We are challenging you to join in the rich tradition of designing window displays.
Design a window display that makes the viewer smile and connects us as a community.
Consider:
- force perspective
- optical illusions
- artistic styles that inspire you.
Background
Design has a long, rich history of window decoration. Since the industrial revolution, window dressing has been a profession. Many famous designers, photographers and artists have spent their time as windrow dressers.
- Salvador Dali
- Raymond Lowey
- Georgio Armani
Shops like Louis Vuitton curate and sell books of their window displays, acknowledging their value as a type of art and design.
At Christmas time, see the power of window dressing when shops design interactive displays, which draw crowds and create a sense of magic.
Window dressing draws the street inside, which is why it was such a cool way of creating a community when we couldn’t visit our neighbours.
Advice
Your viewer has a fixed angle from which they can see in, and this offers you a chance to use techniques like forced perspective, or optical illusions.
Our links and resources for Challenge One might inspire some ideas. Also check out:
- Forced Perspective Fakes Sizes And Spaces By Manipulating A Structure’s Proportions article on 2 new things
- Forced perspective Wikipedia article
- Optical illusions show how we see TEDGlobal talk by Beau Lotto
- What Is the Ames Illusion? YouTube video by Scientific American
It also gives us the space to explore a whole range of art and design styles.
Requirements
Note the following requirements:
- You must submit your work by 1 July 2020.
- Videos must be less than 30 seconds
- Submit using #FutureDesignersNZ. Post your videos or photos to Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter
There are no rules of what materials or technology you can use. This is entirely up to your creative intent, and what resources you have access to.
Prizes
Future designer champion
Prize for the best submission
You will be featured in and invited to our end of year exhibition. We will publish your name and work on the Future Designer’s website and Victoria University of Wellington’s YouTube channel. You will also receive a deluxe School of Design Innovation care package.
Number 8 wire
Prize for the most innovative use of limited resources
Your entry will be a part of our end of year exhibition, you will receive a School of Design Innovation care package, and an invitation to our end of year exhibition
Peoples’ choice
Prize for the most liked submission
Your name and work will feature on the Future Designer’s website and be tagged with a ‘peoples’ choice’ badge.
Best in year level
You will receive an item of swag from the School of Design Innovation, and we will tag your work with a ‘top in year level’ badge.
Judging Panel

Douglas Easterly
Head of SchoolDoug is an outstanding artist who combines a variety of studio techniques including drawing, painting, sculpting, electronics and computer programming to address a wide range of interests.
His work has been awarded numerous times. He also has a project in the permanent collection of MoMA in New York City and a permanent outdoor sculpture installation in his hometown of Anchorage Alaska.
Doug is a cofounder of the artist collective SWAMP .

Mira Gorbova
Curator, The Art Lounge NZMira Corbova is the Owner and the Curator at The Art Lounge NZ, Tauranga.
She is an accomplished artist whose work mirrors a passion of self-expression and energy. She explores color, emotions and feelings as well as the connection in various forms. Mira has exhibited in New Zealand and overseas. Her art is in private collections mostly in New Zealand, Europe and the USA.
Surrounded with Art and Design since her early age, Mira has attended a private art school. After finishing her studies in Art and Photography and soon after in Economics and Management in her birth country Slovakia, she moved to UK. Pursuing her dream to open an Art gallery, Mira settled in Tauranga, New Zealand, where she founded The Art Lounge NZ famous for supporting the Aotearoa Art Community

Alex Larkworthy
3rd year Interaction Design StudentIn addition to her Interaction courses, Alex has taken classes in Design for Social Innovation, Media Design, and Industrial Design.
She enjoys creating weird and wonderful things in both the digital and physical realm.
Her love of design started in high school when studying DVC and exploring the world of design through this subject.
Terms and Conditions
Read the full terms and conditions.