FOCUS Award 2011, a design competition and festival by the Fachhochschule Dortmund – organized for students by students – will be taking place for the 19th time at the Design department.

The FOCUS Award can look back on a long tradition. It was created by American photographer Ben Fernandez, Parsons School of Design, New York in 1983. The FOCUS Award then went on to become an internationally renowned design competition and festival.

The current planning and organizational team consists of 11 design students. Their supervisors are Prof. Dr. Pamela C. Scorzin and Mr. Willi Otremba.

Focus Award 2011 takes a critical look at the topic »WELTENMACHER« (CREATORS of WORLD).

»Is everything artificial and manipulated? Is everything primped and retouched? Designers of all disciplines, unite!«

Students of all creative disciplines are invited to hand in their creative work for the international FOCUS Award 2011. A selection, chosen and awarded by jury, will be presented at the Dortmunder U – the new centre for art and creativity.

We are expecting a young audience interested in design from all creative disciplines for the FOCUS Award 2011.

Renowned personae from the art and design scene have been invited for thematic debate.
The symposium and the workshops will take place at the Design department of the Fachhochschule Dortmund,
Max-Ophüls-Platz 2.

The three winners will be awarded a prize of €3,000, €1,500 and €500 respectively. A selection of the 10 best projects will be presented in an exhibition at the Dortmunder U as of May 20^th,

plus: they will be portrayed in the accompanying documentary feature of the FOCUS Award 2011.

Individuals or groups are entitled to participate upon proof of enrolment in or of completion of a related course of studies dating back not longer than two years. The work should not be older than 3 years. Original interpretations and critical examination of the topic CREATORS of WORLD are expressly desired. Each individual or group can submit a single project or a series of work. Participation in the FOCUS Award 2011 is free of charge.

By submitting the project and registering for the competition the participants confirm their consent to the conditions and regulations of the FOCUS Award 2011. The participants explicitly confirm that the Design department of the

Fachhochschule Dortmund is permitted to exhibit the projects as well as present and publish them in various media.

The participants are fully liable for the correctness of the information given on the projects and by submitting them the participants confirm that no third party rights, especially no copyrights or rights of usage, are violated by their participation.

The participants are liable for delivery and return transport of the selected projects to and from the exhibition at the Dortmunder U. The organizers are in no way liable for any damages which may occur. The participants are also responsible for bearing the costs of the transport.

Submissions to the competition are to be uploaded online in the form of individual pictures or graphics to the FOCUS Award server. In the case of cinematic work, a link for a publicly accessible web page (YouTube, Vimeo) should be indicated. In addition, a concept text with a maximum of

3000 characters must be submitted. After the online submission please sends us a data CD/DVD containing high-resolution pictures in print quality. Films should be submitted in the form of a Video-DVD with a maximum duration of 15 minutes.

Die Wettbewerbsbeiträge konnten vom 20. Januar 2011 bis zum 14. März 2011 hochgeladen werden. The contribution can be uploaded from January 20^th 2011 to March 14^th 2011.