Overview
A celebration of creative Year 10, 11 and 12 students, the Bright Awards recognise up-and-coming designers and tech enthusiasts, and supports the future of the arts in high schools across Australia. Whether you’re just tapping into your talent or keen to show off your well-developed skills, Billy Blue College of Design’s Bright Awards competition gives you the chance to have your work recognised by industry experts. Plus, monetary prizes for both students and schools go towards kick-starting creative dreams.
Meet our 2023 winners
Categories and prizes
What’s on offer? By entering the Bright Awards competition, you could win:
- A Category Finalist spot, earning yourself $1,000 plus a complimentary Creative Cloud licence* from Adobe (valued at $1,055).
- All Category Finalists are then put forward, where one could win the Pinnacle Award in Creativity & Innovation Excellence earning a 50% scholarship* to study design and creative technology, and $5,000 for your school.
The Bright Awards are not just about the fame and kudos – although that can be great - but are about taking that first step towards a career in design and creative technology.
We're looking for original ideas, demonstrated research and planning which results in a quality submission. We would love to see how your creative submission has been considered from a social, environmental or economic perspective too.
All category finalists will be in the draw for the Pinnacle Award in Creativity & Innovation Excellence.
Need inspiration? Download our Design Thinking Workshop Guide.
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Architecture & Interiors
Criteria
We’re looking for work that represents you as a future Interior Designer or Architectural Technologist. This could include interior or exterior spaces, furniture, artefacts, digital or physical environment concepts. Work completed as part of your Y10, 11 or 12 studies can be submitted.
The Brief
Create your vision of a space, or place. Where possible emphasize how your vision solves a societal challenge or environmental issue.
Judges will look at the aesthetics of your design ideas (what it looks like visually), the research and development processes you've used, techniques used, your creativity, spatial awareness, an understanding of the elements and principles of design, and presentation applied.Entry Requirements
Entries will be judged on the originality of the idea, how the idea addresses a social, environmental or economic issue, how you demonstrate preparation and planning in your work, and the overall quality of your submission.
Suggested submission pieces may include concepts, sketches, illustrations, mood boards, models, pictures, videos, technical documents, plans or conceptual renders. -
Digital Technology
Criteria
We’re looking for work that represents you as a future IT specialist, network designer, or software developer. Entries can be anything from the concept of a robot, a working robot or component of code, game logic, or visualizations of a scenario and outcome. Work completed as part of your Y10, 11 or 12 studies can be submitted.
The Brief
Think cyber security, artificial intelligence, gaming, machine learning, or any smart ICT solution that could solve a problem, create an experience, complete a task, or nerf an alien.
Judges will look at your ideas, any research or documentation provided, any code, any applications, or any frameworks that represent your solution.Entry Requirements
Entries will be judged on the originality of the idea, how the idea addresses a social, environmental, or economic issue, how you demonstrate preparation and planning in your work, and the overall quality of your submission.
Suggested submission pieces can include concepts, documentation, diagrams, code files, or working code applications. If you want to make your submission assets private, you’ll need to send us the password to access. -
Fashion Design, Marketing & Textiles
Criteria
We’re looking for work that represents you as a future fashion leader, a designer, entrepreneur, or marketer. This could include business concepts, garments, accessories, textiles, merchandising, digital or physical fashion. Work completed as part of your Y10, 11 or 12 studies can be submitted.
The Brief
Create your vision of a fashion collection, fabric, garment, design technique, business model, experience, brand, or campaign.
Judges will look at the aesthetics of your design ideas (what it looks like visually), the research and development processes you've used, techniques used, your creativity, material awareness, audience awareness, an understanding of the elements and principles of design, and presentation applied.Entry Requirements
Entries will be judged on the originality of the idea, how the idea could address a social, environmental or economic issue, how you demonstrate preparation and planning in your work, and the overall quality of your submission.
