Nominations Open for INDEX Award 2017! Design to Improve Lives

Deadline: 28 February 2016

Nominations are open for INDEX Award 2017 that is the biggest and probably most important design award in the world. The award recognizes people who give an outstanding contribution in making designs that address the world’s biggest challenges.

INDEX: Award is still the only design award in the world focusing exclusively on Design to Improve Life. It inspires, educates and engage people to design sustainable solutions to global challenges.

Categories and Challenges

1. Body: The Body category comprises all designs related to the body, such as clothing, appliances, aids/tools used in treatment and care, etc.

• Challenges
  • Food
  • Hunger
  • Health
  • Sustainable Living
  • Safety

2. Home: The Home category comprises all designs related to the home, such as architecture, interior design, lighting, gadgets, furniture, tools, appliances, utility systems, software and communications hardware etc.

• Challenges
  • Cities
  • Housing
  • Sustainable Living
  • Water
  • Sanitation
  • Energy
  • Digitalization
  • Safety

3. Work: The Work category comprises all designs related to work, such as work tools, manufacturing machines, aids and communications, architecture and interior design, control and management systems.

• Challenges
  • Money
  • Unemployment
  • Poverty
  • Working Conditions
  • Digitalization

4. Play and Learning: The Work category comprises all designs related to work, such as work tools, manufacturing machines, aids and communications, architecture and interior design, control and management systems.

• Challenges
  • Digitalization
  • Education
  • Leisure
  • Diversity
  • Indifference

5. Community: The Community category comprises all designs of things that we share communally, such as roads, bike paths, public spaces and parks, cities, infrastructure, means of transport, signage, mass media and communications.

• Challenges
  • Inequality
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • climate
  • Government
  • Infrastructure
  • Transportation
  • Communication
  • Safety

Eligible Designs

• Design that improves life or holds the potential to do so.
• Tangible design (products, digital design, architecture, urban planning) or intangible (concepts, policies, strategies, services, systems) design.
• Genuinely new design. Sheer restyling of known designs is insufficient, unless it implies a genuinely new aspect to improve life.
• Design that is on a prototype stage at minimum.
• Design that date back no more than 5 years.
• Design that was not previously selected as finalist for INDEX: Award.

Eligible Candidates

• Designers, private individuals, public and private companies, schools, universities, organizations, associations, students and design enthusiasts from all over the world can nominate for INDEX: Award. Basically, everyone in the world.
• Members of the INDEX: Award Jury, provided that the juror pleas incompetency in judging designs nominated by him-/herself (designs created in a process, where a juror has been very involved, however, cannot win INDEX: Award, but can be named finalist).
• The INDEX: Design to Improve Life organization.
• Members of the INDEX: Award ‘Spotters’.

How to Nominate?

Nominations can be made via given website.

For more information, please visit http://designtoimprovelife.dk/award/.