GOOD DESIGN® the oldest
and the most Prestigious Awards Program
The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and Metropolitan Arts Press
Ltd. present the Museum's annual GOOD DESIGN® Awards Program for the most innovati-
ve and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around the world.
The deadline for this year's submission is June 1st, 2023.
Each year, The Chicago Athenaeum presents the GOOD DESIGN® Awards Program for the
most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around
the world.
HISTORY 1950-2023
The GOOD DESIGN® exhibition program began as a sponsorship between The Merchandise
Mart in Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and continues today by
The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
The program called for three shows a year: one during the Chicago winter furniture market
in January, another coinciding with the June summer market, and a November show
based on the previous two exhibitions. Each year, a different prestigious designer was
selected to curate the installation. Charles and Ray designed the 5,300-square-foot
space for the inaugural installation in 1950, followed by Finn Juhl, Paul Rudolph,
and Alexander Girard.
GOOD DESIGN® is the oldest and the most prestigious Awards Program organized worldwide.
Founded in Chicago in 1950 by the former MoMA curator Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.,
together with such pioneers in modern design as Charles and Ray Eames,
Russel Wright, George Nelson, and Eero Saarinen, GOOD DESIGN® honors the yearly
achievements of the best industrial and graphic designers and world manufacturers for
their pursuit of extraordinary design excellence.
For more than seven decades since its inception, The Chicago Athenaeum continues the
organization of the program to create a revived awareness about contemporary design and
to honor both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.
Every year, designers and manufactures in about 50 nations are honored for their singular
achievements in producing hallmarks of contemporary design. For more than 70 years, everything and anything produced in and for the environment from a paperclip to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner or NASA Space Ship have been honored.
The GOOD DESIGN logo was designed by Chicago designer, Mort Goldsholl, in 1950.
The black dot and square-shaped logo is used globally by winning companies to publically
announce that their products and graphic designs have met the most strident and
professional criteria and highest standard for international Design Excellence.
Over the last decades, the Museum has awarded approximately 40,000 GOOD DESIGN Awards for design and innovation, sustainability, creativity, branding, ecologically responsible design, human factors, materials, technology, graphic arts, packaging, and universal design by various industrial design and graphic design firms working for the world’s major manufacturers and Fortune 500 companies in over 50 countries.
CRITERIA
The emphasis of the GOOD DESIGN® program is on quality design of the highest form,
function, and aesthetics a standard beyond ordinary consumer products and graphics.
The Chicago Athenaeum's GOOD DESIGN® program forwards the ideals of a design process
that embodies product excellence and endurance and strong public identity.
Submissions to the program are judged by a jury of distinguished design professionals
and leading industry specialists and design press on criteria established in the original
1950 program for the highest aesthetic in terms of innovative design, new technologies,
form, materials, construction, concept, function, utility, and energy efficiency, and
sensitivity to the environment.
Awarded design firms and manufacturers have the right to enter into a limited legal
licensing agreement to use of the Museum's GOOD DESIGN® logo to mark and identify
the selected product or graphic in their marketing, publications, promotions, and
communication campaigns as a public symbol of product and service quality.
This public seal of approval immediately informs consumers to understand that the
selected product and graphic meets the most rigorous test and criteria for absolute design
excellence.
GOOD DESIGN® is an international symbol of a company's firm commitment to innovation
and superior design embodiment. Materials and products are accessed into the Museum's
Permanent Design Collection and frequently exhibited in the United States and abroad.
OUTCOME
In this year's edition, selected products and graphics for GOOD DESIGN® are announced to
the international press in December. The Awarded products and graphics are accessioned
into the Museum's Permanent Design Collection. Selected designers and manufacturers
are allowed use of the Museum's GOOD DESIGN logo in publications, promotions, and
marketing as specified in the joint legal agreement with The Chicago Athenaeum.
ENTRY FEE
The fee is $375.00 USD per entry. Checks are made payable to Metropolitan Arts Press or
payment by American Express, Master Card, or VISA.
Foreign checks must include a $50.00 USD additional payment for bank processing fees.
