Competition Information & Application

MICHIGAN DESIGN PRIZE 2024 CHALLENGE:
Design a physical product that improves access and mobility for visitors of all types to any of Michigan’s 5 National Parks. Concepts should help users explore the National Parks in fun, safe, and exciting new ways that look at any of the challenges that exist for visitors of these parks. Examples of these challenges are, but not limited to, transportation or vehicle access to destinations in the parks, walking or hiking, access for visitors with disabilities, personal mobility vehicles, charging access for EV vehicles of all sizes, mobility across unique terrain or weather challenges, interaction with animals and nature, sightseeing, recreational activities like camping or cross country skiing, etc.

This topic is inspired by the partnership between the State of Michigan and the National Park Service to collaborate on implementing safe and innovative technologies to increase accessibility and equity in Michigan’s National Parks. More information about this program can be found here.

Competition Information & Application

Submission Deadline: March 22, 2024

Students may create any type of product that improves mobility for visitors to the National Parks. Eco-friendly or sustainable solutions are not required but encouraged. Entries need to have a physical product as the core idea. App only solutions will not be accepted, but an app can be a supporting part of the user experience as long as it is connected to the physical product solution.

Students determine the level of “finish” of their conceptual entry. A prototype is not required for submission. Two-dimensional visualization, images of prototypes, or a combination are acceptable and encouraged.

Focus on the quality of the solution versus the process of the development. Telling the story of how students create their solution is important, but the final idea is more important than the documentation of the steps taken to arrive at it.

Both function and beauty are critical aspects of great industrial design solutions.

Individual and Team Entries are Allowed. Maximum team size is 4 students. Include the primary contact name who is responsible for coordinating the team should they be chosen as a state finalist, and the names of each team member.

All entry descriptions must be in English. For your description, we recommend a clear and concise description of your designs merits, and applicability to the Michigan Design Prize challenge. The Michigan Design Council reserves the right to edit these descriptions for publication of selected finalists for clarity and/or reasonable standards of good taste.

Entrants may also submit a video to support their written description that verbally answers the required questions to help explain their concept (see Upload tab at the bottom of the entry form).

Competition Application Form K-5

Competition Application Form 6-12

The Michigan Design Prize is an annual competition celebrating and developing exceptional Michigan industrial design talent.

K- 12 grade students from across the state are invited to tackle a singular design challenge linked to Michigan and larger societal issues as actual designers solving an authentic problem.

● Finalists are offered a one-on-one mentoring session with a professionally trained industrial designer to rapidly advance their design thinking and visual communication skills. Finalists will be recognized for their design excellence in Michigan Design Council promotional media, awards ceremonies, and through the MDC website.

● Educators can develop their students’ capacity to enthusiastically embrace challenges they have never encountered before, asking “What can I do to solve this problem?” and live up to their potential as effective problem posers and solvers.

● Schools can build exciting connections between their school community and industry professionals driving our creative economy forward.

K – 12 grade students are invited to participate.

K-12 entries are judged in the following categories: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12.

The competition is administered and judged by the members of the Michigan Design Council.

To support your efforts to strengthen the creative capacity of your students and engage them in thinking like designers, we have addressed some FAQ’s (PDF).

We have also provided information about the design process (PDF) that we hope will be helpful to your planning and instruction.

Wholemindesign offers one day professional development for K – Collegiate educators who wish to learn more about the design process and how to meaningfully engage students in the challenge.