2012 Student Design Challenge

We’re in a time of upheaval over how we stay informed.

People follow breaking news via Twitter. Tablets, mobile phones, paywalls, RSS feeds, viral videos and other elements have found their way into the current news landscape. The experience has swollen far beyond the icons of the daily newspaper on your doorstep and the 6 o’clock newscast.

We know that people are consuming news differently, and these emerging practices are changing the news.

What is the future of the news?

What do we even mean by “the news” anyway?

Thomson Reuters

Design the Future of News

This year, Thomson Reuters and the IxDA challenge you to look beyond the forms of delivery to address the behaviors, interactions, and goals that surround news.

We want you to explore the interaction design implications of questions such as:

  • What are people trying to achieve with news?
  • How do we identify that a particular story is important or relevant?
  • What is the relationship between the different types of information that currently make up “news”? (e.g., entertainment, local, breaking news, weather, data, etc.)
  • What is the potential for emerging trends in how news is produced, from hyperlocal to citizen journalism?

The challenge runs in two stages: an online entry (see how to enter below) followed by an on-site masterclass and design challenge

Molly Malone Statue. Dublin
“Real vision is the ability to see the invisible.”– Jonathan Swift

How it Works

How to Enter

This challenge is open to current undergraduate or graduate students, or those who have graduated in 2011.

To participate in this challenge, create a short (short!) video. Tell us about yourself and how you respond to this year’s theme: Design the Future of News. Help us understand:

  • What is your background as a designer?
  • What is your perspective on this theme? how might design create the change you’d like to see in the world?
  • Why do you want to come to Dublin and continue working on the future of news?

You might think of this as more of an audition. The judges will be looking for interaction design ability and how you communicate your thinking on the theme, rather than examining any design work you’ve done to create solutions around the theme.

Once you’ve created your video, upload it to YouTube or Vimeo or the like. Once you’ve got a URL for your video, click the big green button below to submit your information.

Good Luck!

Prizes

Our panel of judges will award the most promising candidates a scholarship to attend Interaction12 in Dublin, including:

  • Travel to Dublin
  • Accommodation in Dublin
  • Complimentary student registration at the conference

At the conference, these finalists will take part in an exciting, dynamic masterclass to address these design challenges and compete for these additional prizes:

Grand Prize

  • Paid internship with Thomson Reuters design team in London
  • $75 gift certificate from Blurb
  • A one-year mentorship from any and all of the Rosenfeld Media authors
  • $100 gift certificate from Core77′s Hand Eye Supply store
  • Silverback license, courtesy of Clearleft
  • Yahoo! schwag
  • Signed copy on The Magic of Design by Jon Kolko

1st Runner-Up

2nd Runner-Up

  • Adobe CS Design Premium
  • $30 gift certificate from Blurb
  • $100 gift certificate from Core77′s Hand Eye Supply store
  • Silverback license, courtesy of Clearleft
  • Yahoo! schwag
  • Signed copy on The Magic of Design by Jon Kolko

Honourable Mention

  • $30 gift certificate from Blurb
  • $100 gift certificate from Core77′s Hand Eye Supply store
  • Silverback license, courtesy of Clearleft
  • Yahoo! schwag
  • Signed copy on The Magic of Design by Jon Kolko

Judges

Announcing our on-site challenge jury

We’ve got an amazing bunch of folks who will be reviewing the student pitches at the conference in Dublin!

Challenge Co-Chairs

Steve Portigal, Principal, Portigal Consulting

Jeremy Yuille, Senior Lecturer, Communication Design, RMIT University

Contact the Co-Chairs:

Email: student-challenge [at] ixda.org
Twitter: @ixdasdc

Finalists Announced

Whew! Our wonderful judges have sifted through the 56 entries! We heard from a number of judges how impressed they were overall with the quality of the entries and the creativity and passion that the group overall had to offer. Of course, this makes the selection process a difficult one. We’ve thought to ourselves “Well, what if we could take them ALL!!!” but of course, we can’t.

We managed to find four wonderful and inspiring entries among all the bounty of goodness we received from around the world. Look after the jump for their entries, and our winners are (in no particular order)

Head on over to the design challenge blog to see these winning entries, and stay tuned to hear about our on-site competition, mentors and jury in the next week!

Timeline

  • November 5 – Launch – Entries open
  • Extended to December 9 – Entries close
  • December 20 – Finalists announced
  • January 31 & February 2 – Onsite masterclass at IADT
  • Febrary 2 & 3 – Presentation of designs and awards at the conference

Interaction12: February 1st to 4th 2012:Dublin, Ireland, Europe