FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Sign up for a free membership profile;
2. Once you’re a member, login with your username and password, and you will be directed to the submissions page;
3. Fill in the required information and upload your submission;
4. Proceed to payment.

No, we do not need a physical sample of your product. All entries are evaluated through the upload photos, PDFs, or links to supporting materials such as videos, presentations, etc. You are free to use these to present your design to the jury in any way you like. Please see the next question for more details.

For professional submissions you need to provide the following information:

• Lead Designer (required)
• List of Team Members (optional)
• Design/Product Name (required)
• Client (optional)
• Category(ies) (required)
• Brief description of design/product (required)
• Upload images and/or PDF description of the design
• Add links to design/product (videos, online materials, website, etc) (optional)

For “Lifetime Achievement” nomination, please contact info@litawards.com

• Lighting Designer’s Full Name
• Current Company Information
• Headshot of Designer
• Series of designs, 5-7 images of work/projects
• Bio & Description of Career in Lighting Design

For student submissions you need to provide the following information:

• Name of your University
• Design/Product Name (required)
• Category(ies) (required)
• Brief Description of your Design/Product (required)
• Upload images and/or PDF description of the product (required)
• Add links to product (videos, online materials, website, etc) (optional)

The application’s cost depends on the designer’s profile, submission can be made as a professional or student. Discounts will be given to early submissions.

ENTRY FEES: LIT DESIGN AWARDS 2024

• Professional CHF 220 incl. Swiss VAT (approx.: US$255)
  Same Product in additional categories at a 50% discount
• Student CHF 100 incl. Swiss VAT (approx.: US$115)
  Same Product in additional categories at a 50% discount

DEADLINES: LIT DESIGN AWARDS 2024

• Open – January 2024
• 10% Early Bird discount until April 30th, 2024
• 5% Extended Early Bird discount until June 16th, 2024
• Regular Deadline: August 31st, 2024
• Final Deadline: September 29th (10% late fee applies) till October 20th, 2024
• The program will close on October 20th, 2024

Anyone who is a student of any kind can enter work under the student category and get the reduced submissions fee—regardless of whether you are a full-time or part-time student, or what you are studying. Please keep in mind that if you submit in the student category, your work will be evaluated among other students.

Submission fees are the last step in processing your payment. Please create your entry and make sure it is finalized before submitting your payment.

Up to 10 supporting images can be submitted with each design. An image can be a JPEG (.jpeg, .jpg) or PNG (.png). One image is for the cover photo to identify the entry and the remaining 9 are supporting images of the entry. Images must not exceed 4MB per file and a minimum of 1000 pixels wide. Please only use letters and numbers in the title of the image.

If your entry has a product specification, you have the option to upload one PDF file in A4 or letter-sized format. The PDF must not exceed 4MB. Download the LIT Awards Entry Guide 2024 for more information.

Once a submission fee has been paid, there are no refunds provided. If you have been wrongly charged for any reason, we will be happy to credit the amount that is due.

You will not be able to edit your submission after payment has been made. For this reason, please review your work carefully and make sure that the entries are submitted correctly before finalizing the payment.

First, check that the image does not exceed the maximum size of 4MB, that it is in the right format which is either JPEG (.jpeg, .jpg) or PNG (.png), and that the file name contains only letters or numbers and no other characters. Once you’ve checked that these things are in order, try to upload your images again. If you’re still having trouble after this, contact our support staff at team@litawards.com

You should receive a confirmation email from us shortly after you submit and pay for your work. If you do not receive an email, please verify that your email is correct in our records by logging into the member’s “Home” section and selecting “Profile” which leads to “Edit Profile”. In addition, if you are using spam-blocking software, please add “litawards.com” to your list of approved recipients. If, after doing both of these things, you do not receive an email, please log into the member’s “Home” section, and click on “History” to view your submission status and make sure that all your entries have been paid for.

You may check on your entry status at any time by logging into the member’s “Home” section with your username and password, and clicking on “History”.

NOTE: If a submission is incomplete when the window for submissions has closed (i.e. the submission fee has not been paid, or the images have not been uploaded correctly), the submission will not be eligible for juried consideration. Though we make every effort to make contact and to ensure the completion of submissions, we are not responsible for incomplete entries and are unable to offer a refund should an entry be incomplete once the submissions window is closed.

The “History” page feature allows you to view the status of your submissions, to verify that images have been uploaded correctly, to print receipts, and to make payments. The page also shows your winning entries where you can download certificates and winner seals.

