Design Excellence Awards 2025

DEADLINE EXTENDED - FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29th @ 5:00 PM CST

THE PURPOSE OF THIS DESIGN COMPETITION IS TO RECOGNIZE SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS BY MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERIOR DESIGNERS MINNESOTA CHAPTER. THESE PROJECTS REPRESENT EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN BY SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESSING CLIENT OBJECTIVES WHILE DEMONSTRATING CREATIVITY AND SKILLFUL PROBLEM SOLVING ACROSS VARIOUS CATEGORIES.

Eligibility, Fees, Dates & Requirements

Eligibility: 

• All who enter must be active and in good standing with the ASID Minnesota Chapter at time of submission; No exceptions.

• ASID Professional, Allied, Associate, or Student members or a design team headed by an ASID Professional, Allied, or Associate member are eligible to submit projects. 

• Non ASID members may be listed as "Team Members.”

• Appellations submitted at time of entry will remain. 

• Non-winning projects submitted in a previous year's competition may be re-submitted, provided they fulfill the requirements.

• Each entry must represent a permanent installation, except for model homes/showcase homes. 

• Project must have been completed after January 1, 2022. 

• Multiple entries may be submitted, and the same project may be submitted in no more than (2) categories. In addition, a separate entry form, fee, and different photographs are required for each category.

• Emerging Professionals with proof of graduation on or after January 1, 2015 may check the “Emerging Professional” box on the entry form to be entered in the Emerging Professionals category. This is a separate category that recognizes design excellence for designers in the first 10 years of their careers. 

• If all requirements are not met, the entry will be disqualified. 

 

Grounds for Disqualification:

• Information identifying entrant’s name, design firm, architect or any other collaborating party appears in description, images or on drawings

• Projects that have previously won an ASID MN Design Award

• Incomplete submission of entry – examples: missing appellations, missing or incomplete forms

• Projects that do not meet all necessary requirements

• Any team member is not in good standing with ASID Minnesota Chapter at time of submission

 

Competition Period:

• FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS FRIDAY November 29th 5:00 PM CST. Late entries will NOT be accepted. No exceptions.

• Early registration is from September 16th - October 14th, 4:00 PM CST - reduced entry rate of $125.   

• Standard registration period is from October 14th - November 29th, 5:00 PM CST - entry rate of $150.  

Submission requirements

• Entry Fee Payment

• Permissions Form

• Entry Form

• Project Statement (Required) – 1 Page (12 pt. Font) Provide a brief explanation of the project including client objectives, with emphasis on the design challenges and your solution(s). Include notes on unusual design criteria or restrictions, budgetary considerations, code requirements, space limitations, materials used, etc. Do not include specific project addresses. If Universal or Sustainable boxes were checked, additional descriptions will be required.

• Floor Plan (Required) – May include caption of 25 words or less

• Additional Drawings (Optional) – Submit up to 4 additional drawings if applicable, may include captions of 25 words or less

• Photos (Required)  – Two project photos are required, may include captions of 25 words or less. Images may include people and pets if they are blurred or anonymous. Designers and owners cannot appear in photos. Business names, signage or logos may be included if unavoidable. Do not include specific project addresses.

• Additional Photos (Optional) –Up to an additional 8 photos may be included, may include caption of 25 words or less

• Photo Requirements:

  • Image size: all photographs submitted must be at least 300 dpi

  • Image file size: Maximum of 10MB per image

  • Minimum of (2) project photographs, ideally (1) horizontal and (1) vertical for presentation format purposes. Maximum of 10 project photographs

  • First image uploaded is used as the preferred publicity image. This can be changed at any time within your entry portal.  After November 29th, no changes may be made.

  • Multiple entry projects must use different images in additional categories.