Suggested submission pieces may include concepts, sketches, illustrations, mood boards, models, pictures, videos, technical documents, campaign ideas, range plans or conceptual renders. -
Media Arts & Gaming
Criteria
This category is open to all aspects of digital media, interaction design, animation, and gaming. You may wish to design a media campaign, a website, an app, a game character, a game environment, a 2D or 3D animation, or even develop an entire game demo or film. Work completed as part of your Y10, 11 or 12 studies can be submitted.
The Brief
Create your vision of a game, a story, an animation, interaction, installation, or media concept.
Judges will look at both the aesthetics of your design ideas (what it looks like visually), the research and development processes you've used, techniques used, your creativity, user experience considerations, an understanding of the elements and principles of design, and presentation applied.Entry Requirements
Entries will be judged on the originality of the idea, how the idea could address a social, environmental, or economic issue, how you demonstrate preparation and planning in your work, and the overall quality of your submission.
Suggested submission pieces may include concepts, sketches, illustrations, 2D or 3D animations, storyboards, game rules, models, pictures, videos, technical documents, .mp4 files, YouTube links, Steam links, or conceptual renders. -
Photography
Criteria
We’re looking for images that showcase your photography skills. Photographs can show anything: architecture, landscape, nature, portrait, still-life, street photography… you name it, we’ll accept it. Work completed as part of your Y10, 11 or 12 studies can be submitted.
The Brief
Create a series of images that showcases the type of photography career you wish to pursue.
We’ll be judging your work based on your creativity, the composition of the shots or ideas, and the story or narrative behind them.Entry Requirements
Entries will be judged on the originality of the shots, how your concept could address or showcase a social, environmental, or economic issue, how you demonstrate preparation and planning in your work, and the overall quality of your submission.
Please supply at least 3 images, with a maximum of 5. Suggested support submission pieces may include concepts, sketches, mood boards, video, folio, and images. -
Visual Arts
Criteria
This category is open to all aspects of graphic and communication design including motion graphics, print or digital design. You may wish to design a poster, an illustration, a logo, a magazine concept, a font or typeface, packaging concept, a merchandising idea, web design, or a marketing campaign idea. Work completed as part of your Y10, 11 or 12 studies can be submitted.
The Brief
Create a visual design concept or finished design.
Judges will look at both the aesthetics of your design ideas (what it looks like visually), the research and development processes you've used, techniques used, your creativity, user experience considerations, an understanding of the elements and principles of design, and presentation applied.Entry Requirements
Entries will be judged on the originality of the idea, how the idea could address a social, environmental, or economic issue, how you demonstrate preparation and planning in your work, and the overall quality of your submission.
Suggested submission pieces may include concepts, sketches, illustrations, motion graphics, .mp4 files, finished artwork in print or digital form.
Meet our judges
Architecture & Interiors
Melissa is an interior architect, designer, decorator, stylist, researcher, and educator with 15 years' experience across these fields.
Fashion Design, Marketing & Textiles
Specialising in fashion marketing and branding, Russell has spent more than 20 years in the fashion industry, using his skills as a designer and educator to empower individuals and organisations to achieve results.
Photography
Daniel has been a professional photographer for over 20 years, working with DDB, BBDO, Leo Burnett advertising agencies, and clients such NAB, Coles, Luxottica, Manly Council, University of NSW, and Blackmores.
Associate Professor Tony Jan
Digital Technology
Tony holds a PhD in machine learning in network security and a bachelor’s in computer engineering, and has been responsible for the accreditation of prominent IT education.
Media Arts & Gaming
Dr Dan Staines is a games scholar who has been making and writing about games for more than twenty years.
Media Arts & Gaming
Jamal has been in the film visual effects industry for about 20 years.
Visual Arts
Tristan's career has seen him transition from graphic designer to interactive designer, then multimedia developer.
Visual Arts
With 20 years of experience in the creative sector, Elicia has managed a variety of design organisations and design teams.