Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition

Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition now is over!

Samsung and Dezeen have launched Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition that invites entrants to create a new Ambient Mode experience for the QLED TVs using either static or animated images.

About Competition

The Dezeen, architecture and design magazine together with Samsung have launched Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition inviting entrants to create a new Ambient Mode experience for the QLED TVs using either static or animated images.

Samsung’s Ambient Mode does away with the mundane black screen that dominates a room when the television is not in use. Built into the 2018 QLED televisions, Ambient Mode makes the screen appear transparent by mimicking the appearance of the wall behind it, while also enhancing its environment by overlaying additional imagery and information - such as the weather - if desired.

To enter, contestants must pick one of the 4 backgrounds provided by Samsung and develop concepts that build on both the television’s environment and the time of day in which the feature would be utilized. Designers can base their entry on one of Samsung’s existing Ambient Modes - décor, information or personal photos - or they can propose a completely novel mode. Further, as Samsung and Dezeen are looking for concepts that highlight how Ambient Mode can mirror the environment and blend into the aesthetic of consumers’ homes, entrants will need to specify a particular lifestyle for their design.

Submissions guidelines:

• Competition entrants are invited to design a totally new static or animated design for Samsung’s Ambient Mode, an innovative new feature of its QLED TVs.
• Samsung is looking for concepts to highlight how this new feature can echo the environment and blend into the aesthetic of people’s homes.
• The brand would like entrants to have a particular lifestyle in mind when creating their design. This could be minimal, eccentric or luxurious, for example.

Entries from designers or teams will be accepted.

All entrants must be able to present their work to a panel of English-speaking judges.

To make an Ambient Mode design, entrants should follow these steps:

Step 1: Choose an environment in which your Ambient Mode content will be activated.

Step 2: Choose one of four background images of a block colour or texture provided by Samsung for your Ambient Mode design.

Step 3: Choose a design category - either decor, information, personal photo or your personalised format - and produce an Ambient Mode concept overlaid on the background image. The final work should be submitted as a video file. You do not have to loop the content.

Step 4: Attach a description of the idea and the activation information of the final work.

In addition, designs should take into account:
Lighting: The designs should adapt to various lighting conditions. If the lighting on the wallpaper changes over the course of the day, adjust the colour temperature of the ambient content accordingly. The designs should fit within a colour temperature of 3000K to 6500K.

H/W function: Samsung’s QLED TVs contain both illumination and motion sensors, so you can design your Ambient Mode contents to change when the ambient lighting changes or the user approaches.

Contestants will need to submit their entry via the form on the official website and include the information below:

• Name of your design, which will appear on all communication and media coverage
• Description of your design, including the concept and any relevant features (maximum 300 words)
• Explanation of how you plan to execute your design concept (maximum 300 words)
• Submit a hero image showing the Ambient Mode on the TV in the context of a room that shows the lifestyle the Participant was inspired by
• Submit 3-5 still images of the room with the TV, as well as 3-5 stills of the Ambient Mode Design in different times of the day
• Design as a video file for the Ambient Content Design
- Resolution: 3840 x 2160 or 1920 x 1080
- Container: AVI/MKV/MP4
- Video Codec: H.264 (3840 x 2160) / HEVC (3840 x 2160) / MPEG 4
- Audio Code: Dolby Digital / AAC / HE-AAC / WMA / MPEG / AC-4

The shortlisted winners will be announced on 13 August 2018 and the finalists will be announced on 30 August 2018. The overall winner will be announced on 10 September 2018 on Dezeen.
Please note: finalists will be required to make a short video presenting their idea and documenting the making process for Samsung’s promotional material of the contest. The video will not be a part of the evaluation criteria.

Entrants will need to be available from 27 August 2018 to 2 September 2018, as the 5 finalists will be invited by Samsung to electronics trade show IFA in Berlin. If contestants enter as a team, only 1 person will be invited to attend the judging.

There is no entry fees to partcipate in this competition!

Eligibility

Samsung Ambient Mode Design Competition is open worldwide to professional designers or design students. All entrants must be over 18.