DesignWanted Award: Call for Entries is now open

DesignWanted Award is a brand new design competition launched and supported by DesignWanted.

The Award aims to honor designers and businesses that are solving the world’s current problems, anticipating the needs of tomorrow, and creating the most innovative design ideas for smarter homes and more sustainable living.

In support of the democratic nature of design, the programme allows anyone with talent to compete whilst offering unique access to the most prestigious design event hosted in the heart of the world’s design capital—Milan Design Week.

The Theme: Smart Home

Life has changed over the last two years, completely altering our perception of home design, and what impact smart design can have on our lives and well-being.

For this reason, the theme of the first edition of the DesignWanted Award is SMART HOME, which hopes to answer the question: How can we improve our home experiences?

DesignWanted Award is looking for products and ideas that improve the quality of life, think–gadgets that make homes more sustainable, or handcrafted objects designed to solve one of life’s many daily difficulties.

It may or may not include tech, or it might be a hybrid solution, as long as it’s designed to make home life…smarter!

SMART HOME is a meta-category that includes the full range of design products, from furniture to home and lifestyle accessories, wearables, homecare devices, consumer electronics and more.

• It could be an improvement to an already-existing product or a new solution that reduces environmental impact or waste (saves us money, time, energy and loves the environment)
• it might add a new unexpected function (multi-functional products are great)
• simplify our actions
• or improve our quality of life (relax, entertainment, personal care, etc..)

Know more on the official website of the DesignWanted Award.

The Call: who is invited to join

The call is open to Designers, Startups and Companies that want to share their smart projects with an international audience, both online and during the next Milan Design Week (April, 17-23, 2023).

DesignWanted Award offers the possibility to submit:

• Final Products, already on the market (not older than 2 years)
• Prototypes, fully working, with high quality finishings and 3D files
• Concept designs

These products will be judged alongside competing projects that will be selected because of the way they impact and improve people’s daily lives as a result of their smart function and positive effect on our habits and/or activities.

Learn more about the selection criteria.

The Selection Process: apply for free, pay if admitted

The application is free and entrants will pay their participation fee only after a preliminary selection made by the DesignWanted Award’s team of experts. 

This is to allow young brands and designers to get the same visibility and business opportunity as the biggest brands.

Submission fees:

• Super Early Bird: 120€ + VAT – Deadline: 17 October, 2022
• Early Bird: 170€ + VAT – Deadline: 31 October, 2022
• Regular submission: 250€ + VAT – From 1 November (2022) to 31 January (2023) 

Apply now for free on the DesignWanted Award official website.

Selection Criteria & Prizes: 13 winners

The DesignWanted Award is a prize in kind worth over 20,000 euros each, the media coverage of the event and the opportunity to expand networks and develop their business as a result of the exposure.

Each of the 10 winners from the product and prototype category, plus 3 winners from the concept design category, will get the following rewards:

• A showcase (for free) of their project during Milan Design Week ‘23 within the DesignWanted Exhibition space, located inside the brand new DesignTech (MIND Village, Milan Innovation District); 
• The unique opportunity to connect with a qualified audience of journalists, buyers and design professionals;
• Editorial coverage on DesignWanted Magazine and digital channels resulting in exposure to a dedicated audience of design professionals and enthusiasts.

Criteria such as originality, innovation, usability, aesthetics, sustainability and market potential will be taken into consideration during the selection process.

The Jury Panel: top reputed design professionals

Entrants will be evaluated by a jury of qualified and internationally acclaimed professionals, such as:

• Patrizio Cionfoli, Design & Interaction Director, Studio Volpi
• Valerio Cometti, Founder & Creative Director, Valerio Cometti+V12 Design
• Domitilla Dardi, Design Historian & Curator, EDIT Napoli
• Giovanni de Niederhäusern, Senior Vice President Architecture, Pininfarina
• Sheng-Hung Lee, Designer & Ph.D. researcher, MIT AgeLab
• Raffaella Mangiarotti, Architect & Designer, Raffaella Mangiarotti Studio
• Luca Nichetto, Founder & Designer, Nichetto Studio
• Mauricio Noronha & Rodrigo Brenner, Co-Founders & Designers, Furf Design Studio
• Ilene Shaw, Founding Producer, Design Pavilion and Design Talks NYC
• Filippo Spiezia, Founder & Executive Creative Director, Digital Design Days
• Aleks Tatic, Founder & Managing Director, Tatic Designstudio
• Laura Traldi, Journalist & Content Curator, Internimagazine.it / DesignAtLarge.it

DesignWanted Award: supported by industry leaders

Along with DesignWanted, a group of selected partners will support the Award in terms of communication, spaces and technological contribution.

Corporate partners:

• Shin Software
• DesignTech

Event & Media Partners:

• Design Monat Graz
• Design Week Mexico
• Hong Kong Design Centre
• New Designers

About DesignWanted

DesignWanted is a digital media company among the most influential voices in the industry, on a global scale. 

Today, it has a community of over 1,000,000 people, from all around the world, and collaborations with the most important international events including Milan Design Week, Dutch Design Week, Dubai Design Week, Design Shanghai and many others.

Founded in Milan (2015) by Patrick Abbattista, it is a project created to celebrate the best Design by supporting the business development of designers and companies, on an international scale.

Learn more about DesignWanted in our ‘About us’ page.