How to Enter

1. Create your design
What would you design to help everyone feel at home in your community?
Learn more about the 2025 Design Challenge and use these resources to help ignite your creative thinking. You can enter as an individual or as a team of up to three people. Only one team member needs to submit your entry on behalf of the team.
Tips for Creating Your Sketch:
- You will need one sketch of your design idea that you will upload as a .jpg (must be at least 8.5 x 11″ at 300 dpi).
- We recommend using an 8 1/2 x 11″ sheet of paper.
- Your sketch can be drawn in any medium by hand or on a computer.
- The quality of the sketch will not be judged, but it should help illustrate the design concept.
If you are a student with a disability, you may submit a written description of your idea as a .pdf or an audio description of your idea as an .mp3 as needed (200 words or less) or contact DesignCompetition@si.edu by January 17, 2025 to discuss other possible modifications to enable participation.
2. Describe your design
Tell us more about your idea! Remember to use these resources as you work through the challenge. The online entry form will include a box where you can copy and paste your responses.
Design Challenge Questions:
1. Tell us about the opportunity you’ve identified to help everyone feel at home in your community.
What specifically are you addressing? Who is affected and in what ways? Is this something you observed, experienced, or learned about in another way? (50 words or less)
2. Tell us about your design.
Describe your design, its key concepts, and how it works. How will users experience your design? (50 words or less)
3. Tell us about the impact of your design for your user(s).
Describe how and why your design makes your community feel more like home for everyone. How does it benefit the user(s) you identified and others? Could this design have a broader impact, helping to create a more welcoming sense of home in communities across the United States and beyond? (50 words or less)
If you are a student with a disability, you may submit audio files of your responses as .mp3 files as needed or contact DesignCompetition@si.edu by January 17, 2025 to discuss other possible modifications to enable participation.
3. Submit your design
Click here to start your entry!
The online entry period will be open from January 13 to February 10, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time). Please check your local time zone. Late entries will not be accepted. On the submissions site, you will create an account and be able to work on your entry before submitting.
Entry Requirements:
- Your name and contact information, and the names and contact information for all team members, if applicable. Note: Only one team member should create an account and submit your entry on behalf of the team.
- An upload of your design sketch as a .jpg (must be at least 8.5 x 11″ at 300 dpi), or alternate file type as described in step 1.
- Responses to the design challenge questions noted in step 2.
- An upload of your signed parent/legal guardian consent form as a .pdf or .jpg file (must be 300 dpi). The form must be completed and uploaded, and don’t forget the signature! If you are submitting a team entry, each team member must submit a signed parent/legal guardian consent form.
Important Notes:
- Your entry cannot have any marks, logos, or writing on it that identifies authorship so that Cooper Hewitt can review all entries anonymously.
- You may not share your design on social media or in any public manner until after the finalists are announced (anticipated to be in April 2025).
- For any questions, please visit FAQs.