QUESTION: I am not a car design student but can I still enter?

• ANSWER: Yes you can.

Entries from other design disciplines including fashion, textile, engineering and architecture, are actively encouraged.

QUESTION: When should I register?

• ANSWER: As soon as possible.

Registering early also aids our own planning, allows you to be kept up to date with any new developments and gives you more time to work on your brief.

QUESTION: What are the competition deadlines? When do I need to submit work by?

• ANSWER: Entries will now close at 23:30 on Sunday, 31^st of  January 2021

Whilst you are free to enter the competition at any point between now and then, naturally the sooner you make the commitment to enter, the more time you will have to work on your entry.

We do ask that you register as soon as possible because it is important for our own planning purposes that we know how many students are entering.

QUESTION: What benefits will our School gain from encouraging students to enter the competition?

• ANSWER: There are many benefits for Schools.

We recognise that great talent requires great teaching, and each year we make a special Award to the design school that has had most success nurturing student development.

The award winners’ school will receive a one-year membership to Car Design News – which can be used by all teaching staff and students.

The names of the winning schools will all be published in the post awards press releases and featured on the cardesignnews.com website, which attracts 60,000 visitors.

The winning school’s names will appear within the China School League Table, which measures the success of China’s design schools in both attracting the best talent and in delivering effective tutoring.

Each winning school will receive an official ‘logo’ acknowledging that their students were winners of the Car Design China Awards 2020.

Many of the winning students go on to receive work placements and jobs as a direct result of the awards. Hear the stories from some previous winners.

QUESTION: Can our School be guaranteed a shortlisted or winning entry?

• ANSWER: No, because the Car Design News China Awards are a 100% fair competition.

The judging process is totally unbiased. All of the entries remain anonymous throughout judging with none of the panel knowing who the design students are or from which school and this remains the case until the very end of the process when the winning entries have been chosen.

This is why we instruct that students MUST NOT sign their work or identify themselves, or their school or college, anywhere within their entry. Such identification will lead to disqualification.

Our judges who are the top car designers in the world and will be able to identify the talented work through the designs alone and this is what makes Car Design Awards China the most authoritative design contest in China.

QUESTION: Do my award entry designs become the intellectual property of the organisers or sponsors?

• ANSWER: No, the intellectual property of your work remains yours.

We believe your work should remain exclusively yours and always be accredited to you. Therefore, all submissions remain the intellectual property of the entrants at all times.

By offering the assurance that entrants retain the intellectual property of their work; we hope you will be able to exercise your full range of design talents and creative flair.

QUESTION: Can I enter more than one brief?

• ANSWER: Unfortunately not.

Each entry must be based on one design brief only, which allows you to focus on creating your best work.

QUESTION: Is it better to enter as a group or individual?

• ANSWER: There are no benefits and whether you enter as an individual or part of a group is entirely up to you.

The judging process is completely anonymous and the judging panel will not know whether the entry is individual or group.

The only difference between an individual and group entry is that the prizes will be divided equally between your group.

QUESTION: If I am part of a group, can I also register an entry as an individual?

• ANSWER: Unfortunately not.

If you have registered as part of a group, you are unable to then register as an individual or as part of another group.

QUESTION: I am a Chinese national but studying outside China so can I still enter?

• ANSWER: Unfortunately not.

Car Design Awards China is only open to students who are citizens of, and enrolled in a college or university-level programme (either undergraduate or graduate) in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Individuals not enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree course at a college or university located in these countries are not eligible.

QUESTION: What are the main benefits of entering the awards?

• ANSWER: If you really want a career in design and car design specifically, then there are many benefits.

The greatest benefit is that it could be the first step on your path to being an established car designer. Many of the previous winners have gone on to win work placements and even jobs at leading automotive design studios – a prize that money simply cannot buy.

But by entering the awards and making it through to the shortlist stage, you can be proud of the fact that your work will be seen and judged by a panel of the world’s leading car designers.

If your work alone is good enough to be selected as one of the finalists, you will:

• Have your work displayed at the prestigious Car Design China Awards Ceremony, which takes place in Shanghai in April (subject to the pandemic travel restrictions)
• Receive a certificate acknowledging you as a Car Design News China Awards finalist
• Be invited to attend the Car Design Awards Ceremony (with a guest), where you will get to meet design directors from many of the leading car makers and design studios based in China and worldwide. We encourage all attending students to bring business cards and some students even bring their design portfolios to show as well. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase your work and talents to an engaged audience of future employers.

If you should then go on to win one of the categories, alongside the benefits referenced above, you will also receive:

• $500 (per team) 
• A certificate acknowledging you as a Car Design News China Awards winner
• The award winners’ school will receive a one-year membership to Car Design News – which can be used by all teaching staff and students.