Dezeen Magazine

Dezeen and Samsung launch €29,500 competition to design TV Ambient Mode

Dezeen promotion: Dezeen and Samsung Electronics are launching a design competition to create graphics for the Ambient Mode feature on the brand's QLED TV, with total prize money of €29,500.

Entries will be judged by graphic designer Neville Brody, industrial designer Erwan Bouroullec plus Dontae Lee, head of the design centre at Samsung Electronics, and Dezeen's editorial director Amy Frearson.

The idea behind Samsung's Ambient Mode is that it does away with the black screen that dominates a room when a television is not in use.

Ambient Mode makes the TV disappear

Instead, it makes the screen look almost transparent by mimicking the appearance of the wall behind it, and enhances the environment with additional imagery and information if desired.

The Dezeen x Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition invites entrants to create a new Ambient Mode experience for the QLED TVs using either static or animated images.

Samsung is looking for concepts to highlight how this new feature can echo the environment and blend into the aesthetic of people's homes.

The brand would like entrants to have a particular lifestyle in mind when creating their design.

Entrants will need pick one of four backgrounds provided by Samsung, and develop concepts that build on both the environment the television is set in and the time of the day.

They can base their design on one of Samsung's existing Ambient Modes — decor, information or personal photos — or they can propose a new one.

Winner gets €8,000

The competition has prize money of €29,500 in total. The winner will receive €8,000, with €3,000 for the two runners-up, €1,500 for the other seven shortlisted entrants and €1,000 for the five who make it as far as the longlist.

Samsung will have the option to purchase the top 15 shortlisted entries for an additional €10,000, which will be paid to the selected designer.

The competition is free to enter. Entrants must be over 18, professional designers or design students and able to present their work to a panel of English-speaking judges.

On the jury for the competition are:
› Dontae Lee, head of the design centre at Samsung Electronics
› Neville Brody, graphic designer
› Erwan Bouroullec, designer
› Amy Frearson, editorial director of Dezeen

Dezeen will interview the finalists and publish a story about each of them.

Dezeen and Samsung previously partnered on a competition last year to design a TV stand, which was ultimately won by Fulden Denheli with her adaptable, Scandinavian-inspired concept.

How to enter

The competition will close on 3 August 2018. For more information on how to enter, visit dezeen.com/samsung.

Make sure you read the competition terms and conditions before you enter.