Recognising Design that Makes a Strategic Difference.

"Design effectiveness is one of the best-kept commercial secrets. Too few organizations know the true value of effective design, and the facts and figures are not often revealed. Effective design is design that makes a difference. It embraces the performance of organizations, and adds value to the products and services they provide for customers. It gives competitive edge. It creates wealth and prosperity, and improves the quality of life," says John Sorrell.

Measuring Excellence

The Design Effectiveness category of the AGDA National Awards recognises that at the end of the day, good design is good business. Aesthetic sensibilities are inevitably subjective; effecting change isn't. It's measurable and it's very real. This is a great opportunity to help show the world that design isn't simply about the way things look; it's all about making a difference. Entered jointly by designers and their clients, the Design Effectiveness Awards reward outstanding examples of commercially successful design. They will be judged by senior people from both sides of the industry and from a broad range of sectors in which Design operates.

Winning an Award will be proof that design can deliver great value to a business. Winning an Award will identify designers and managers capable of the greatest returns. And finally, winning an Award will not only help raise the profile of design, it will also help reinforce the client's and the designer's unified commitment to Design as a strategic tool for success.

Design Efectiveness Categories

Any design project may be entered into this category. This includes the re-design of a previous project. Only joint entries will be accepted from client companies, either in partnership with their own design teams or design consultancies. Non-AGDA members will be required to pay higher entry fees, or alternatively, may wish to take advantage of the Awards Call For Entries special offer.

Categories for Design Effectiveness include:

• Corporate identity
• Brand identity
• Publications
• Digital media
• Packaging
• Environmental design
• Promotion to the creative industry
• Miscellaneous (commissioned)
• Design management
• Design for good

All entries must be completed between the 26 of June 2004 and the 23 of June 2006.

Judging Criteria

The judges will be looking for evidence that:

The targets set in the original brief and the results were demonstrably achieved.

There is proof beyond reasonable doubt of a cause and effect between the design solution and the results.

The project's success is linked to a measured fact rather than an assumption.

The effect of design must be isolated by also evaluating the effect of other influencing factors [e.g. advertising campaigns, direct marketing etc]. It is not enough to state that sales went up by X percent after the introduction of a new design. The judges are not looking for an in-depth analysis of why a particular design solution was chosen but what results were achieved and the significance of these results in the relevant commercial context or in the overall context of the business itself.

Entry Submissions

Entry Submissions should include (but not limited to) the following topics:

• Executive summary
• Project overview
• Background description
• Overview of market
• Outline of project brief
• Project launch date
• Size of design
• Research resources
• Summary of results e.g. increase in sales, improvements in staff morale, staff turnover, reductions in manufacturing costs, increases in market distribution, increase in market value, increases in market share, increase in footfall, change in spending patterns of target market, changes in perception, changes in staff behaviour, improvements in consumer attitudes or behaviour, improved conversion rates, improved recruitment.

Check out the Design Effectiveness category and 18 other Design categories in the AGDA National Biennial Awards Call for Entries: 2006 Call for entries FAQs

Enter your work and celebrate with your clients and your peers at the AGDA Awards Gala Presentation Dinner, 28th October, Canberra ACT