Online registration at http://apdcida.com/submit
Sign up for a free membership profile
Once you’re a member, log in with your username and password, and you will be directed to the submissions page
Select category(s) and enter the details for the project
Fill in the required information and upload your submission
Proceed to payment
You will receive a payment confirmation email
No, we do not need a physical sample of your product. All entries are evaluated online through the uploaded photos, PDFs, or links to supporting materials such as videos, presentations, etc. You are free to use these to present your design to the jury in any way you like.
For professional submissions you need to provide the following information:
Required:
Lead Designer
Design/Product Name
Category(s)
Brief description of design/product
Upload images and/or PDF description of the design
Upload certificate of previous Awards won for each entry
Optional:
List of Team Members
Client**
Company address**
Company VAT number**
Add links to design/product (videos, online materials, website, etc)
** If you require an invoice, the Company details and VAT number need to be completed
For student submissions you need to provide the following information:
Required:
Name of your School/College/University
Design/Product Name
Category(s)
Brief Description of your Design/Product
Upload images and/or PDF description of the product
Upload certificate of previous Awards won for each entry
Optional:
Additional design credit names
Add links to product (videos, online materials, website, etc)
Anyone who is a student can enter work under the student category and get the reduced submissions fee—regardless of whether you are a full-time or part-time student, or what you are studying. Please keep in mind that if you submit in the student category, your work will be evaluated among other students.
Payment of submission fees is the last step in the entry process. Please make sure your entry is complete before sending the payment. Once the submission fee is paid, you will no longer be able to change or edit your entry.
Up to 10 supporting images can be submitted with each design. An image can be JPEG (.jpeg, .jpg) or PNG (.png). One image is for the cover photo to identify the entry and the remaining 9 are supporting images of the entry. Images must not exceed 4MB per file and a minimum of 1000 pixels wide. Please only use letters and numbers in the title of the image. If you wish to include additional product specifications, you have the option to upload one PDF file in A4 or letter-sized format. The PDF must not exceed 4MB.
You may cancel your submission at any time, but once the submission fee has been paid, there are no refunds provided. If you have been wrongly charged, we will be happy to credit the amount that is due minus the payment processing fees.
You will not be able to edit your submission after payment has been made. For this reason, please review your work carefully and make sure that the entries are submitted correctly before finalizing payment.
First, check that the image does not exceed the maximum size of 4MB, that it is the right format which is either JPEG (.jpeg, .jpg) or PNG (.png) and that the file name contains only letters or numbers and no other characters. Once you’ve checked that these things are in order, try to upload your images again. If you’re still having trouble after this, contact our support staff at support@apdcida.com
You will receive a confirmation email from us shortly after you submit and pay for your work. If you do not receive an email, please verify that your email is correct in our records by logging into your Member page and selecting “Profile” and then “Edit Profile”. In addition, if you are using spam-blocking software, please add “apdcida.com” to your list of approved recipients. If, after doing both of these things, you do not receive an email, please go to the “Entry History” link on your Member page to view your submission status and make sure that all your entries have been paid for.
You may check on your entry status at any time by logging into your Member page with your username and password, and click on “Entry History”. NOTE: If a submission is incomplete when the submission deadline has passed (i.e. the submission fee has not been paid, or the images have not been uploaded correctly), the submission will not be eligible for juried consideration. Though we make every effort to contact entrants to ensure completion of submissions, we are not responsible for incomplete entries and are unable to offer a refund should an entry be incomplete once the submissions window is closed.
The “Entry History” feature allows you to view the status of all your submissions, to verify that images have been uploaded correctly, to print receipts, and to make payments, etc., The page also shows your winning entries where you can download certificates, seals and press releases.
APDC*IDA Design Excellence Award is only for previous winners of national, regional and international awards in Architecture, Interior Design, and Product Design. To qualify, please upload past winning certificates when submitting your work.
Time restriction: In an effort to promote the creation of new work and the fresh flow of ideas, previous awards must have been won no more than 3 years before for International entries and no more than 2 years before for Chinese entries.
Yes, you may enter the same design into as many categories as you see fit. In fact, doing so may increase your chances of winning. However, there is an additional fee for each additional category you enter.
No, you may submit as many entries as you wish, and if you submit multiple entries at the same time, you will receive a special reduction in the submissions fee for the additional entries.
The jury will select the winners in each category based on individual designs and projects, not on an entire body of work, so each design or project should be submitted as a separate entry.
We accept submissions as completed, works in progress, or conceptual projects.
APDC+IDA welcomes creative thinkers from around the world to participate. You don’t have to be a designer to submit your product. Creative and innovative thinkers from any field can submit a design or project for consideration.
You are not required to submit your drawings or plans. However, we encourage participants to submit as much information as possible for a better representation of your project. We understand that every project is unique, therefore, you have the freedom to submit any information that you think is suitable. We encourage you to provide a plan of at least one section. This is to ensure our jury will have enough information for project evaluation.
Projects must have won a prize in a national, regional or international award no more than 3 years previously for International entries and no more than 2 years previously for Chinese entries.
Your images will only be used for purposes of promotion of the APDC*IDA. Through our global reach, your image will be viewed with your credit all around the world. All participating designers thus far have been extremely happy with the manner in which their images have been used and promoted globally.
Copyright and all other rights remain with the designer. Any images used by APDC*IDA shall carry the designer’s credit line. APDC*IDA may use images in any media sponsor publications. All entrants understand that any image submitted to the competition may be used by APDC*IDA for marketing and promotional purposes including in any medium such as exhibitions, print, and digital media directly related to the APDC*IDA competition though there may not be monetary compensation
Neither APDC*IDA affiliates or partners assume any responsibility for materials submitted in violation of competition rules or for those which violate copyright regulations. APDC*IDA will investigate claims of copyright infringement to the best of its ability and will remove and disqualify submissions that are clearly demonstrated to violate copyright and/or competition policies. APDC*IDA will act to maintain the integrity of the competition and its affiliated entities but is not responsible for any damages resulting from images submitted in violation of rules and regulations.
There is no monetary remuneration for the use of your image. Please make sure you have the full copyright before entering any images.
No, after payment has been made, entries cannot be altered. Please review your work carefully before finalizing payment.
You can pay for your submission online via PayPal or credit card.
Yes, at this time we only accept US currency in the “international” entrant section on APDC*IDA website.
Our International and Chinese list of jurors consists of a wide variety of design professionals and educators who are devoted to design.
For a complete list of the jury members http://apdcida.com/jury/
Due to the overwhelming scope of the competition, our judges are unable to provide individual feedback on projects.
We do notify award winners by email, but it does sometimes happen that notifications get caught in server filters so it’s possible that you may not receive the email notification. Fortunately, you can always check to see if you’ve won any awards by logging into your Member page and clicking on the Winners link.
The Trophy will be given to the winners of APDC*IDA “Design of the Year” title, as well as Architecture Design of the Year, Interior Design of the Year and Product Design of the Year winners in the Professional and Student levels.
Category winners will receive a certificate as well as a winner’s logo.
You can download the logo from the “Winning Entries” link on your Member page, along with other winner assets such as your winner certificate and personalized press release, once the Winner announcement has been made.
You can start communicating about your award (Overall Winner / Category Winner / Honorable mention) as soon as the winners have been publicly announced. At that time you will be able to download a PDF version of your Winner Certificate, Winner Logo and the other winner assets from the “Winner Services” link on your member page.
International entrants, please contact us at support@apdcida.com
Chinese entrants, please contact us at award@apdc-awards.org