AIGA BoNE Show 2011 | Wicked Problems. Wicked Solutions.

The Competition

Wicked Problems. We’re not talking about witches or nor’easters: we’re talking about design. What is a wicked problem? Design is a wicked problem. It’s complex and ill-defined. It changes as you work on it; it evolves into new problems. There are no right and wrong answers in design—there are only better solutions.

How do you solve a wicked problem? Look at it from every angle. Explore it like a maze. Experiment. Stay open to possibilities and allow the problem to unfold. Be smart, creative, innovative, and adaptable. If you’re any good, you’ll find those “better solutions.”

If you’re among the Best of New England, you’ll create wicked solutions. The AIGA BoNE Show 2011 recognizes the best of New England’s wicked problem solvers. Are you one?

AIGA BoNE Show

The AIGA Best of New England (BoNE) Show is a biennial design competition and celebration of New England design.

Win this prestigious, nationally recognized competition, and your work will be published in print and online, and displayed in a traveling exhibition. You will receive recognition and a coveted bone award at the BoNE Show ceremony to be held in Boston, June 9, 2011.

Eligibility

The BoNE Show competition is open to all design professionals, educators, and students currently practicing in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. AIGA membership is not required to enter.

Any design project, including self promotion and experimental work, published between January 31, 2009 and January 31, 2011 is eligible for entry.

How to Enter

1. Prepare required information and gather your project materials.
2. Complete an entry form and pay online.
3. Print your completed entry form and payment confirmation, place in a #10 envelope, and include these with your securely packaged entry.

Mail to:
AIGA Boston
attn: AIGA BoNE Show
75 Concord Avenue
Lexington, MA 02421

Deadline

Entries must be postmarked by February 4, 2011 at 11:59 pm.

Late Entries An additional $20 will be assessed for each entry received after the deadline of February 4, until the late deadline of February 11, 2011, postmarked by 11:59 pm.

Entry Types

Single Entry A single, stand-alone piece.

Campaign Entry A series of conceptually related pieces, judged as a group.

Student Entry May be in any format. Must have been completed while enrolled as a full-time undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited institution during the eligible time period. Include proof of student status with your entry, and indicate undergraduate or graduate level.

Entry Costs

AIGA members enjoy reduced entry costs. Join today!

Single Entry
AIGA members $50
Nonmembers $80

Campaign Entry
AIGA members $70
Nonmembers $100

Student Entry
AIGA student members $10
Student nonmembers $30

Entry Statement

We require written descriptions of your entry’s design problem and design solution. We encourage you to interpret “problem” and “solution” creatively when describing your project. Make no reference to designer or design firm by name in your statement.

Design Problem (100–200 words)
What was the problem? All design is a response to a need or challenge and designers tackle the range of these problems every day, from the mundane to the wickedly wicked. Every type of design problem is welcome. Alternately, you may describe the design brief, your work parameters, or your inspiration for starting the project.

Design Solution (100–200 words)
There is never a right answer in design—but what makes your solution a BoNE-worthy success? Did it create exceptional value for your client? Did it raise awareness or promote a cause? Was it innovative in its use of sustainable materials? Alternately, you may describe your design process or justification for your design solution.

Entry Preparation

Format Submit entries in their actual published forms whenever possible. No proofs or unfinished work will be accepted. Large-scale, dimensional, or otherwise unwieldy work may be submitted as unmounted prints. Do not include your name or personal logomark on prints. Transparencies, slides, and mounted work will not be accepted.

Format Type BoNE Show entries are not evaluated within categories. The specific requirements by entry type listed below are meant to assist in preparing your entries and do not represent the full range of design work accepted for consideration. If you would like to submit a project of a type not described, please base your entry method on the type that most closely describes it.

View specific entry requirements

Print Includes annual reports, catalogues, and editorial publications. On your entry form, please indicate what is to be judged (for example, “the publication’s cover”). If specific spreads are to be judged, please separate these from the publication. One cover, one publication, one set of spreads, etc. are considered Single Entries. Up to three (3) issues of one publication may be submitted as a Campaign Entry.

Books On your entry form, please indicate what is to be judged (for example, “the book interior”). One (1) book is a Single Entry. Up to six (6) books may be submitted as a Campaign Entry if books are clearly part of a series.

Corporate Branding A stationery system is considered a Single Entry and may include up to four (4) related pieces (for example, a letterhead, envelope, business card, and label). A Campaign Entry may include up to eight (8) pieces from one campaign. Logotypes / marks should be placed in the center of an 8.5" x 11" unmounted sheet. Text with the client’s name and nature of business should be included at bottom of sheet.

