Hasta La Ideas

We’re excited to announce that Sappi Fine Paper has extended the deadline for their 2009 Ideas that Matter competition to July 31st. In case you are first hearing about this phenomenal grant program now, here’s a bit more information:

Since 1999, Sappi’s Ideas that Matter program has awarded $9 million worldwide in grants to support causes that range from youth centers and health care awareness to wildlife protection and sustainability. Individual designers, design firms, agencies, in-house corporate design departments, design instructors, individual design students and design student groups, who are performing pro bono work for a nonprofit organization can apply for an Ideas that Matter grant. Grant awards range from $5,000 to $50,000 per project and may be used to cover implementation and out-of-pocket costs. This year’s Ideas that Matter winners will be announced this fall.

For more information or to submit an entry, visit the competition website here.

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We wanted to make sure you didn’t miss the call for submissions from The Good Design Book, to be published in Spring of 2010 by HOW Design books. We love the idea of an open call for entries, giving everyone a chance to have compelling and relevant work published.

They are looking for work in the following six sections: teaching, seeking, organizing, supporting, reacting, and celebrating. For more information on what they are looking for and how to submit, head to their site. The deadline is August 1st, so submit soon!

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If you’ve got a good imagination and great sketching skills, here’s a fun way to win a free Wacom tablet: Design the winning entry in ID Sketching’s 72-Hour Survival Kit Design Sketching Competition.

Scenario – Imagine being stranded after a major disaster in a major city. Most of the city’s power is out, the water is undrinkable and food is scarce. As we’ve learned in the last few years from many a sad sad experience, most people just aren’t prepared for conditions following a natural or otherwise major disaster. What would you take with you? What would be the ultimate 72 hour survival kit?

Challenge – Design a backpack or other portable soft-goods product that could be used to carry equipment in an emergency situation, store a 72-hour supply of food and water and a few other survival tools as well. Think of the needs of an individual stranded or isolated in a disaster situation and come up with a unique and interesting concept that is visually compelling and functionally exciting.

First prize gets a spanking Intuous 4 drawing tablet. Second and third prize ain’t too shabby either–free copies of Alias Sketchbook Pro 2010. Enter here!

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Need business cards for your fledging design firm or corporation of one? OvernightPrints.com is having a design contest whereby the winner gets a lifetime supply of free business cards–all you’ve got to do is design a winning card for one Jeremy Schoemaker, the man behind marketing blog ShoeMoney.com.

Pretty low barrier to entry, if you ask us. But hurry, there’s just a little over a week left!

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Where the heck’s that little “English” button? Sigh….

While most design competitions take pride in drawing entrants from around the world, the city of Montreal is moving in the other direction. Their recently announced design comp to create “mobile urban furniture” (for street fairs and festivals) is described only in French, on a flash-based website that stymies Google Translator; furthermore, a press release states that “Only those candidates who have picked up the [registration] documents at the Design Montreal office will be considered.”

Anyways, if you’re Quebecois and/or a French-speaker that lives close enough to pop over to the Design Montreal office…send us some English-language updates!

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