After a year's pause in 2023, our four Design Community (DC) design competitions are back for 2024!

We are happy to announce that Austin's Design Excellence Awards, Dallas' Design Ovation Awards, Fort Worth's Shining Star Awards, and San Antonio's Pinnacle of Design Awards will take place in 2024.

 

GREAT NEWS

Designers & Students, just as you were able to do in 2022, when you enter your projects in your local DC competition, you will easily be able to indicate whether you want to "save" specific or all entries to subsequently enter into the chapter's Celebrating Design Texas Awards competition. In this way, you don't have to take the time to re-upload your entries!

Furthermore, due to feedback, we have extended the submission period for each of the DC competitions, expanding each one to a minimum of six (6) weeks, two (2) additional weeks than the usual month. IMPORTANT: This means there will be NO submission period extensions for any competition. The deadline is the deadline with no exceptions.

 

CATEGORIES

Because of the convenient synchronicity between the DC competitions and the chapter competition, the categories are the same throughout all competitions. Due to feedback from members, we have made the following exciting updates to the categories:

• In the Residential categories, replaced the various Traditional/Transitional vs. Contemporary/Modern categories with New Construction vs. Remodel.
• Created two categories exclusively for Emerging Professionals – i.e., those individuals who have earned their Interior Design degree within the last 5 years and are currently practicing interior design. (Note that Emerging Professionals are also free to enter the other Designer categories.)
• Designated three categories that apply to either Commercial or Residential: Outdoor Living, Adaptive Reuse/Historic Preservation/Sustainable Design, and Reclaimed Material/Renewed Item.

» VIEW THE 2024 COMPETITION CATEGORIES «

 

ELIGIBILITY

For all of the design competitions…

• Each project entered must have been completed after January 1, 2019.
• If a project has ever been a winner in the specific competition that you are entering, then it cannot be resubmitted. A winner includes all categories, either 1st or 2nd Place or Honorable Mention.
• If a project has been submitted previously into the specific competition that you are entering and not won in ANY category, then it can be resubmitted.
• If a project has won other awards through design contests such as SubZero-Wolf, NKBA, NARI, etc. it can be submitted, as long as it meets the above requirements.

 

ENTRY FEES

Each competition will have the same entry fee structure that incorporates a lower Early Bird price:

• Designer Categories [32]
  • early bird: $75 per entry
  • regular $100 per entry
• Emerging Professional Categories [2]
  • early bird: $35 per entry
  • regular: $50 per entry
• Student Categories [2]
  • early bird: $15 per entry
  • regular: $25 per entry

IMPORTANT: The addition of the Early Bird price means there will be NO refunds for incomplete entries as there have been in the past. Therefore, only purchase entries for projects for which you intend to complete the submission process.

 

COMPETITION SCHEDULES

The following information details the schedules for all five design competitions. Note that they are listed in chronological order by competition start date.

Dallas Design Community’s Design Ovation Awards

• Jan 15 (Mon) @ 8AM – competition opens
• Feb 5 (Mon) @ 8AM – early bird pricing ends (3 wks)
• Mar 1 (Fri) @ 5PM – competition closes (total of 6 wks)
• May 9 or 16 (Thu) – winners announced

Austin Design Community’s Design Excellence Awards

• Feb 1 (Thu) @ 8AM – competition opens
• Feb 22 (Thu) @ 8AM – early bird pricing ends (3 wks)
• Apr 1 (Mon) @ 5PM – competition closes (total of 8 wks)
• Aug (date TBA) – winners announced

San Antonio Design Community’s Pinnacle of Design Awards

• Feb 15 (Thu) @ 8AM – competition opens
• Mar 7 (Thu) @ 8AM – early bird pricing ends (3 wks)
• Apr 1 (Mon) @ 5PM – competition closes (total of 6 wks)
• Jun (date TBA) – winners announced

Fort Worth Design Community’s Shining Star Awards [also open to West Texas Design Community members, as well as non-members from the greater Fort Worth and West Texas areas]
[Co-presented by Fort Worth Magazine]

• Mar 1 (Fri) @ 8AM – competition opens
• Mar 29 (Fri) @ 8AM – early bird pricing ends (4 wks)
• Apr 26 (Fri) @ 5PM – competition closes (total of 8 wks)
• Oct 17 (Thu) – winners announced

Chapter Celebrating Design Texas Awards

• May 1 (Wed) @ 8AM – competition opens
• May 15 (Wed) @ 8AM – early bird pricing ends (2 wks)
• May 31 (Fri) @ 5PM – competition closes (total of 4 wks)
• Jul 19 (Fri) – winners announced

 

QUESTIONS?

Contact Chapter I.T. Chair Laura McDonald Stewart, FASID.