Yes, you may submit work that has been submitted or that has won an award in a previous competition. However, in an effort to promote the creation of new work and the fresh flow of ideas, we encourage you to submit new work as much as possible.

You may enter the same design into as many categories as you see fit. In fact, doing so may increase your chances of winning. However, there is an additional fee for each additional category you enter.

No, you may submit as many entries as you wish, and if you submit multiple entries at the same time, you will receive a special reduction in the submissions fee for the additional entries.

The jury will select the winners in each category based on individual designs and projects, not on an entire body of work, so each design or project should be submitted as a separate entry.

We accept both completed, in progress, and conceptual projects. Finished projects must be completed within the past five years.

No, the LIT Awards welcomes creative thinkers from around the world to participate. You don’t have to be a designer to submit your product. Creative and innovative thinkers can also submit design and projects for consideration.

You are not required to submit your drawings or plans. However, we encourage participants to submit as much information as possible for a better representation of your project. We understand that every project is unique, therefore, you have the freedom to submit any information that you think is suitable. We encourage you to provide a plan of at least one section. This is to ensure our jury will have enough information for project evaluation.

Projects or designs must have been completed no more than 5 years from the time of submission in order to be eligible.

It is not required that you send the actual sample of your product to the competition. Images and a description of the product are sufficient.

Your images will only be used for purposes of promotion of the LIT Design Awards. Through our global reach, your image will be viewed with your credit all around the world. All participating designers thus far have been extremely happy with the manner in which their images have been used and promoted globally.

Copyright and all other rights remain with the designer. Any images used by LIT shall carry the designer’s credit line. LIT may use images in any media sponsor publication. All entrants understand that any image submitted to the competition may be used by LIT for marketing and promotional purposes including in any medium such as exhibitions, print, and digital media directly related to the LIT competition though there may not be monetary compensation. By winning or placing in the competition, you are agreeing to be included in the annual Winners Book.

Neither LIT, affiliates, or partners assume any responsibility for materials submitted in violation of competition rules or for those which violate copyright regulations. LIT will investigate claims of copyright infringement to the best of its ability and will remove and disqualify submissions that are clearly demonstrated to violate copyright and/or competition policies. LIT will act to maintain the integrity of the competition and its affiliated entities but is not responsible for any damages resulting from images submitted in violation of rules and regulations.

There is no monetary remuneration for the use of your image. Please make sure you have the full copyright before entering any images.

No, after payment has been made, entries cannot be altered. Please review your work carefully before finalizing the payment.

You can pay for your submission online via PayPal or credit card.

The submission, Trophies and Certificates cost are in CHF – Swiss Franc, however, you can pay in all currency accepted by stripe & Paypal.

Our international list of jurors consists of a wide variety of design professionals, lighting professionals and educators who are devoted to designing.

For a complete list of the jury members please visit the jury page.

The winners will be selected following multi-voting rounds, the jury members cast their vote on our online judging system using a scorecard, then the finalists’ projects are reviewed during a group call on a secure platform. You can learn about our judging process here.

Due to the overwhelming scope of the competition, our judges are unable to provide individual feedback on projects.

We do notify award winners by email, but it does sometimes happen that notifications get caught in server filters so it’s possible that you may not receive the email notification. Fortunately, you can always check to see if you’ve won any awards by logging into the Member Section and clicking on Winner Services.

To access your winning assets, go to the “History” menu tab on your LIT Awards Account and click on “Winning Entries” where you’ll find a printable Winner Certificate, and the official Winner badge to be used online, on social media and in any other promotional materials.

Yes, all winners will be given the opportunity to buy trophies & certificates a couple of weeks after the winner’s announcement via an integrated e-shop available under the winner’s member page.

All Honorable Mention and winners will be contacted by email, the e-shop will remain open for 4 weeks, then all orders will proceed the following month. All trophies & acrylic certificates are custom made and will be shipped via our local partner. A personal shipment tracking number will be sent to all winners via email.

Please note that companies who received an Honorable mention will only be able to purchase certificates.

The Trophy will be given to the winners of the Lighting Product Design of the Year (Professional), Lighting Design of the Year (Professional), Lifetime Achievement ( Professional), “Spotlight” prize recipient as well as Emerging Lighting Product Design of the Year (Student) and Emerging Lighting Design of the Year (student).

All Category Winners  & Honorable Mention will receive certificates that can be printed by going to your History page where it shows the records of all your submissions as well as a downloadable badge, all category winners will also be featured in the annual LIT Book of Design.