I’m a firm believer that competitions are a great idea as they offer designers in the making opportunities to be seen and found that they wouldn’t otherwise have. It’s a win-win scenario as the competition organisers get free artwork for their website and products whilst the designer gains exposure which can lead to greater things down the road. I’ve only entered two competitions so far and will definitely look at doing more in the future.
My very first one was the PAOM Endowment competition and I was very lucky to win it too!
I wrote a short blog post about it back in February with details about the theme and how well it fitted with what I was interested in at the time (street art).
When I was notified of being one of the winners I was very happy indeed and being sent $2000 worth of PAOM clothing of my choice with the designs I had entered for the competition was amazing. There was one thing to do next and that was to execute the project proposal which at the time of entering the competition was a photoshoot of the garments.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do this due to time and lack of resources as I was extremely busy with my own design work so instead of putting it off week after week I decided to create a digital collage of the clothing to fit with the style of the brief. I must add the team at PAOM were great as they were flexible about this from the start telling me I could produce anything I wanted. I’ve posted the results in my case study page so take a look!
If you’re considering entering a competition I would be mindful of the possible outcomes of winning as you need to ensure you can find the time and are able to put in the effort in executing whatever you set out to do.
I’d also advise being clear about the copyrights to the work you’re submitting; ultimately you want to know if it’s still your property after submission or winning in case you want to sell the rights or licence the design in the future.
Lastly, schedule time in your diary to promote it! I feel this is a bit tricky now for me as twelve months on my design aesthetic has improved and changed a lot so I’m not sure whether showcasing this work now makes a lot of sense but ultimately we have to take pride in what we do and achieve so I’m happy to share it!!!