A Case for How Design Awards Can Matter to You

  3. By challenging visitors to understand their role in helping others and empowering them to “take the protection of every human’s rights personally,” the museum sheds much-needed light on a variety of global issues.

Read Time: 6 minutes

The SEGD Global Design Awards amplifies recognition on a global scale while also celebrating firms who strive to think outside of the box, but did you know that by entering your project in the SEGD Global Design Awards, there is more opportunity for exposure with a one in four chance of being published?

The SEGD Global Design Awardsbegan in 1987, and have since set a standard of excellence, portraying the progression of experiential graphic design over the years. By highlighting superlative projects and innovative designers in the field, the awards program allows award winning firms and their respective projects recognition on a global platform. The possible awards range from merit and honors to the Sylvia Harris and Best in Show award. All of these provide great opportunity and hold great significance.

  • Any and all award winners are promoted on the Design Awards pageon SEGD.org
  • Award-winning projects receive about ten times the exposure of other projects
  • As of 2017, finalists are also published in the project galleryand searchable by category
  • Last year, 25 percent of all entries were published on the website altogether

 

This is all to say, by entering your project in the SEGD Global Design Awards, there is more opportunity for recognition and exposure with a one in four chance of being published!

Therefore, all entries matter.

 

Winning An Award Can Provide Your Firm with the Recognition It Desires

Kathy Fry, 2019 Global Design Awards Jury Chair and Principal at Portland, Oregon-based design firm, Mayer/Reed, Inc., had this to say after the firm won the 2016 Merit Award for its work on the Halprin Fountains: “We look to award-winning projects for inspiration to keep design aspirations high within our studio and with our clients. We are honored that we have been recognized in the past, and the SEGD Global Design Awards continue to motivate us to seek design excellence in our work.”

 

 
Revolution in the Landscape: Re-experience the Halprin Fountains was a two-hour long 2014 Design Week Portland event. Seven design teams, including two student groups, were invited to create temporary installations along the Portland Open Space Sequence, designed by Lawrence Halprin and constructed between 1966 and 1970. Typography, color, image, form, light and sound converged for one magical, moon-lit evening to raise public awareness about this historic cultural resource comprised of four interconnected parks, fountains and civic spaces.
 
Jury Comments:
  • “Sometimes we forget what we have until someone shines a light on it. More of this kind of collaboration, please!”
  • “The power of this project was its ability to shine light on one of the most unknown, yet most iconic public spaces in Portland. It is diverse, playful, experiential, lean and spurred movement through the route of Halprin’s stunning work of art.”

 

Get Inspired and Enter Your Work Today

Although the Best in Show Award is most coveted, there are many other honors awarded that represent nothing short of outstanding and unforgettable works of design. Scroll through the slideshow above to get inspired and to see what it takes to be awarded and recognized among the best of the best in the world, year after year. 

[Fun Fact: You can browse SEGD Global Design Awards galleries dating back to 1998! Simply visit the SEGD Global Design Awards main pageand peruse the right sidebar for projects by practice, by industry and by year.]

 
 
YiEUM Partners was tasked with creating storytelling elements and a design and implementation plan for the clock tower, while overseeing the construction and fabrication process to ensure the project would be completed accurately. Utilizing the four sides of the tower, the YiEUM Partners designers saw the need to represent all the nations of the earth in a meaningful way to align with the church’s mission. The design team began by categorizing the world into four distinct sections and arranged for each country’s name to appear in both Korean and English text. Next, they strategically placed and emphasized the key nations where SaRang Church conducts regular outreach through local campuses. The national borders of all countries listed were also included in the archway directly above each gate, connected by a series of horizontal lines to signify the interconnectedness of all nations listed on the tower.
Jury Comments:
  • “Highly intricate form and content juxtaposed to tell a compelling story of global unification.”
  • “Just really beautiful design with a really beautiful execution. Simple, elegant and contextual design at its best.”

 

 
The Rolling Stones Exhibition is the most comprehensive and immersive insight to date into the career of the legendary group that has been called “The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band.” The engaging narrative journey through the band’s 50-year career is told through a series of thematic installations in the exhibition. Visitors are immersed in the brand’s story through visceral experiences that include, among others, a recreation of their infamous first apartment on Edith Grove in Chelsea; a gallery that gives insights into the recording process, highlighting the studio environments where the Stones have worked and inviting guests to experiment with the band’s back catalogue; and a gallery that delivers a sense of the band’s incredible stage presence.
Jury Comments:
  • “Compelling content is given the front row seat in some areas, while inspirational bold movements and typographic treatments are at the forefront of other areas, allowing for surprising variety and punctuation throughout the experience. A traveling exhibition that could look at home in every installation.”
  • “The entry area typography for this piece is so bold and sexy—it turns out you can always get what you want, typographically speaking.”
 
 
“Who, Like Me, Is Threatened?” serves as the introduction to “Spark of Conviction: The Global Human Rights Movement” gallery. The installation utilizes interactive mirrors to mimic the experience of standing face-to-face with another person, listening to their story. As visitors approach, depth-sensing cameras respond to their presence. Gazing into interactive mirrors, they see strangers looking back, each labeled with a single identifier: “I am ________.” Visitors choose a label that resonates with them—options range from “LGBT” to “Muslim” to “black” and beyond—then watch video interviews with individuals who have been persecuted because of that trait. The stories are poignant and surprising true testimonials from a diverse cross-section of people from around the world.  By allowing visitors to literally see themselves in others, it puts people in an empathetic frame of mind as they continue exploring the museum
Jury Comments:
  • “Rarely is it possible to connect with and disprove your own biases in a safe place. Who wants to even admit they have preconceptions or are prone to stereotyping? And yet, we know they exist and might even have a little bit of it in ourselves. ‘Who, Like Me, Is Threatened?’ provides a welcoming while powerful and immediate encounter for any of us—forcing us to look inside ourselves to see what we find, literally and figuratively. Frankly, I wish we had these on every street corner.”
  • “This project is a deserved winner of the Sylvia Harris Award. It compels the visitor to confront the message of human rights abuses in an engaging and personal way. Very powerful!”

 

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Don’t wait! Make the SEGD Global Design Awards your 2019 New Year’s Resolution! Get started here!

Questions, comments, inquiries? Feel free to call or email the SEGD staff (202.638.5555 / segd@segd.org).