Global product design competition; entries close December 1

Open to all, with no entry fee or product category restrictions

Shaple (CEO Jin Chang-soo), an online new-manufacturing platform built on design big data, will close entries for the ‘Shaple Design Contest’—the world’s largest product design competition, now in its sixth year in 2022—on the Shaple website on December 1.

The Shaple Design Contest is open to everyone from amateur to professional designers, who may enter individually or as a team. With no entry fee and no product category restrictions, it draws a large number of designers from around the world. Shaple offers an opportunity open to designers everywhere, lowering the barriers to entering competitions and building a design career.

Through this annual competition—the largest product design contest in the world—Shaple discovers talented designers and their work, then collaborates with them to bring actual products into production. To date, domestic and international designers from 89 countries have taken part with a wide range of products.

Winning designers are offered △a trophy and prize money △a special production bonus △design patent registration △coverage in a global design-focused media outlet △the opportunity to collaborate on manufacturing an actual product. Even entries not selected as winners receive an entry certificate for every design published on the platform. Because designers can receive the results of the worldwide consumer vote and the judging in the form of a report, they can directly gauge the potential of their own designs.

Another distinctive feature of the Shaple Design Contest is that it does not define a product category for submitted designs. In addition to aesthetics and originality, practicality is an important evaluation criterion, with strong consideration given to the potential for commercialization.

Jin Chang-soo, CEO of Shaple, said, “Even without graduating from a prestigious university or belonging to a big brand, skilled designers and their work—whose potential has been recognized by experts and consumers—need a chance to become stars,” adding, “We hope the Shaple Design Contest becomes a venue where hidden talents can be reevaluated.”

The Shaple Design Contest places no restrictions whatsoever on category, gender, age, or educational background, and with no entry fee, anyone interested in design can take part. Any designer who wants to turn their own original design into a product is welcome to give it a try.