Core77 Design Awards
Deadline: May 3rd, 2011
Recognising excellence in all areas of design enterprise, the Core77 Design Awards celebrates the richness of the design profession and its practitioners.
Prizes: See website for details

NPB Design Competition
Deadline: May 1st, 2011
We are putting out a challenge to all cyclists, artists and designers: design your own graphics for a NeilPryde Diablo on the theme of Freedom. As the theme suggests, anything goes. Break free from common conceptions and let your imagination fly.
Prizes: US$1,000 & a Diablo frameset

GHOST PROJECT International Design Competition
Deadline: April 4th, 2011
The Ghost Project competition is open to all persons 35 years of age and younger from all over the world. Applicants can be individual authors or groups of authors. Each applicant can submit more than one entry.
Prizes: The winning projects will be part of the core Talent exhibition at the Mikser Festival, Southeast Europe’s largest regional festival of creativity and innovation.

2011 Design for Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition
Deadline: April 25th, 2011
Design a product that illustrates the benefits and impact of direct digital manufacturing. For 2011, student designers are encouraged to use their imagination to design a product intended to be, or be part of, a system that utilizes direct digital manufacturing (DDM) in features. The product must be able to be used in another assembly. It will need to be fabricated mainly using DDM processes.
Prizes: See website for details.

Are you running a design competition? Send your press release to press@designdroplets.com

Have you found something we missed? Drop us a line via our contact form with details on the competition.

Link Love is back again for 2011. It’s all about exploring, sharing and enjoying – spread the Link Love.

The Strange Powers of the Placebo Effect
A very interesting video on the power of Placebos. How could you use Placebos in your design? Or have you seen them effectively utilised in a design? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

10 Attributes of Successful Freelance Designers
Have you got what it takes to be a successful freelancer? Maybe these 10 attributes will help you determine whether you have or not.

Why Bad Ideas are Good Ideas
Ideas are a journey. They start at one point, travel this way and that and usually arrive at a destination that looks nothing like where they began…

6 Simple Yoga Stretches for Daily De-Stressing
If you are like me and spend more time than is good for you working. Then here are some great yoga stretches you can do to relax a bit during the work day or after it.

Frog Design Timeline
An interesting and interactive timeline on the history of Frog Design.

Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.

— Charles Eames

“If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”
– David Ogilvy

Link Love is back again, bask in it’s warm glow and linky goodness. Enjoy.

A Beer Brewed For Zero Gravity
Accessible space tourism might be a while away, however people are already starting to dream and design for the day the space resort and associated activities. Could your next design be a product for those venturing into space?

Write or Die
We designers always have a bit of a hard time getting writing done. Here’s a handy tool that just might help. Write or Die lets you put in your aim for word limit and the time you need to get it done in. You start typing and if you stop typing for too long it starts flashing red until you start again.

From Ideation To Creation: Ponoko’s Sci-Fi “Making System”
An interview with co-founder of Ponoko Dave ten Have.

Good Fucking Design Advice
Because sometimes, being your own worst critic is not enough.

Procrastination: 5 Perspectives
Exploring procrastination over at Brain Pickings.

“Fail often so you can succeed sooner.”

– Tom Kelley

This weeks Link Love is dedicated to data visualisation. Enjoy and remember to share the Link Love.

The World of Data
A data visualisation by GOOD on the world of data we’re creating on the internet.

The Investling Theory Of Everything
An excellent info graphic by the team at Investling.

Visualizing
Making sense of complex issues through data and design

Information Aesthetics
Where form follows data.

16 Awesome Data Visualization Tools
A list of tools for creating data visualisations from Mashable.

An interesting design manifesto by conceptual devices.

00_Design should not be based on formal principles – but always on an idea of society.
01_ Designed forms represent possible social orders and a lot of their contradictions.
02_ Design is everything. Anything could be designed. Everyone is a designer.
03_ Design allows social innovations. Often it is not made by designers.
04_ Design has not scale. It could be small and have great impact.
05_ Design is not an innocent practice. Designers are wicked.
06_ Design should engage people and interact with them.
07_ Design is an interdisciplinary applied science.
08_ Design produces visual consciousness.
09_ Design is a triangular manifesto.
10_ Design makes you smile.
11_ This is the top.
12_ Enjoy!

iF Concept Award 2011
Deadline: November 15th, 2010
Brief: Students and recent graduates of all courses related to the following areas are welcome to register their entries Design, Architecture, Marketing and Engineering.
Prizes: See website for details.

Prix Emile Hermes 2011
Deadline: November 30th, 2010
Brief: Heat, Me-Heat, Re-Heat – Objects designed to harness heat.
Prizes: €50,000 for the winner, €25,000 for the runner-up, and €15,000 for the third place. The winners’ work will feature in a special exhibition and in its catalogue and it will be promoted by the Foundation around the world.

The Faces of Design Awards 2011
Deadline: December 15th, 2010
Brief: Submit your existing portfolio.
Prizes: This design competition is based on your existing portfolio, and culminates in the publication of a printed volume, showcasing the 25 most promising design talents, by design discipline (e.g. graphic, interior or fashion design). This collection of profiles will be distributed to over 1.000 key decision makers at more than 300 companies, including firms such as vitra, IKEA, the Richemont Group (including prestigious brands such as Montblanc, Cartier and Chloé), designers’ studios such as the Campanas’ and Bouroullecs’, and the design press.

INDIA Future of Change Design Contest
Deadline: December 15th, 2010
Brief: The INDIA Future of Change Design contest invites students from around the world to present their designs on any one or more or all of the five contest themes (Healthcare/Special Needs, Transportation/Mobility, Digital Environment, Home Environment, Public Space Environment)
Prizes:

• Grand Prize – cash prize of US$ 35000 each
• A fifteen day all-expenses-paid vacation to select destinations in India for all winners.
• 4-week internship for the Grand Prize winners in leading Indian and transnational companies for 10 winners.
• Presentations to venture capitalists, angel investors, mentors/incubators for all 20 winners.
• Top 20 entries to be exhibited at the INDIA Future of Change Showcase at the Kirchner Museum, Davos, Switzerland, January 26-30, 2011 on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Are you running a design competition? Send your press release to gather@designdroplets.com

Have you found something we missed? Drop us a line via our contact form with details on the competition.

The Finders Keepers will finish the year with a bang! The independent markets will host its final market event of 2010 in Sydney in December following a successful year of markets along the east coast of Australia.

The Spring/Summer event returns to Sydney’s contemporary arts venue CarriageWorks in Eveleigh on Friday December 3rd and Saturday December 4th and will showcase fresh designers and newwares for patrons to purchase just in time for Christmas.

The markets will once again host a bunch of new collaborations, including a featured arts section with Leeloo that will feature over 20 artworks for sale from emerging artists. There will also be a Paper Convention stall, which will feature an interactive stall with amazing paper installations that will engage with the public in a creative way.

The Frankie stall will also return with a reading corner and a featured artist will create a one off artwork on the day. The markets will also have another creative appearance from 3things by Oxfam.

The Finders Keepers promises a fresh new line-up of local and interstate designers featuring in over 3 rooms with a café and bar open all day. There will also be a huge line-up of local independent musicians who will perform throughout the day. Designer and Music line-up to be announced in the coming weeks.

The Finders Keepers Independent Design & Art Market, Sydney
Friday December 3rd 6pm-10pm and Saturday 4th December 10am-5pm
CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson St Eveleigh