Criteria for Judging ASID MN Chapter Awards: (100 points possible)

Design Intent (20pts total)

• Effective Explanation of Design Criteria and Goals - 5 pts
• Effective Explanation of Challenges - 5 pts
• Quality of and clarity of presentation (easy to understand, complete & concise, proper grammar & spelling) - 5 pts
• Quality and clarity of photographs - 5 pts

Design Execution (50pts total)

• Overall Design meets stated goals and challenges - 10 pts
  • Does design fulfill the project requirements & enhance the human experience
  • Exhibit outstading or unusual use of materials, detail, products, layout, etc.
• Solutions appropriate to the stated design statement - 10 pts
  • Craftsmanship
  • Innovative approach to design criteria
• Creative use of space - 5 pts
• Functional use of space - 10 pts
  • ADA or universal design principles
  • Space plan functional & reflect concept statement
• Principles & Elements of Design - 10 pts
  • Cohesiveness of design elements and principles (proportion, pattern, rhythm, balance)
  • Elements of design successfully used in the design solution (color, texture, line, form or value fitting)
• Effective use of Lighting - 5 pts

Use of Materials and Color (30pts total)

• Color Scheme and composition - 5 pts
• Functional use of materials - 5 pts
• Creative use of materials - 5 pts
• Appropriate and/or innovative for the space - 5 pts
• Appropriately sustainable or environmentally friendly - 5 pts
• FF&E selections used appropriately for the space - 5 pts

Judging: All judging is done anonymously, on a points-based system, by experienced out-of-state ASID Chapter designers, who are in good standing with the ASID organization. A Minimum of 70 points is required to receive an award.

Awards include:

1. First-Place Design Excellence awards, (1) per category
2. Second-Place Design Excellence awards, (1) per category
3. (1) overall "Best in Show-Residential" Design Excellence award based on judges' highest awarded points
4. (1) overall "Best in Show-Commercial" Design Excellence award based on judges' highest awarded points
5. (1) overall "Best in Show-Kitchen & Bath" Design Excellence award based on judges' highest awarded points

Awards Presentation: Winning projects will be announced at the Minnesota ASID Chapter Design Awards Gala April 2025. All participants in the design competition are encouraged to attend and celebrate with their design teams, family and friends, clients, trade partners and contractors.

Award Certificates: Each winning project receives one framed award. Unframed duplicate awards will be available for purchase for $25.00 each, additional framed awards will be available for $125 each. All payment must be made at the time of order. Contact the ASID MN Office with order requests. Deadline to order duplicate awards is June 13, 2025.

Winning Project Board Submission Requirements: All First Place winners will be required to create a presentation board of their winning project to be displayed at IMS for a period of one year. Boards will be due to the ASID office by June 13, 2025. Boards should be exactly 2'-0" x 2'-0" x 3/16" thick unframed on black foam core. Include plans, drawings, before and after photographs as necessary to convey the design solution. You must leave 2-inch clear space margin the full width across the top of your board. Your name and logo should be included on the board within the upper left half of 2" high margin. The ASID MN logo and digital award graphic will be emailed after the gala to be placed in the upper right half of the 2" high margin. Project statements can be modified to address a potential client, rather than a judge.

DETAILED ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS

LOG-IN and PROFILE:

• From this landing page https://asid-mn.cpjam.com/Design-Excellence-Awards-2025 you can log in if you already have an account or create a new account for the awards program. Simply click the "Sign In" button on the top right corner. If you do not have an account, click the "create one" button. This CANNOT be your conventional ASID member login and password, and instead should be either a personal or company email address. 
• Edit your Personal Information including the correct Appellations and Designations. Note: Missing Appellations will result in disqualification.
• Edit your Membership and Affiliations to assign yourself as a member of ASID Minnesota. A direct link to this page can be found here: https://cpjam.com/account

REGISTRATION AND PURCHASING

• From this same landing page https://asid-mn.cpjam.com/Design-Excellence-Awards-2025 you will see the Rules, Regulations and Registration page. Click Register for the Event.
• Select number of entries by Category for purchase, go to checkout. 
• You can come back again and purchase more entries later.
• Each practitioner entering will no longer need to create their own separate log-ins. Be sure to include all names in each entry in the field "Name(s) to be Shown on Awards" for correct titling of awards.

ADDITIONAL TEAM MEMBERS

• If multiple practitioners in your firm are entering individually, they each need their own registration/log-in or incorrect information will be listed in the publications and awards ceremony

ENTRY FORM:

• If the system is not allowing Stripe to take your credit card and you've entered the correct data, please contact the webhost via Contact Us at the bottom right of the page for assistance. 
• You may continue to edit your entries until 4:59 PM CST of the Entry ending date.
• If you purchase the wrong category, the chapter administrator or webhost can make the coding change within your entry form.
• All entry forms must be fully completed, or the entry will not be scored.