What does it take to be a top entrant in the Cormack Innovation Awards?

Damien Azzopardi of the University of Technology, Sydney - Winner of the 2008 Awards shares his top tips for designing a successful entry.

• Planning is Key
  Make sure you are on top of the project from day 1. Draw up a project plan that is achievable and stick to it, think about your other commitments and prioritise time specifically for the Awards entry. Be realistic about the time involved at each of the design phases- concept generation can take over a month alone in project development.
  For Damien he realized early on the significance of the opportunity that winning the Awards meant for him as a young designer, and he placed strong prioritization on designing his entry.
• Take Time to Develop a Winning Idea
  Inspiration and ideas can come from a number of sources- everyday life is full of needs waiting to be met. Your idea will be the foundation that supports your design development so ensure it is strong before proceeding. Damien took time to establish confidence in his idea and it’s ability to convey considerable potential to the judges before proceeding, focusing most importantly on the quality of the content. Ask family and friends their opinion, search out supermarkets and other consumer rich environments, Google and web based search engines are a gateway to an unlimited amount of idea generation sources. The Cormack Innovation Awards website is also a great way to explore previous winning designs and gain some inspiration for what it takes- www.cormackia.com.au.
• Aesthetics Play an Important Role
  Once you have a solid idea foundation, just like building any house you need to consider the aesthetics of the final structure. As a winning entry Damien focused on clean, consistent layouts with minimal text on his display boards. It is important that your design message is clearly conveyed and ask yourself- What do I want to emphasize about this idea? What are the key design elements that I need to convey? Is this presentation the most efficient and visually appealing that I can produce? Would I be 100% happy to present this to a customer as a commercial proposition?
• Don’t Cut Corners
  Resist the urge to cut corners in producing your final design. This competition is about creating a product that fits a need with a realistic opportunity at being commercially viable. Dedicate a sufficient amount of time to “ironing” out issues in the design. Ask peers and tutors for their opinion on the progress of your design and utilize the second briefing session with Cormack’s Design and Engineering specialists to refine the idea as much as possible. Damien experienced this first hand when his initial idea was discovered to have a flaw that would prevent it from being a commercially viable option. By accepting this upfront he was able to regroup and determine a new idea that eventually led to his winning dispensing unit.
• Tick All the Boxes
  Damien puts his success in 2008 down to the ability to check off all the boxes in the judging criteria before submitting his design. Each year the organizers of the Cormack Innovation Awards put significant time and effort into determining a brief and judging criteria. The brief is a combination of current event topics, industry need identification, and innovative design developments. Judging criteria is established as a checklist in interpreting what the judges are seeking from the brief to identify top entrants. Judges use these criteria to mark all entries and so they become a valuable tool in refining the final elements of your entry.

The Cormack Innovation Awards 2009 will officially launch on Monday 16th of March 2009.