This page is to familiarize yourself with the rules of the competition prior to submitting your entry.
Timeline
The design:retail Spectrum Awards Competition (the “Competition”) will open at 9 a.m. EST on Aug. 26, 2019, and will end Nov. 1, 2019, at 5 p.m. EST (the “Entry Deadline”). All entries must be received by the Entry Deadline.
Fees
Competition fee is $175 for each initial entry (project/product). Each project/product must have its own entry form. Additional entries from the same retailer/firm/vendor will have a discounted fee of $125 each. No refunds of entry fees will be issued.
Submission Guidelines
1. This competition is open to submissions from retailers, design firms, branding agencies, architecture firms, service providers, vendors/manufacturers, or anyone else who has had a hand in designing or completing a project or product in one of the eligible subcategories below. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age as of the date of entry. Employees, officers and directors, including members of their immediate families (parent, child, sibling, or spouse of each of the foregoing) and persons living in the same households as such individuals (whether such individuals are related or not) of Emerald Expositions, LLC, 31910 Del Obispo, Suite 200, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 (the "Sponsor") or its affiliates or advertising and promotion agencies, are not eligible to enter. Void where prohibited.
2. Projects/products must have been completed/unveiled to the market between Oct. 1, 2018 and Sept. 30, 2019. Submit a single product, not an entire line of products. Judges reserve the right to reassign projects/products to other categories if necessary.
3. All questions on the entry form must be answered fully to help judges better understand the project/product. Failure to fill in required fields may result in disqualification.
4. Entrants may submit forms for as many different projects/products as they like, in as many categories as they choose; you may submit more than one project/product in the same category (for example: a lighting vendor may submit as many individual products in the Lighting category as they like).
Categories:
* Project
Subcategories:
Specialty Softlines (clothing, jewelry, footwear, accessories, etc.)
Specialty Hardlines (electronics, furniture, home décor, etc.)
Service Retail (financial, salon, spa, etc.)
Grocery/C-Store/Drugstore
Specialty Food/Consumables (candy, wine, cannabis, etc.)
Large Format/Mass Merchant (includes mix of hardlines & softlines)
Department Store
Brand Activation (pop-ups, pop-ins, shop-in-shops, etc.)
Hospitality (hotels, restaurants, etc.)
Hybrid Retail (entertainment, cowork, etc.)
* Product
Subcategories:
Architectural Materials (ceilings, wallcoverings, textiles, surfacing, etc.)
Fixtures
Flooring
Furniture
Lighting
Mannequins/Forms
POP/Signage & Graphics
Props & Décor
Retail Technology
5. Please do not include the firm/vendor’s name in the project/product description.
6. Decisions made by design:retail are final.
7. Professional-quality, high-resolution photography (under 5MB please) must be submitted with each completed entry form. At least one color image of each project/product must be submitted, and up to 15 are permitted. Blueprints and floorplans are encouraged; renderings will not be considered as sole photography. You can upload .JPG .PNG .GIF files only. Each photo must be 300 DPI in resolution, and each image must be under 5 MB. By submitting photography, you are granting design:retail the right to publish it. Any photographer’s fees/usage rights are the responsibility of the submitter. By entering the Competition, entrant represents, acknowledges and warrants that he or she is the sole owner of any submitted photography and possesses full power and authority to enter the photography in the Competition, and that the photography does not infringe any copyright or violate any other intellectual property rights. The entrant agrees to indemnify Sponsor and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any and all third-party claims arising from the entry and use of the photography in connection with the Competition.
Judging Info
Entries will be judged after the contest is officially closed by a panel of industry professionals. The judges reserve the right to make no award.The panel will consist of six judges. In the event of a tie, the editor in chief of design:retail will serve as the tie breaker. Projects/products will be ranked on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best).
Judging Criteria
Judges will be reviewing all entries and looking for standout submissions, with particular emphasis placed on:
Projects
-Excellence in design and/or architecture
-New innovations not seen before
-Not-seen-before experiential concepts or new directions
-Brand integrity and aesthetic
-Forward-thinking concept or layout
-Emphasis will be placed on store interiors, but exterior shots can be included if they add to the overall aesthetic
-Integration of digital in the brick-and-mortar space
-How the design impacts the overall in-store customer experience/journey
Products
-Excellence in product design
-New innovative manufacturing processes
-Sustainability credentials
-Interesting color/materials
-Technical specifications
-Application to the retail field
Winners Announcement
There are no monetary prizes. The winners will be featured in the design:retail March/April 2020 issue in a special Spectrum Awards section and on designretailonline.com once the March/April issue has mailed. Winners authorize Sponsor to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of any photography submitted with the entry in connection with the Competition, in any media now or hereafter known, including but not limited to the design:retail March/April 2020 issue and on designretailonline.com. Winners authorize Sponsor to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the photograph entry in connection with the promotion of the Competition for up to two (2) years.
Entrants agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules and (b) that the decisions of the judges and design:retail are final on all matters relating to the Spectrum Awards.
Limitation of Liability
By participating, entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor and each of its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Competition or any Competition-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.
Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Competition entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Competition.