The Creative Discovery Challenge powered by NISSAN opens for submissions

We are excited to announce the opening of a new award hosted by NISSAN and Loftwork. The Creative Discovery Challenge is looking to award future-thinking, innovative ideas and designs that have the potential to improve people’s lives. Submissions will be accepted between July 19, 2023, and October 2, 2023 and are asked to follow the theme of “bricolage,” where people use everyday objects to create something new. Using bricolage, this award wants applicants to leverage their own unique perspective to propose a new way to enhance everyday life.

As people’s ability to create is constantly evolving, this award believes that there is always value in enriching someone’s life. By using not just cutting-edge technology, but also a change of mindset, NISSAN and Loftwork believe it is possible to uncover the yet unseen value hidden in everyday things. This award hope gather submissions that give new value to the everyday by combining familiar objects with new ideas.

The Creative Discovery Challenge is open to both large and small-scale projects as well as ideas in their early planning stages. Rather than a competition, this challenge hopes to instead unearth ideas that are based on “attainable technology” for the “attainable future” and create a collection of works that can serve as inspiration for future creators as well. A variety of ideas across different genres, including products, graphics, photography, videos, websites, service design, and more are welcome as submissions. 

*Bricolage refers to the process of “making do,” as coined by Lévi-Strauss. It is an artistic process that embodies notions of resourcefulness, assemblage, and DIY and focuses on creating something new and innovative out of whatever materials are at hand.

The objective of this open call is not to just recognize the most outstanding projects but rather to uncover forward-thinking ideas that are both attainable and that utilize accessible technology.  When evaluating the submissions, this award will consider the following criteria as well as each curator’s unique perspective derived from their respective area of expertise.

Unleash your creativity and inspire us with ideas that evoke a “wow” factor. Even in familiar technologies, there are untapped possibilities waiting to be uncovered.

We value forward-thinking and future-oriented ideas that are challenging and innovative.

We highly appreciate ideas that propose unique value through the combination of various technologies and materials, based on the concept of bricolage.

We value ideas that consider the needs of the intended recipient while enriching their everyday experience.

We will assess projects that are realistic, make effective use of everyday materials and things, and can be started on as early as tomorrow.

Awards will be given out in three categories: General, Next-Generation, and People’s Choice. 5 works will be chosen for each respective category.