An Eye on the Future: Dunn-Edwards Launches Student Design Competition

Attention student designers! Dunn-Edwards Paints is proud to announce its inaugural design competition — the 2021 Emerging Professionals Design Competition — which challenges students to create a compelling design for a residential or commercial client.

The design world is constantly evolving, and you’re its future. We invite you to showcase your art — your unique design perspective — and enhance your skills in commercial and residential design. Each submission should narrate a unique story with a complementary color palette, which must feature our 2021 Color of the Year, Wild Blue Yonder (DE5855).

About Wild Blue Yonder

Wild Blue Yonder is the star of the Dunn-Edwards inaugural 2021 Emerging Professionals Design
Competition. Already a key color of our 2021 Color + Design Trend Reports, this soft azure hue symbolizes brighter days ahead, as well as highlights the magic and mystery that dance at the edge of darkness. With Wild Blue Yonder as our 2021 Color of the Year, we at Dunn-Edwards celebrate the surge of fantasy and
escapism in design.

What is the 2021 Emerging Professionals Design Competition?

This competition invites students to stretch their creative muscles, while gaining hands-on experience with clients who have their own ideas, requirements and goals. We encourage students at all skill levels and from every background to enter the competition, including those with talent outside of traditional interior design.

Students can focus on one of two categories: commercial or residential design. The first asks entrants to create a new 15,000-square-foot, Dunn-Edwards Paints retail space in San Francisco. The second tasks students with revamping a 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, Mid-century home to fit the needs of a family of five. Need inspiration? Visit our specs + spaces blog.

For more information, including details on the specific requirements and entrance rules, students can visit our design competition page. Submissions will be judged on use of color in their chosen space, as well as and how they incorporate Wild Blue Yonder into their overall strategy. For judging procedures and submission guidelines, please review the official 2021 Emerging Professionals Design Competition Rules page.

The challenge opened May 17, 2021, and all submissions are due by 11:59 pm PDT on August 6, 2021
allowing entrants to spend the summer to harnessing their unique skills.

Who Can Enter the Competition

We’re looking for design students nationwide and from all backgrounds and practice areas! At Dunn-Edwards, we encourage, recognize and reward those who are training for careers as design professionals so — whether you’re studying interior design, landscape design or another field of design altogether — we invite you to enter.

Entrants are required to be enrolled as full- or part-time students during the 2021 calendar year, must
be 18 or older by the end of the Competition’s Entry Period, and be legal residents of the United States (and its territories and possessions, including residents of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). For full eligibility requirements, please visit the 2021 Emerging Professionals Design Competition Rules page.

Design Competition Prizing

Because the competition is open to students at a variety of experience levels, prizes will be awarded
in Beginners and Advanced tiers. Two Beginners Tier prizes will be awarded — one for residential and one for commercial design. In the Advanced Tier, a prize of $3,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $800 to third place. Dunn-Edwards is also offering Early Bird prizes to the first five eligible entrants.

For more information on prizes, please visit our 2021 Emerging Professionals Design Competition Prize pag

What Is Dunn-Edwards’ Emerging Professionals Program

Dunn-Edwards Paints strives to provide career-enhancing education for design students and — with nearly 100 years of knowledge and resources to share — we support you as you become the next generation of architects and designers. Our Emerging Professionals Program (EPP) provides valuable resources for student designers from your first days in the classroom and beyond, as you progress throughout your professional careers, no matter where the design industry takes you. Learn more about our Emerging Professionals Program!

We look forward to seeing the creativity that is sparked by your submissions. Good luck!