FAQ Entry #411

This is a respond to a previously asked question about the A' Design Award and Competition. The full list of frequently asked questions can be accessed here.

#411: Should we need Client approval when we are going to apply for the design award?

When taking part in A' Design Award, Clients' approval is usually required unless when initially working with the Client if you had made an agreement that the Designer could participate to design awards or use the commissioned work for advertising and publicity purposes as well as allowing the 3rd parties including but not limited to design magazines to print, publish, and publicize the work. In most cases, smaller Clients will be very happy to get an award for their work however larger Clients such as big brands and enterprises as well as select institutions could have bureaucratic processes that could limit such participation. In our experience, most of the Large Clients will not only allow the Designer to participate but also cover the cost of entry, therefore asking for a permission as well as eventual sponsorship could be relevant, in the end, when the Designer wins, the Company who commissioned the work also wins; getting publicity and dissemination thanks to the awarded entry. In summary, it is a good idea to ask for Client approval but for us it is not a requirement; it is a requirement for the Designers to ensure that they would not have a trouble for getting their commissioned designs for Clients to be published.

Keywords: client approval, client, client permission, eligibility, terms, conditions

The following questions could be related:

• #8: Do I need to have an affiliation with a design company, design organization or design related institution to join the A' Design Competition?
• #9: Do I need to be a designer, or a design graduate to join the A' Design Award and Competition?
• #50: I am a designer of sportswear and sports shoes, I seek an opportunity to present my designs., I am a visualization designer, I am looking for a possibility to work further on interactive visualizations., I’m a furniture designer that is seeking for a furniture company to realize my designs..etc, etc. Can you help me?
• #52: Can I join this competition?
• #74: What are the eligibility age for custom design competitions?
• #85: I have a patented structural system for furniture, am I eligible for the furniture design competition?
• #90: I am a painter that makes geometrical and abstract artworks that I believe could be applied on textiles, I am searching for producers, what is your suggestion?
• #100: Where I can download PDF of the Terms and Condition? Where are the Contest Rules?
• #134: I am interested in joining the Design competition, but I do not have the copyrights or patents regarding my idea/design. I would like to know if I am eligible without them. If I apply without a patent, what could ensure that my idea/design is secure, how can I protect my design/idea.
• #149: How can I learn if my design is applicable, or if my entry be counted or if my design is eligible for winning the award?
• #177: We have our products ready for manufacturing but they are not yet manufactured, would our products still be considered for this years competition?
• #194: Can any one person enter the competion, or do I have to be part of a company?
• #199: I have an approved patent for my design, can I still join the design competition?
• #209: Can you tell me if submissions need to have been created in the last year or if they can have been created at any time?
• #251: I would like to know if there is only specific projects that can be submitted for car design award - for example specific range of car design - for automotive design sector - or any type of car design can be submitted to the car design award?
• #257: If I fix the client / studio section and input my brand info, would it raise my preliminary score?
• #261: Can freelance designers also participate in the design competition?
• #279: For the client, studio, brand details section: The entry is a design that was developed in university. There is not one specific client. Should I fill those blanks with the university name or should I leave them blank, since their optional? Should I put the university logo at the yearbook page?
• #295: Is it possible to enter the design competition with a design which I entered to another competition before?
• #321: We would like to upload few of our projects to the Design Awards. But the thing is that one of them was sent to different architectural competition. Can we use the same project to participate in your competition? Please let us know if it's not against your policies, so we can go ahead and upload our concepts to your website.
• #323: I am planning to submit one of my design to the awards. Would it be possible for me to submit the exact same product to another competition?
• #324: What projects are eligible for the architecture categories: completed and conceptual, or just completed?
• #327: Are we obligated to pay the fees after we see the final price by uploading our work and receiving a preliminary score but decide not to participate?
• #334: What is the public release date of the product in order to apply for the design award?
• #337: Is there any limitation about number of people in a design team?
• #338: Is there any limitations for participating in different fields or design award categories?
• #355: I do not know in which space I shall put my logo to go together with my design award entry?
• #359: If I register but change my mind about submitting my work, am I still liable to pay fees?
• #362: I designed the product for a company and the first question is about the use of its logo. Do you need any special document from the company to upload the logo in the entry form? Or could be a document for my use of it?
• #373: Is there a criteria for product design where it must be in distributed and available for retail through any specific timeline?
• #379: Could you please inform me that how many different projects can I submit in the same year? Additionally, can I submit a project which won a different Design Award prize?
• #380: I'd like to submit my work for a competition, but I'm not sure if it's eligible. It's a logo that got rejected by the client, therefore not realized. Is that work eligible for a competition or not?
• #382: I an planning to attend the competition, but still I have a doubt. Do I have to send to A'Design Award & Competition the real product, or just the images and texts?
• #390: Is it necessary that the design must be published in same year of award entry?
• #393: Is there any condition about availability of the product on the market, e.g. products have to be on the market till the end of this year?
• #394: Can I submit my old works or can our company can submit old products?
• #407: Is it required for submission that the product is new design? For example can I submit a product I designed several years ago?
• #408: Is there a specific requirement for when the submitted project was completed? (How recently completed can a project be? Also, how old can a project be to qualify?)
• #418: I would like to apply for a project which is already online on my personal website. Is that against the terms and conditions?
• #427: After being awarded the prestigious A' Design Award with my project this year, I have been approached by someone from another international competition with an invitation to participate with the same project in their competition free of charge, Am I allowed to do that? Do the regulations of the A' Design Award allow me to send in the project to another competition?
• #429: My design incorporates some third party elements, does this violate any terms and conditions?
• #443: Hi, I would like to know if United States citizens are eligible to participate in this design award? Would the fees be the same?
• #447: Client Logo is optional in the guideline but it seems it it is required in the online submission form.
• #458: I am an extremely talented minor, I am not yet able to vote in my country, can I join the design competition?
• #461: I wonder, if I could submit my work just as the design, is it possible? I mean can I just send only the sketch, rendering, concept but not the actual product for ward consideration?
• #477: The status says REJECTED for my entry but I have paid for this entry to be nominated. What does that mean when my entry is REJECTED?
• #495: We do not have a Logo, what do we put to the Logo section of the entry? Can we just leave it blank?

If you did not find your answer, please feel free to check the faq pages for more questions and answers. You will also want to check our webpage for details; thanks to our transparency policy, we document and publish everything.