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Dezeen launches AI artwork competition for AI editorial series with £1,000 prize

Dezeen's next editorial series will look at how AI will impact design and architecture. To mark the start of the series we are inviting you to create its artwork using the text-to-image generators that are making headlines.

Today we are launching the public contest to produce the illustration for our next series, with a £1,000 prize for the winning design.

World's first AI designer to announce winner

Beginning in June, the AItopia series will explore what the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) will mean for the future of design, architecture and humanity. All articles in the series will feature the winning artwork.

In that spirit, we want the illustration for the series to be created using AI text-to-image generators like DALL-E 2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.

We are looking for a striking-yet-simple design that powerfully interprets the thrust of the series and its consideration of whether advances in machine learning mean the world is heading for a utopian future, or a dystopian one.

AItopia series text
The winning illustration will be used as the branding for Dezeen's upcoming AItopia series

Dezeen's editorial team will create a shortlist of the 10 best entries which will be featured in an article on the website.

The winner will then be selected by a small judging panel made up of Dezeen editorial director Max Fraser, Pentagram partner Natasha Jen and the world's first AI designer, Tilly Talbot, created by Studio Snoop founder Amanda Talbot and recently unveiled at Milan design week.

Tilly Talbot will announce the winner on Dezeen to coincide with the launch of the AItopia series.

Judges will be looking for a combination of a strong overall concept, good execution and a convincing justification for the design.

"We sit on the cusp of a new era, pondering the vast potential opportunities as well as the existential crises that may be enabled by AI," said Fraser. "I will be looking for artwork entries that represent the fragile and unknown future we are barreling towards."

Tilly Talbot AI designer
AI design-bot Tilly Talbot will announce the winner on Dezeen

The competition is free to enter and open to everyone, from professional graphic designers to casual AI enthusiasts. The deadline is 25 May.

Further details on the competition and how to enter are below.

Competition submission guidelines

Please read this information carefully before entering as any submissions that breach the guidelines will not be considered.

The deadline for the competition is 23:59 London time on 25 May. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Entrants should submit their illustration via email to [email protected]. By emailing a submission you agree to the rules below.

Emails should include:

  • A subject line including the words "AItopia artwork competition entry" followed by the entrant's name
  • A single JPEG image file of the artwork being submitted
  • A supporting statement (maximum 200 words) explaining the concept behind the design
  • Your full name
  • Your nationality
  • Your occupation and job title/company or course name/school, if applicable
  • The name of the tool used to create the submitted artwork

Important rules about submissions:

  • Only one entry per person (or group of people) please. Bulk entries will be disqualified
  • The image must work in both a square format and a 16:9 hero format. Please be aware that text-to-image generators tend to produce square images so this will need to be factored into your design. Dezeen will crop the square into the 16:9 format
  • The image will need to work with the "AItopia" text overlay. An example is included in the image in this post, although the colour and positioning of the text can change. Dezeen will add the text overlay
  • The image file should be as high quality as possible. Low-quality images will not be considered
  • Intellectual property rights for each submission will remain with the entrant. However by entering the competition, entrants grant Dezeen Limited and its partners the right to publish, promote or otherwise display their designs without having to seek prior approval
  • Entries must not violate the intellectual property or design rights of any third party. Any entry found to have done so will be disqualified
  • The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into

Questions about the competition may also be sent to [email protected].

The winning design will be announced on www.dezeen.com in early June 2023. The winner will also be notified by email.

The prize money will be paid by bank transfer. Therefore you must be prepared to provide additional information to allow us to process the payment. No alternative prizes will be offered.