The brief:

One of the major focuses of Idealog’s upcoming design issue is on defining New Zealand’s modern design identity. And that’s what we want our audience to focus on for the Idealog + Blunt + Generator Umbrella Experiment. 

When compared to other developed nations, New Zealand is a young society – if it was a person, perhaps it would be someone in their early 20s finally developing an authentic sense of self and gaining confidence after a period of ‘experimentation’, heavy drinking and regret. We still have a strong connection to the land, but as the links to colonial times and England recede, there’s much more importance being placed on M?ori culture – a unique identifier that sets us apart culturally on the world stage – and our growing multiculturalism adds another element to this evolving cultural brew. So how is this all being reflected in our modern identity? What do we stand for? How do we see ourselves? How do others see us? Who are we?

The process:

Download the template for the Blunt umbrella here and put your amazing design upon it (note: this is a simple representation, so, if you win, additional design work may be required to get the umbrella ready for production).

When completed, upload your design here to the campaign page (thanks Shuttlerock!) where it will be displayed for all Idealog readers to see. You will need to include a short description of the thinking behind your design.

Entries close on February 28th. Esteemed representatives from Idealog, Blunt and Generator will then choose their four favourite designs as finalists.

We will also ask our audience to vote for their favourite design via the campaign page. We favour the law of the jungle approach to People’s Choice voting, so go crazy, employ dirty tricks, embrace peer pressure and get everyone voting for your design. The People’s Choice winner will then be included among the finalists.

All the finalists will be featured in the design issue of Idealog, on sale in early April.

The winning design will then be decided on by the all-powerful panel and then turned into a limited edition Blunt umbrella that will be sold at retail in the middle of the year.

The prize:

As well as basking in the warm glow of success and joining the likes of Dick Frizzell, Karen Walker, Michael C Hsuing and Flox, who have all created limited edition Blunt umbrellas, the winning designer will also receive: 

• An iPad Pro
• A commission from each umbrella sold
• Six umbrellas
• A credit somewhere on the packaging
• A two-page profile in the Technology Issue of Idealog, on sale in late July
• A six-month co-working tenancy at Generator for up to four people that’s worth $28,000

The rules: 

Like any crowd-sourced project, we understand there are risks in opening things up to the public. There will be a mix of high (hopefully) and low quality; humorous and serious. And that’s all part of the experiment. But we trust our audience to know the line of decency when submitting designs. For a general set of rules: nothing porny, nothing abusive, nothing racist, nothing mean-spirited and nothing illegal. For a very specific set of rules, check out all the Terms and Conditions here.

We look forward to seeing your brilliance spew forth.