Fire up Photoshop or Illustrator because design magazine Core77 is running another design competition for Windows Phone. The contest is similar to one a year ago that Core77 did in partnership with the Windows Phone Team, this one is also a joint effort. Back then the contest was called "Fast Track to the Mobile App" and this year is going under the name "App to the Future". Winning submissions will have some nice prizes to look forward too! What's also unique about this contest is that it isn't restricted to North American residents, it's open to every abled designer on the planet.
The name isn't the only thing that's different, the format has been switched up from the previous contest as well. Here's out it works:
- You'll need to submit your email to be notified when registration opens up on December 13th.
- Then get the fundamentals of the Windows Phone Design Language by watching Design Boot Camp on Channel 9. If you haven't done much design with Windows Phone or need a quick refresher this is a great series.
- Sign-up for a Lighting Design Review. These take place on four Thursdays over the next month starting on the 13th. You'll submit your app design the Tuesday before each session. It's first come, first served for each session so you'll want to make sure you read all the instruction the site to get set up. This is where you'll get live feedback from experts on Windows Phone design. Each session will be streamed and available for viewing so that others can follow along.
Now, whether or not those Lighting Design Review sessions are where they chose a winner or not I'm not sure. The full rules haven't been posted on the site and might not until the 13th comes closer. I'll reach out to Core77 and see if we can get the fine print. Either way, getting a winning design is a step in the right direction to seeing that app in the Marketplace. Winners from last year were teamed up with developers to make their ideas come to life. This time around, App to the Future will also have a developer directory to help pair the winners up. For developers lacking the creative spark this could be a great opportunity to hook up with a good idea and clean design.
Check out the contest page right here and start sketching your wire frames. Winners will receive a Surface, Windows Phone device, and a one year subscription to the Dev Center. Is it Surface RT or Surface Pro? Don't know. Is it a Lumia 920 or 8X? Also don't know. I'm sure we'll learn more when offical rules come out in a few days.
Thanks Corey G. for the tip!