For bank wire information contact the Museum at: jennifer@chicagoathenaeum.org
FILLING OUT THE ELECTRONIC FORM
All fields must be filled in. If a field is left blank the form will be rejected.
File upload: When uploading, please Zip all files to a file NO LARGER than 20mb.
Multiple images are required. Images should be 300dpi in a .jpg,.jpeg or .png format.
Descriptions can be added to the zip file and must be in .doc or .pdf format.
Once this has been accepted you will be brought to the payment page option.
Options for payment are American Express/Visa/Mastercard
also Check and Bank Wire Transfer.
Invoicing will be sent with your confirmation of information.
AFTER the closing date which is June 1, 2023.
EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 15th, JUNE 2023
Should you require an invoice earlier, please contact Jennifer Nyholm.
If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact us on +1 815 777 4444
Depending on the speed of your internet connection and the size of your files,
your uploads may or may not complete successfully. If necessary,
you can always mail the application plus photos on a CD and hard copy together
with payment.
Project Descriptions: All project descriptions should be in word document or pdf format. Project Description texts should not be more than 400 words. Project description files should be included in the zip file with images and other material of the application. Pdf or Power Point presentation of the project submited with images and texts will not be accepted.
Notice: If you are trying to upload files larger than 20Mb you will
not be able to upload your zip. or rar. file
All submitted products must have been produced by a
manufacturer or scheduled for production.
FORMAT: PRODUCT DESIGN
Anything produced and/or designed from January 2022 to the present is eligible including:
Electronics, Protective Equipment, Bionics/Robotics, Energy Systems, Office and
Residential Furniture, Housewares, Tabletop, Textiles, Floorcovering, Building Materials,
Lighting, Appliances, Transportation, Consumer and Household Products, Business and
Industrial Equipment, Hardware, Tools, Machinery, Children''s Products, Personal Effects,
Sports and Recreation, Telecommunications, Computer Equipment, Medical Products,
Kitchen and Bath, Environmental Design, Public Environments, Materials.
FORMAT: GRAPHIC DESIGN
Any graphic produced and/or designed from January 2022 to the present is eligible
including: Books, Magazines, Websites, Advertisements, Catalogues, Corporate Identity
Programs, Annual Reports, Handbooks, Posters, Signage, Labels, Packaging, Product
Communication, Typography, Atmosphere, Sales Promotion, and Digital and Media
Interfaces. All submitted graphics must have been produced by a client or scheduled
for production.
Every image should not be more than 6 Mb. You can include jpg./png./tiff. files format.
We suggest your images be at 300dpi (resolution). All condensed on .zip or.rar file.
Maximum allowed file size is 20MB. Depending on the speed of your internet connection
and the size of your files, your uploads may or may not complete successfully.
If necessary, you can always mail the application plus photos on a CD and hard copy
together with payment. Notice: If you are trying to upload files larger than 20Mb you will
not be able to upload your zip. or rar. file along with the description in MS Word or .pdf
reproduced on the same CD. Entries without forms, descriptions, fees and images will
not qualify for review. Graphic design entries should include one actual copy/sample of
the completed entered project.
DEADLINE
All entries must be postmarked no later than June 1, 2023.
EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 15th, JUNE 2023
by 5:00 PM Central
Standard Time.
• Late submissions add $100.00 USD per entry.
• You can apply online or by postal mail (see the links below).
Reason to be a part of the Good Design Awards
It was the first time that an art museum and a wholesale merchandising center joined forces to present "the best new examplesin modern design in home furnishings."
By submiting your work and receiving a Good Design Award you actually prove your design
excellency while becoming a member of a great community of professional designers,
companies and talented people around the world who share the same ideas and dreams
about design. Products awarded with Good Design can easily take an advance place on
the market.
All awarded projects are listed every year at an online platform which receives at least
1 million visits per year. Dissemination of the Good Design word also involves the hosting
of exhibitions and events presenting the awarded projects in different places all over the
world. Finally all the award - winning projects are published in our official Good Design
Yearbook.
- GOOD DESIGN™ is a Registered Trademark of The Chicago Athenaeum
: Museum of Architecture and Design in the US, EU, and UK
- Copyright Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd.©1992-2022
