Terms of Service

Submitting a project to IFB Award does not transfer, assign or license any intellectual property rights to DesignWanted or any third party.

You retain full ownership of your work at all times. See below for the full statement.

IFB Award (hereinafter "the Award") is a product and industrial design award organised by DesignWanted Srl (hereinafter "the Organiser"), with registered offices in Via Aurelio Saffi 29, 20123 Milan, Italy – VAT no. IT10565330965. The Award recognises product and industrial design projects — both commercially available products and development-stage concepts — across the presented categories.

By submitting a project to IFB Award, participants confirm that they have read, understood and accepted these Terms & Conditions in full. Acceptance is mandatory to complete the submission process.

• Award website: ideaforbusiness.designwanted.com
• Email: projects@designwanted.com

2.1 Who can enter

The Award is open to:

• Independent designers and design studios of any nationality
• Brands and companies with a design or product development function
• Students enrolled at accredited design, architecture or engineering institutions.

2.2 Age requirement

All participants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission. By submitting, participants confirm they meet this requirement. The Organiser reserves the right to request proof of age at any time.

2.3 Project eligibility

Submitted projects must fall into one of the following tracks:

• Market Ready: physical products that have been commercially available for no more than three (3) years from the submission date.
• Vision: concepts, prototypes or projects not yet commercially available at the time of submission.

Projects must be submitted to the most appropriate category – see website. The Organiser reserves the right to reassign a project to a more appropriate category if necessary, or share a feedback with the participant to do it correctly.

2.4 Multiple entries

A participant may submit more than one project. Each project constitutes a separate entry and requires a separate submission and fee. A single project may be entered into more than one category at an additional fee per category, charged only after editorial approval.

3.1 How to submit

Submissions must be made through the official award platform at ifbaward.designwanted.com. Submissions by email, post or other channels are not accepted.

3.2 Free to enter

Submission is free of charge. No payment is required to submit a project. Fees apply only if the project is approved by the Organiser's team following review.

3.3 Editorial review

Following submission, the Organiser will review each project for completeness and category fit. This is not a quality assessment. The Organiser will communicate the outcome within five (5) working days. Possible outcomes are:

• Approved: the participant receives a personalised payment link to complete registration. The entry is confirmed only upon payment.
• Rejected: the participant receives a written explanation of the reason. The project may be corrected and resubmitted before the call closes, subject to a new editorial review.

3.4 Application fees

Applications fees vary by participant type and submission period:

• Students: €49 — applicable at any time during the open call. Proof of enrollment may be requested.
• Professionals –– early bird (September 2026): €149
• Professionals — full price (October – December 2026): €249
• Additional product/category: +€49 per category, charged together with the base fee.

All fees are exclusive of applicable taxes. Fees are charged only after editorial approval and are non-refundable once paid, except as required by applicable law.

3.5 Open call period

The open call runs from September 2026 to December 2026 (23:59 CET). Submissions received after this deadline will not be accepted, unless the Organizer decided to extend the deadline. In such case, all info will be shared on the most appropriate channels (social media, newsletter, etc.).

4.1 Required materials

Each submission must include:

• Project title (maximum 80 characters)
• Author, studio or brand name
• Category and track selection
• Year of production or concept development
• Short description (maximum 300 characters)
• Description of originality and innovation (maximum 600 characters)
• Target market and audience description (maximum 400 characters)
• Sustainability aspects (maximum 400 characters)
• Cover image (minimum 2000px on the long side, JPG or PNG, maximum 10MB)
• Gallery of 2 to 8 images (same format requirements)
• AI usage declaration (see Section 6)

4.2 Language

All submission materials must be provided in English.

4.3 Image quality

Submitted images must be of sufficient quality to be used in editorial contexts. The Organiser may reject or request replacement of images that do not meet minimum quality standards, without affecting the participant's submission status.

4.4 Editing after submission

Following payment of the entry fee, participants may amend their submission at any time prior to final confirmation. Final confirmation occurs when the participant explicitly submits the project as complete through the award platform. Once final confirmation has been submitted, no further amendments to the project will be accepted under any circumstances.

Participants are solely responsible for ensuring that all project information, descriptions and images are accurate, complete and of the required quality prior to final confirmation. The Organiser accepts no liability for errors, omissions or incomplete materials submitted after final confirmation.

This is the most important section of these Terms. Please read it carefully.

5.1 Ownership — your work remains yours

Submitting a project to IFB Award does not transfer, assign, license or otherwise affect your intellectual property rights in any way. You retain full and exclusive ownership of your project, concept, design, images and any associated intellectual property at all times, before, during and after the Award process.

The Organiser makes no claim of ownership over submitted projects. Participation in IFB Award does not grant the Organiser, sponsors, jury members or any third party any right to manufacture, reproduce, distribute, sell or commercialise your project without your explicit written consent.

This applies equally to concept-stage projects. The submission of an unreleased concept or prototype does not constitute public disclosure for the purposes of patent law in most jurisdictions, but participants are advised to consult a qualified IP professional if they have concerns about prior art or patent applications.

