Spoonflower’s Weekly Design Challenges encourage creativity by inviting our community to submit designs around a theme and vote on favorites to win weekly prizes. See what design challenges are coming up and which designers were crowned grand-champion in past challenges here.
January Design Challenge Themes
Spoonflower Packaging | Entries due by December 29
As a brand we are always looking for new and exciting ways to highlight our artist community. Each year hundreds of thousands of Spoonflower packages land on the doorsteps of creative people worldwide. What better way to introduce yourself to our community than to showcase your art on our shipping boxes?
This week we’re inviting the Spoonflower community to dream up a design that will be featured on Spoonflower’s packaging in 2021. That’s right! Your design could be sent to hundreds of thousands of Spoonflower community members all across the globe.
Inspired by what makes Spoonflower one-of-a-kind, your entry this week should reflect the values that mean the most to the community: family, uniqueness, self-expression and creativity. From the virtual friendships you’ve made with other artists online to the connections you’ve made with Spoonflower makers, this week is a celebration of you and your Spoonflower journey!
The Spoonflower team will select five finalists from the popularly-voted top 50 entries for a round of artist interviews. We’re excited about the opportunity to get to know more about your design inspiration and your journey at Spoonflower. After the interview process the Spoonflower team will select an artist from the group of finalists, and their artwork will be featured on Spoonflower’s packaging in 2021.
An Important Note About Your Design Challenge Entry
While there are no color limitations in this challenge, please note that the final design may need to be adjusted to accommodate the required packaging specifications. Vector-based designs or those that can be easily vectorized (designs without intricate details or a lot of texture) are required for this challenge. The winning designer will work directly with Spoonflower’s design team to get their artwork prepped for package printing.
Entries will be previewed on a 21″ x 18″ fat quarter. Submissions close December 29 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins December 31. The five finalists will be announced January 7. See official rules.
Small-Scaled Geometric | Entries due by January 5
Wrangle the rhombus and place that parallelogram! This week’s challenge will test Spoonflower artists’ inventiveness to create a seamless repeat using simple shapes. Equipped with precise angles and smooth curves, we’re looking for fresh takes on small-scale geometric designs that can create distinctive face masks or adventurous apparel. Clean or complex, colorful or monochromatic, repetitive or varied; these designs can grab the viewer’s attention with just about any approach.
Entries will be previewed on a 8” X 8” swatch. Submissions close January 5 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins January 7. Winners will be announced January 14. See official rules.
Hidden Hawaiian | Entries due by January 12
Aloha! Call your travel agent because it’s time to book a trip to Hawaii by way of your own imagination. For this community-requested challenge, we’re asking you to strum your ukulele and transport us to the luau of your dreams, but with a twist: hidden objects. Is that a rocket ship hidden in the hibiscus? Do I spot the planet Saturn amongst the sea turtles? Or perhaps there are colorful parachutes hiding in the plumeria? Channel the unexpected and let your creativity soar in this tropical yet whimsical design challenge.
Entries will be previewed on a 21″ x 18″ fat quarter. Submissions close January 12 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins January 14. Winners will be announced January 21. See official rules.
Reimagined Damask Wallpaper | Entries due by January 19
While technically a weaving technique and not a pattern, damask is commonly associated with elaborately scrolled motifs featuring symmetrical and structured florals and other natural elements. The technique dates back to the Middle Ages and is still a popular choice for wallpaper, curtains, and other home decor.
For this challenge, you won’t need your loom, but you will need to utilize your artistic tools to replicate a traditional damask pattern with your own unique, contemporary direction. Whether you pair damask’s distinctive flowers with items from a beloved hobby like knitting or skateboarding or you employ bright and unexpected colors to a more classic composition, we can’t wait to see all the ideas that bloom from this traditional craft.
Entries will be previewed on a roll of Spoonflower wallpaper. Submissions close January 19 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins January 21. Winners will be announced January 28. See official rules.
Grand Prize
One Grand Prize Winner each week will receive $200 in Spoondollars. The winner will also receive additional exposure in our email newsletters, professional photography of their printed designs, and social media mentions.
Second Place
The 2nd place winner will receive $100 in Spoondollars.
Third Place
The 3rd place winner will receive $50 in Spoondollars.
The rest of the top 10
4th through 10th place winners will receive a $20 Spoondollar credit.
All of the top 50
Each of the top 50 entries, determined as set forth above, not receiving one of the foregoing prizes will be automatically proofed for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace (approximately a $5 value) (the “Runner Up Prize”) if winners are verified sellers.
Spoonflower Packaging Design Challenge prizes
Grand Prize
The 1st place winner will have their design featured prominently on Spoonflower’s global packaging and will receive a $200 Spoonflower credit and $500 cash prize, which will also serve as the licensing fee.
Second Place
The 2nd place winner will receive $100 in Spoondollars.
Third-Fifth Place
The 3rd-5th place winners will receive $50 in Spoondollars.
The rest of the top 10
6th through 10th place winners will receive a $20 Spoondollar credit.
All of the top 50
Each of the top 50 entries, determined as set forth above, not receiving one of the foregoing prizes will be automatically proofed for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace (approximately a $5 value) (the “Runner Up Prize”) if winners are verified sellers.
Hi, I was wondering if there is a way to subscribe to design challenges, as in get the email when new challenge themes are released. This would be super helpful for me as a designer, because not all challenges are equal. Murphy’s law, I seem to be missing challenges that are right up my alley, but catch ones that are less so.
Hello!
Thank you for your interest in our design challenges. Typically the new challenges are announced on the first Friday of each month. Because of the holiday we are announcing February’s prompts later today! They are always highlighted that day in a post on our blog. We also do a reminder on Instagram in a story post so I would encourage you to follow along there! You can also subscribe to our newsletter here and be sure that Design challenge news is selected. If you are already subscribed, you can update their preferences with the link at the bottom of any marketing email.
Take care,
Amy
Spoonflower
The prizes for the Spoonflower Packaging challenge are exactly the same as normal challenges. Is that a mistake?
Hi Julee,
Thanks so much for letting us know! We have made an update to the post.
-Amy
Spoonflower
Hi Amy. Thank you! I just saw the correct info in the Official Rules, too.