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Please use the information below to contact us:
Detroit Design: 248-691-1800, ext. 151
Detroit Design fax: 248-691-4531
Email: loneill@hour-media.com
General Information
How to Enter
1. Visit detroitdesignawards.com
2. Register an account for your organization.
3. Sign in and click the “New Entry” link
4. Fill out the form with your project details
5. Attach your images.
6. Save your entry.
7. You may revisit and submit as many entries as you wish until October 15th, 2025.
8. Once all projects are entered, use the “Submit and Pay” link to check out and finalize your submissions.
Note: Entries are not considered complete until all required materials have been uploaded and payment has been received.
ELIGIBILITY
Entries that have won or have been submitted to competitions other than the Detroit Design Awards are allowed.
Entries that have been submitted previously in other years of the DDA, formerly the Detroit Home Design Awards, are allowed.
Entries that have previously won in the DDA, formerly the Detroit Home Design Awards, may not be submitted again in the same category in which they previously won.
Design projects more than five years old will not be accepted. Projects must include the year in which the project was completed.
Projects must have been completed between 2021 and 2026 to qualify for the 2027 awards.
The principal design, build, or architecture professional overseeing each entry must be based in the state of Michigan. Projects themselves may be located in other states.
ENTRY FEES & DEADLINE
All entries must be submitted and paid for in full through the online entry form by October 15, 2026.
The online entry form accepts PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
- 1–3 entries: $100 each
- 4–6 entries: $90 each
- 7 or more entries: $80 each
Entries that remain unpaid after the deadline will not be submitted for judging.
ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY
One half of the entry fee will be rebated as a voucher toward the purchase of an advertisement in the Summer 2027 special Design Awards issue of Detroit Design magazine.
Contact advertising@hour-media.com for advertising opportunities.
PROJECT CONCEPT DESCRIPTION / SCRIPT
Provide a typed overview of approximately 100 to 250 words detailing significant aspects of the finished project.
The statement should discuss design challenges, location by city name, design solutions, and other pertinent aspects, but must not mention the firm name or individuals involved.
Entrants should avoid promotional language, client names, project addresses, and identifying information.
Entrants must include the year the project was completed. Projects should be submitted through the entry-submission form at DetroitDesignAwards.com.
Statements may be edited for grammar, length, clarity, and publication style.
PROJECT IMAGES
Images that do not meet these requirements may not be accepted.
Entrants must upload between one and eight high-resolution images with each entry.
Images must be approximately 8 x 10 inches at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI and submitted as JPG files. Each image may not exceed 50 MB.
To ensure anonymity during judging, photo files should be named by category and must not include the name of the designer, company, entrant, or homeowner.
Examples of correctly named image files:
- traditionalgreatroom1.jpg
- traditionalgreatroom2.jpg
Do not include company logos, watermarks, identifying signage, people, or visible addresses in submitted images.
When crediting a photographer, list the photographer’s name or company consistently across all entries.
AI-generated, AI-enhanced, digitally fabricated, or materially altered images are not permitted.
Submitted photographs may be selected to represent winning entries in the Summer issue of Detroit Design and in related print, digital, social media, editorial, and promotional materials. Image selection, placement, size, and cropping are at the discretion of the art department.
JUDGING
An independent panel of judges is selected from outside Michigan. Judges may include nationally recognized professionals from media, academia, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and related design disciplines.
Entries are judged anonymously, and identifying company information is not provided to judges.
All judges’ decisions are final.
PHOTOGRAPHY & CONTENT USE
Entrants must secure and submit royalty-free or reuse-authorized photographs from their photographer before submitting images for use in Detroit Design, DetroitDesignMag.com, and related Detroit Design Awards materials at no additional charge.
By submitting materials, including images, descriptions, and other content, the entrant grants Detroit Design magazine a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, edit, crop, and publish the submitted materials solely in connection with the Detroit Design Awards program.
This includes use in print, digital, and social media formats, as well as in future editorial and promotional campaigns related to the Detroit Design Awards.
Ownership of the original materials remains with the submitter. It is the entrant’s responsibility to inform the photographer of these terms.
GUIDELINES & ADDITIONAL TERMS
Only the primary entrant will receive an award.
If other companies, designers, or homeowners contributed to the project and would like to receive an award, duplicate plaques may be purchased after the winner letter is received for an additional cost of $115 per plaque.
Additional contributors will not be mentioned during the awards ceremony, on the award plaque, or in the magazine unless the individual or company was listed as a co-entrant.
Important: If a co-entrant is listed on an entry, the co-entrant’s name will appear as a co-winner with the primary entrant’s company name in the magazine and on the award plaque if the submission is selected as a winner. Entries may include no more than two co-entrants.
The submission form includes a separate area to list additional project contributors. This section is optional. Contributors listed in this area will not receive an award plaque if the entry is selected as a winner. Their names may, however, be included in Detroit Design Awards editorial coverage.
If a category does not receive sufficient participation, Detroit Design reserves the right to remove the category from that year’s competition. If a category is removed, the entry fee will be refunded for affected entries.
Failure to comply fully with competition rules may result in disqualification.
Entry fees are non-refundable and will not be returned if an entry is determined to be ineligible or is disqualified.
Hour Media is not responsible for lost, stolen, ineligible, misdirected, damaged, corrupted, incomplete, or otherwise unusable entries or materials.
Winning submissions become part of the Detroit Design Awards program archive. Detroit Design retains publishing and promotional rights to submitted photography and content in accordance with the Photography & Content Use terms.
SPECIAL AWARDS
DESIGN ICON
The Design Icon Award honors a visionary whose influence has left a lasting mark on Michigan’s design community. Nominees must have more than 35 years of experience in the fields of interior design and decor, architecture, building, landscape design, or millwork.
Nominations must be submitted by someone other than the nominee. No fee is required for nomination. The Design Icon will be contacted in January for a formal editorial interview and will be introduced at the annual gala in June.
RISING STAR
Rising Star nominees must have fewer than 10 consecutive years of experience in their field and must have completed at least one significant project.
Nominations must be submitted by someone other than the nominee. Nominees will be contacted to provide a complete portfolio, résumé, and professional photo. No fee is required for nomination.
READERS’ CHOICE
The Readers’ Choice Best Overall Home Award is presented to the project that receives the most votes from Detroit Design readers at DetroitDesignMag.com.
All projects submitted in the Best Overall Home category are automatically featured online for readers to vote on and are eligible to win the Readers’ Choice Best Overall Home Award.
WINNER RECOGNITION
1. FEATURED IN DETROIT DESIGN
Winning projects may be featured in Detroit Design’s annual Design Awards editorial coverage, including the Summer awards issue and related winner spotlights.
See Last Year’s 2026 Summer Issue of Detroit Design: Digital Issue on https://issuu.com/hour_media/docs/detroit_design_summer_2026
See Last Year’s 2026 Detroit Design Awards Editorial Articles on DetroitDesignMag.com on https://detroitdesignmag.com/category/detroit-design-awards/
2. RECOGNIZED ON AWARD PLAQUES
Winning entries are recognized on official Detroit Design Award plaques. Additional/duplicate plaque orders can also be made.
QUESTIONS?
For entry questions, submission support, or award information, please reach out.
MAIN CONTACT
Lachlan O’Neill
Email: loneill@hour-media.com
Direct: (248) 268-8051