Typefaces A font family is considered a Single Entry. This may be submitted as a printed promotional piece or as up to three (3) unmounted sheets, maximum size of 11" x 17".

Environmental Graphics Includes wayfinding, outdoor advertising, and exhibitions. The environment must have been built and on display during the eligibility period. Environmental graphics may be considered a Single Entry if the full intent of the project can be conveyed in up to three (3) 8.5" x 11" unmounted photos. Campaign Entries may include up to eight (8) 8.5" x 11" conceptually related pieces.

Packaging Up to three (3) pieces may be submitted as a Single Entry, but they must all be related to a single object. A Campaign Entry may include up to eight (8) pieces related to a line of packaging.

Website Indicate the website URL on the entry form. You may submit an additional three to five (3–5) screenshots as 8.5" x 11" unmounted prints.

Interaction/Motion Graphics Indicate the website URL on the entry form or submit a single Mac- or PC-based CD or DVD. All entries submitted on disc should be self-running without further installation or software requirements, and run no longer than three (3) minutes. You may submit an additional three to five (3–5) screenshots as 8.5" x 11" unmounted prints.

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Additional Information

Entry Selection If your entry is selected for inclusion in the AIGA BoNE Show you will be notified and asked to provide full creative credits.

Entry Return Student Entries not selected will be returned after judging if a postage-paid, self-addressed, return envelope is included with entry submission.
No other entries will be returned.

Please allow adequate time for delivery of your entry. No entries will be accepted after the late deadline. Personal delivery of entries is not allowed; entries must be mailed or sent through courier service. AIGA Boston is not responsible for entries damaged or lost in the mail or received after the late deadline. AIGA Boston is unable to acknowledge or confirm receipt of entries; we recommend that you track your entry package through your mail carrier.

The BoNE Show committee and judges reserve the right to disqualify, without notice or refund, any entry that does not meet any criteria described herein.

Questions? Send us an email

Download the BoNE Show Poster!

Judges

The "Meet the Judges" event was held on February 25, 2011. See photos here!

The BoNE Show is judged by leading design professionals from outside New England. The 2011 jury is:

Jon Kolko

Jon Kolko is a Principal Designer at frog design, and the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design, an educational institution in Texas. Kolko has worked extensively in the professional world of interaction design to solve the problems of Fortune 500 clients. His work has extended into consumer electronics, mobile, web, supply chain management, demand planning, and customer-relationship management to create solutions that are useful, usable, and desirable. Prior to working at frog, Kolko was a Professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Interaction Design Association, and is the Editor-in-Chief of interactions magazine. He is the author of the books Thoughts on Interaction Design and Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis.
www.jonkolko.com

Bobby C. Martin, Jr.

Bobby Martin is a founding partner of The Original Champions of Design, a branding and design agency based in New York City. Martin most recently worked as Senior Design Manager of Visual Communications at Nokia Design in London, where he oversaw communication and identity design across their global packaging range. Prior to Nokia, he was Design Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and he worked at Ogilvy & Mather’s Brand Innovation Group. Martin has been featured in Fast Company’s Masters of Design 2010 and his work has won awards from the Art Director’s Club, AIGA 365, Graphis, and Print, as well as a Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant for his work for the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem, New York. Martin has spoken about design at numerous national conferences, served on the board of directors of AIGA/NY, and taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
www.originalchampionsofdesign.com

Ann Willoughby

Ann Willoughby is the President and Creative Director of Willoughby Design Group, a brand innovation and identity design firm in Kansas City, Missouri. She brings her design expertise to companies on the forefront of educational, business, and cultural innovation. Willoughby was named one of the Top 20 international identity designers in the book Masters of Design: A Collection of the Most Inspiring Logo Designers in the World. Ever active with AIGA, Willoughby served on the national board of directors and was named Kansas City’s first national AIGA Fellow in 2006. An international speaker, design judge, teacher, and writer, she helped launch both the pilot AIGA design leadership program at Harvard University and the Aspen Design Summit. As a charter member of the Designer’s Accord and a founding board member of the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design, she has become an acknowledged expert in sustainable design and business innovation.
www.willoughbydesign.com

The Show

The AIGA BoNE Show awards ceremony and exhibition opening was held in Boston on June 9, 2011 at Boston University's 808 Gallery. The New England design community gathered for the biggest event of the year, which included a silent auction, photo booth, configurable tangram benches, music, and refreshments.

After its run in Boston, the BoNE Show exhibition will travel around New England as BoNE on the Road. Future dates and locations will be posted here.

Winners

Winning entries from the 2011 show were announced at the BoNE Show awards ceremony and exhibition opening, and will be posted online soon.
See the winners from BoNE Show 2009 here.