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.
Be sure to visit this post to learn more about Spoonflower’s Design Challenge rules and moderation process.
Birthday Party Table Linens | Entries due by April 25, 2023
Spoonflower turns fifteen in May, and we’re challenging you to design birthday table linens that can be used again and again!
What’s your idea of the perfect birthday party? Whether it’s an explosion of color with playful party games or an elevated affair with cocktails and a classic palette, think about your design as one that someone would want to use over and over again at birthday parties for years to come.
Entries will be previewed on a Spoonflower table runner. Submissions close April 25 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins April 27. Winners will be announced May 4. See official rules.
Pantone Ultra-Steady Wallpaper | Entries due by May 2, 2023
We’ve partnered with Pantone® for the second time this year to bring you an inspired palette of greens and blues.
Pantone has curated the palette, Ultra-Steady, as a graduated set of saturated greens and blues that tell a powerful story. Familiar favorites with a perennial appeal, they form a core that speaks to substance and dependability. Think about your design adorning the walls of a peaceful yet vibrant space.
An Important Note About Your Entry
Artists must:
Use one or more colors from Pantone’s Ultra-Steady palette, listed below.
Artists can:
Incorporate tints (lighter versions) of these colors.
Utilize the tints listed in the suggested color harmonies below, curated by Pantone.
Use blending effects and textures.
Artists cannot:
Introduce new colors, black and white or darker shades of the colors featured in the palette.
The Ultra-Steady Palette
PANTONE 6120 C, #3AA5D5
PANTONE 6126 C, #005D9C
PANTONE 6118 C, #32464D
PANTONE 6161 C, #174C38
PANTONE 6139 C, #008587
Suggested color harmonies to complement this palette, curated by Pantone
Harmony 1:
PANTONE 6139 C – 30%, #BCD9D9
PANTONE 6126 C – 40%, #9DB9D7
PANTONE 6118 C – 30%, #BBC1C5
Harmony 2:
PANTONE 6120 C – 10%, #EDF4FA
PANTONE 6126 C – 35%, #AAC2DC
PANTONE 6118 C – 35%, #B1B9BC
PANTONE 6139 C – 20%, #D2E5E5
Palette and trend theme inspired by PANTONEVIEW Colour Planner Autumn/Winter 2023/2024 WOW.
Entries will be previewed on a roll of wallpaper. Submissions close May 2 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins May 4. Winners will be announced May 11. See official rules.
Pattern Clash | Entries due by May 9, 2023
Channel your inner maximalist to mix and match your favorite patterns.
Take this opportunity to explore how your favorite types of patterns can work together or contrast in unique ways within one design. Think about how your design will translate to maximalist home decor or fabric for funky apparel.
Entries will be previewed on a 21″ x 18″ fat quarter. Submissions close May 9 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins May 11. Winners will be announced May 18. See official rules.
Sweet Dreams Bedding | Entries due by May 16, 2023
Close your eyes and catch some z’s to find inspiration for a bedding design that encourages sweet dreams.
There’s nothing quite like a good night’s sleep! This week your challenge is to create a design for a restful night full of sweet dreams. Imagine your design printed as a sheet set for the perfect cozy place to end your day.
Entries will be previewed on a 21″ x 18″ fat quarter. Submissions close May 16 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting begins May 18. Winners will be announced May 25. 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 and social media mentions.
The 1st place winner for the Spoonflower x Pantone ‘Ultra-Steady Wallpaper’ Design Challenge will receive a $200 Spoonflower credit and a surprise Pantone bundle.
Second Place
The 2nd place winner will receive $100 in Spoondollars.
The 2nd place winner for the Spoonflower x Pantone ‘Ultra-Steady Wallpaper’ Design Challenge will receive a $100 Spoonflower credit and a surprise Pantone bundle.
Third Place
The 3rd place winner will receive $50 in Spoondollars.
The 3rd place winner for the Spoonflower x Pantone ‘Ultra-Steady Wallpaper’ Design Challenge will receive a $50 Spoonflower credit and a surprise Pantone bundle.
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.
Hi, for the Pantone challenge do we need to use all 5 from the main color palette?
Hi Nikkita!
You just need to use one color from the palette provided for the Pantone challenge, but can use more if you’d like.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
Ciao, per la sfida pantone non è consentito il bianco o il nero, quindi non si può utilizzare uno sfondo bianco? Ma usando i codici pantone posso utizzare i pennelli?
Ciao Anna Maria!
You can use brushes using the Pantone color codes. Additionally, some of the suggested color harmonies are very light and close to white (like PANTONE 6120 C – 10%, #EDF4FA).
Hope that helps!
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
Question about the pattern clash. Do you want one or two designs? you show two in your photo. I can see the similarities (both are checks) but executed differently. Not necessarily a “clash” but more like a part of a black and white collection. Please explain further! Thanks!
Great question, Leslie!
I checked with Jessie, our Artist Community Manager, and here’s what she had to say: “Great question! For pattern clash we’re looking for artists to create one design that mashes two or more patterns together. They do not need to be monochrome like the black and white checks shown in the photo. You can clash together unexpected patterns and colors to create something new and unique.”
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
Hello, another question in regards of colors in the Pantone Challenge: PANTONE 6120 C – 10%, #EDF4FA is allowed, so I can mix this color with one or two (or more) of the Ultra Steady Palette, right? As it says, white is not allowed, but this is a shade of white so I just wanted to double check. Thanks for a quick feedback on this!
Hi Marie!
Yes, you may mix colors within this palette through gradients and texture. You may also use lighter tints of any colors from the palette. You just cannot introduce new colors outside of the palette. I hope that helps!
Warmly,
Jessie
Spoonflower
What do the percentages mean, next to the harmony colors in the pantone challenge?
Great question, Sally!
The percentages refer to lighter tints of Pantone colors. For example, using 50% of a Pantone spot color would mean that tint is 50% lighter than the original Pantone color. We recommend your files for Spoonflower be saved as sRGB, so we have supplied hex codes you can use for Pantone tints in this challenge.
Warmly,
Jessie
Spoonflower
In regard to the Pantone Challenge-
Blend effects as I use them in Photoshop Elements CHANGE COLORS. So do you really mean to allow that?
Or do you mean to allow GRADIENTS? Gradients, also known as color transitions, are a gradual blending from one color to another color.
Thanks for double checking on this, Miriam!
As stated in the challenge rules, artists cannot introduce new colors to the Pantone Ultra-Steady palette, so tools like blending modes in Photoshop would not work for this challenge. We used blending effects as a catch-all term to include gradients, blend and airbrush brushes, etc.
I hope that helps to clarify. Good luck in this month’s Design Challenges!
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower