Call for Submissions: Chicago Clean Air Design Challenge

Chicago-based design organization, Design Makes Change , is sponsoring a regional design competition with one goal in mind: clean air. The Air We Breathe; The Chicago Clean Air Design Challenge is open to designers in graphic design, architecture, interior architecture, product design, and public space design. The goal of the contest is to provide a platform for designers to come to the table with innovative and creative proposals to raise awareness about air quality issues and help contribute to a solution. One of their main objectives is to encourage research and community partnership in the design process. Focusing on clean air in two of Chicago’s most affected neighborhoods — Pilsen and Little Village. Poor air quality is an issue that affects all Chicagoans. However, residents of Pilsen and Little Village live below two coal powered plants that regularly emit lead and other toxins into the air. High rates of asthma and other air-quality illnesses are pressing concerns for the residents of these neighborhoods and for much of Chicago. This is the critical environmental concern of the moment in your city and you are a designer. What will you do about it? Deadline for submissions until April 18th 2011. The best selections will be part of a group exhibition and symposium scheduled for May/June in the Chicago Arts District. Download the application or get more information about the competition here ! (more…)

Competition: Dremel your way to $2,500 Grand Prize

Virtual vs. Physical: Those of you in ID school may have a choice between focusing on getting your computer rendering skills up to snuff, or dumping countless shop hours into Dremel mastery to make kick-ass models you can actually touch. For those of you handy with the latter, Dremel’s holding a competition called the 30 Minute Miracles Contest. They’re looking for “the most clever, useful and fun DIY project around” that can be done with their namesake tool, and the winner gets $2,500 in AmEx gift certificates. Deadline’s December 31st; click here for deets. (more…)