5.2 Licence for communication purposes

By submitting, participants grant DesignWanted a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to reproduce, display and distribute the submitted images and project information solely for the following purposes:

• Promotion and communication of the IFB Award
• Publication of shortlisted and winning projects on the award website and DesignWanted platforms
• Social media and newsletter communications related to the Award
• Press releases and media materials related to the Award
• Internal documentation and reporting

This licence is limited to the above purposes and does not extend to commercial use, merchandise, licensing to third parties or any other use not directly related to the Award. Images will always be published with full credit to the author.

5.3 Credit

DesignWanted commits to crediting all authors when publishing submitted images. Credit will be given in the format: © [Author / Studio name], or as specified by the participant at submission.

5.4 Withdrawal

A participant may withdraw their project from the Award at any time before the shortlist announcement by contacting projects@designwanted.com. Entry fees are non-refundable upon withdrawal. Upon confirmed withdrawal, DesignWanted will cease to use the participant's images and project information in future communications, though previously published content may remain online.

In the interest of transparency, all participants are required to declare the extent to which AI tools were used in the development of their submitted project. The following options are available:

• No AI tools were used
• AI was used for brainstorming or ideation only
• AI was used in part of the design or development process
• AI was used throughout the entire design or development process

AI usage does not disqualify an entry. The declaration is a transparency requirement only. Jury members will have access to this information as part of the project record. Participants are encouraged to describe briefly how AI was used. Providing a false declaration of AI usage may result in disqualification.

7.1 Jury composition

Each category is evaluated by an independent jury panel composed of industry professionals including, but not limited to, designers, buyers, R&D directors and brand representatives. Jury composition will be published on the award website prior to the evaluation phase.

7.2 Evaluation criteria

Projects are evaluated on six criteria, each scored from 1 to 5, for a maximum total of 25 points:

• Design Intent
• Formal & Material Quality
• Innovation
• Human Impact
• Sustainability & Responsibility
• Presentation Quality

7.3 Shortlist

DesignWanted may select up to 20 projects per category for the shortlist, based on editorial assessment. The jury will evaluate shortlisted projects only. The shortlist will be announced publicly in January 2026.

7.4 Jury decisions

Jury decisions are final and binding. No correspondence will be entered into regarding individual scores or evaluation outcomes. The Organiser reserves the right to withhold an award in any category if the jury determines that no submitted project meets the required standard.

7.5 Conflicts of interest

Jury members are required to declare any conflict of interest with submitted projects. In the event of a conflict, the relevant jury member will abstain from evaluating the project in question.

IFB Award does not award cash prizes. All prizes are non-monetary and consist of recognition, editorial and communication benefits, as detailed on the award website.

Prizes are awarded to:

• Category Winners (1 per category)
• Best Placed (top 2 per category, beyond the category winner)
• Best Concept 2025 (transversal — best Vision track project)
• Best Market Ready 2025 (transversal — best Market Ready track project)

The full prize breakdown is published on the award website. The Organiser reserves the right to modify the prize structure with reasonable notice.

Note: The commercial value of each prize reflects DesignWanted's current standard rate card. All prizes consist of communication services and are not redeemable for cash, transferable, or exchangeable for other services unless expressly agreed by the Organizer.

The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify any submission at any time if:

• The submitted materials contain content that is plagiarised, copied or misrepresents authorship
• The participant does not hold the rights to submit the project or the images
• The participant provides false or misleading information
• The participant engages in any attempt to influence the jury or the evaluation process
• The project violates applicable laws or third-party rights
• The participant is under 18 years of age

In the event of disqualification after payment, fees are non-refundable.

Personal data collected during the submission process will be processed by DesignWanted in accordance with applicable data protection law, including the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable. Data will be used solely for the purposes of administering the Award and, where consent is given, for communications from DesignWanted. Participants may exercise their data rights (access, rectification, erasure, portability) by contacting privacy@designwanted.com. The full Privacy Policy is available at designwanted.com/privacy.

The Organiser shall not be liable for:

• Technical failures of the submission platform
• Loss or corruption of submitted materials
• Any indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from participation in the Award
• Third-party actions, including those of jury members or sponsors

The Organiser's total liability to any participant shall not exceed the entry fee paid by that participant.

The Organiser reserves the right to modify these Terms & Conditions, the award structure, the timeline or the prize offering at any time. Material changes will be communicated to registered participants by email. Continued participation following notification of changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

In the event of cancellation of the Award due to circumstances beyond the Organiser's reasonable control (force majeure), entry fees paid will be refunded in full.

These Terms & Conditions are governed by the laws of Italy. Any dispute arising from or in connection with the Award shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Milan, Italy.

• General enquiries: projects@designwanted.com
• IP and legal matters: privacy@designwanted.com
• Privacy: privacy@designwanted.com
• Website: ideasforbusiness.designwanted.com