoc awards) may also be given at the jury's discretion. The Best in Show Award may be given to the one Gold-winning entry deemed best in show by the jurors. This award will be determined at the conclusion of the regular jurying by clear majority vote.

People's Choice Award: Voting for this award will be conducted online after the winners are announced, and the voting is open to the public. Each person may only vote once. Only the Gold winners will be eligible to win the People's Choice Award.

DISCLAIMER

All decisions of the Jury and Sponsors are final. IDSA makes no guarantees as to the number and type of IDEA awards given each year. All data contained in the submission become the property of IDSA and part of its archives. Supplementary judging material and product samples submitted by Finalists will be held by IDSA for exhibit at the National Conference. They may be returned to the entrant after the conclusion of the exhibit at the expense of the entrant. By submitting an entry, you agree that IDSA and any other party authorized by it shall have permission to publish any material contained in the submission. Award entry material is on the public record and no content will be treated confidentially.

AWARD NOTIFICATION

On or about March 31, 2008 the Jury will select Finalists ("Selected Entrants") to enter the next round of judging. All Selected Entrants will be required to respond (as directed) to the phone and/or e-mail notification within one week of attempted notification. Failure to respond in a timely manner to the notification may result in forfeiture of the award and, in such cases, Sponsor may re-score entries and select a new entrant. Each Selected Entrant will be asked to transport at their cost and risk additional supplementary material for judging, and may also be sent an affidavit of eligibility / liability / publicity release ("Release"). Entrant agrees to grant IDSA, its sponsor(s), third-party vendors and agents the unrestricted rights to publish, display and use the submitted design, entrant's name, voice, photograph, logo, or other mark or likeness, as well as same of the designer(s), for advertising and promoting the competition and other related purposes in any media without additional permission or compensation (optional for TN residents.) Selected Entrants may also be required to provide other relevant information. Unless restricted by law, each selected entrant will be required to complete and return the Release along with requested supplementary judging material within the time period specified therein. Entrants must agree to write a case study of their design for the Yearbook issue of IDSA's Innovation magazine in the event they win a Gold award.

CONDITIONS

Competition is subject to these Official Rules.
By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these complete Official Rules, and, whether or not a member, the terms of ethics on the IDSA web site. All decisions of Sponsor are final and binding; and entrants agree to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Competition or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By accepting an award, winner agrees to release Sponsor, its attorneys, affiliates, together with the respective directors, employees, officers, licensees, licensors and agents of each, including without limitation, their respective advertising and promotion entities and any person or entity associated with the production, judging, or administration of the Contest, (collectively, the Releasees) from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of award or participation in any award-related activities. Sponsor reserves the right to use the Contest for publicity purposes in any media, and to use the name, likeness, entry materials and hometown name and/or award information of Selected Entrants as part of that publicity, without any compensation or prior review unless prohibited by law. Sponsor may cancel the contest for any reason, at its sole discretion. This Contest is void everywhere such contests are prohibited or restricted by law, and subject to applicable federal, state provincial and local laws. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entrant it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or violating these Official Rules. The Releasees shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, misdirected, incomplete unreadable, inaccurate, garbled or unintelligible entries, or communications; (ii) broadband, cable, telephone system, telephone or computer hardware, software or other technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors; (iii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iv) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused by acceptance of the award or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of a award, or from participation in the Contest; or (v) any printing, typographical, administrative or technological errors in any materials associated with the Contest. Sponsors disclaim any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with this Contest, and reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend the Contest should a virus, bug, computer problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond Sponsors' control, corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Contest. Sponsors may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning award if, in its sole discretion, it determines such entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest in any way by cheating, hacking, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other players or Sponsors' representatives. Disputes regarding these Official Rules and/or this Contest will be governed by the internal laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Any and all legal actions or claims arising in connection with this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction within Virginia, and you agree to jurisdiction and venue in the courts of Virginia. Entrant acknowledges and agrees that IDSA reserves the right to amend, modify or terminate the competition at any time. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE IDSA and BusinessWeek AND/OR CONTEST-RELATED WEB SITES OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSORS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: The Sponsors shall not be involved in any dispute and shall be held harmless and free of any liability in any dispute regarding intellectual property rights. By entering this Competition, Entrant warrants that Entry does not infringe on the Intellectual Property rights of others.

PRIVACY: All personal information collected by Sponsor will be used for administration of the Contest. In addition entrants specifically opt in to receive email correspondence from, or on behalf of IDSA, subject to IDSA's privacy policy. IDSA complies with Federal CAN-SPAM guidelines and entrants may subsequently opt-out of receiving further emails. Any questions regarding privacy matters should be directed to the address set out below. Please refer to Sponsors' privacy policy located at www.idsa.org for important information regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by Sponsor.

For a copy of these Official Rules, send your request in a self-addressed, stamped envelope (WA, VT and Canadian residents need not affix return postage) to: IDEA Official Rules, 45195 Business Court, Suite 250, Dulles, VA 20166-6717. Or send an email request to idea@idsa.org. Winners will be posted on IDSA's web site. Request must be received by December 31, 2008.