Tips for submitting your best AWARD School application

5-step framework for cracking a creative brief

Find out all you need to know to develop a strong and insight-driven creative idea here.

When crafting your application ideas…

Be original.

Your application portfolio gives us an insight into your personality and the way you think. Don't give us the answers you assume we want - try and be unique and original in your thinking. The only way to achieve that is to be true to yourself in developing your application.

2. Don’t stop at your first thought.

Get your mind thinking beyond the first thought to identify and develop a unique idea. A good way of doing this is the 50 box method:

Get a page, draw 50 boxes and then just start writing down ideas, observations or tricks you can find around the subject of your brief. How is it used? What is its history? What does it bring into your life? This creates a bank of insights that you can turn into a winning idea. This is a really good way to force yourself onto the next thought and keep moving. Over time you get better at moving through that process.

3. Get a second opinion.

Try and show a few trusted people your work before you submit it. They’ll provide you with a fresh perspective, and it might help improve what you’ve done. As part of getting a second opinion, you obviously need to be open to criticism and revisiting/revising your work.

4. Keep it simple.

Don’t go over the top and develop a TV storyboard for the print brief. Remember that the judges will be reviewing hundreds of submissions so it’s best to keep your entry simple and easy to read. Don’t add any unnecessary material or detail. For example, if you need to explain your idea, then that’s a sign that it might be too complicated.

5. Raw is good.

There’s no need to develop polished and finished layouts for your concepts. You will be assessed on your ideas - not your layout skills. Neatly hand-drawn ads will suffice. If you’d like to include an image that you can’t draw then simply trace it. All artwork must be saved as a JPG and be in black and white pen/sharpie.

6. Source some inspiration.

Before you start your creative thinking, it’s worth looking at various creativity-related books and websites that are filled with award-winning creative work. They’ll give you examples of lateral thinking. A few books to look out for are AWARD Award, D&AD and ONE SHOW annuals, all linked below. Lots of creativity-related books are available at TAFE libraries or specialty bookstores too.