ASID Texas

2026 Celebrating Design Texas Awards

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Awards Program Dates

Awards Program Open
From: April 17, 2026 8:00AM CSTTo: May 29, 2026 5:00PM CST

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Rules & Regulations

ASID TEXAS CHAPTER
2026 CELEBRATING DESIGN TEXAS AWARDS

 

ATTENTION: For those who entered the 2026 Austin Design Excellence Awards (DEX) organized by the Austin Design Community:

We provided a convenient solution for submitting your entries directly into the Celebrating Design Texas Awards:

  • When submitting each of your DEX entries, at the bottom of the "Designer/Team Information" section there was a box to check if you wanted to save that particular entry for submission into Celebrating Design Texas (CDT). You were to have checked this box in each entry that you wished to enter into both competitions. If you did not check the box for a DC competition entry, then that entry was not saved for CDT. If you did check the box on an entry, then it has copied over to the CDT competition.
  • Once the CDT competition opens on April 17th, you must pay to activate your DEX entries for the CDT competition in order for them to be judged. After payment you may make any changes to the entries you would like before the May 29th CDT competition deadline.
  • NOTE: The re-entry fees follow the same Early Bird pricing structure as new entry fees do. Scroll down to the ENTRY FEES section for details.

How to pay to activate your DEX entries for CDT:

  • Sign In to your CPJAM account and click on the word “Register” in the blue bar at top of this webpage or the green "Register" button in the "Awards Program Dates" box to the right. In the “Select Items” menu, you'll see that the top three options are called:
    • "DC Competition Re-Entry Fee (for Designer Categories)" - applies to all categories except the 2 Emerging Professional categories + the 2 Student categories
    • "DC Competition Re-Entry Fee (for 2 Emerging Professionals Categories)" - applies to the 2 Emerging Professional categories
    • "DC Competition Re-Entry Fee (for 2 Student Categories)" - applies to the 2 Student categories
  • Choose the number and type of DEX competition entries you are re-entering into CDT. DO NOT PURCHASE ANY NEW CATEGORIES UNLESS YOU ARE ENTERING NEW PROJECTS YOU DID NOT PREVIOUSLY ENTER INTO DEX.
  • Once you have made your selections, click on the green “Go To Checkout” button at the very bottom to proceed with payment.

 

VERY IMPORTANT:

It is critical that you read all of the information provided below, as well as all of the information provided in the 4 documents located in the “Downloadable Files” section on the right side of this page, which are:

  • Competition Categories 
  • Competition Submittal Information
  • Owner Permission Form
  • Photography Permission Form

Also, as to avoid critical notifications from going to your spam/junk folder, add the email address support@cpjam.com to your email address books.

 

ENTRY PROCESS
  • All entries will be submitted online through this competition website between Fri, Apr 17 @ 8:00 AM CT – Fri, May 29 @ 5:00 PM CT.
  • Entries may be started, partially finished, and saved before the submission deadline. In other words, you do not have to submit all of the entry components at the same time.
  • Once an entry is complete, click the "Submit" button at the bottom of your entry. Even if you click the "Submit" button, you may still go back and edit your entry up until the deadline, but be sure to press the "Submit" button again when you finish making updates.
ENTRY DEADLINE

All entry information, Owner and Photography permission forms, drawings, and photos with payment must be completed online and submitted on the competition website no later than Fri, May 29 @ 5:00 PM CT. THERE WILL BE NO DEADLINE EXTENSIONS.

ENTRY FEES

Entry fees are as follows:

  • Designer categories [includes the 2 Industry Collaboration categories] + Re-Entry Fees:
    • Early Bird [Fri, Apr 17 @ 8:00 AM CT – Fri, May 8 @ 5:00 PM CT]: $75 per entry
    • Regular [Fri, May 8 @ 5:00 PM CT– Fri, May 29 @ 5:00 PM CT]: $100 per entry
  • Emerging Professional categories [1 Commercial and 1 Residential] + Re-Entry Fees:
    • Early Bird [Fri, Apr 17 @ 8:00 AM CT – Fri, May 8 @ 5:00 PM CT]: $35 per entry
    • Regular [Fri, May 8 @ 5:00 PM CT– Fri, May 29 @ 5:00 PM CT]: $50 per entry
  • Student categories [1 Commercial and 1 Residential] + Re-Entry Fees: 
    • Early Bird [Fri, Apr 17 @ 8:00 AM CT – Fri, May 8 @ 5:00 PM CT]: $15 per entry
    • Regular [Fri, May 8 @ 5:00 PM CT– Fri, May 29 @ 5:00 PM CT]: $25 per entry

Entrants to pay all entry fees online via credit card on this competition website at the time of initial entry registration. 

VERY IMPORTANT: The addition of the Early Bird pricing and the extended submission window means that THERE WILL BE NO REFUNDS for incomplete entries. Therefore, be careful only to purchase entries for projects for which you intend to fully complete the submission process.

 

ELIGIBLE ENTRANTS

The Celebrating Design Texas competition is open to the following ASID members within the ASID Texas Chapter:

Designers (Practitioners, Designer Affiliates & Firm Partners):

  • The Primary Entrant must be officially assigned to the ASID Texas Chapter. 
  • The Primary Entrant must have been the Lead Designer of the project team.
  • The Primary Entrant must be an ASID individual Practitioner member (Professional, Allied and Associate), Designer Affiliate, or listed as part of a Firm Partner and must be in good standing with ASID.

Emerging Professionals: 

  • For the 2 Emerging Professional categories (Commercial & Residential), an Emerging Professional is defined as someone who has earned their Interior Design degree within the last 5 years and is currently practicing interior design.
  • Emerging Professionals must also meet all of the criteria stated above in the Designers section.
  • Emerging Professionals are also allowed to enter all other categories for Designers.

Industry Partners & Non-Designer Affiliates: 

  • For the 2 Industry Collaboration categories (Commercial & Residential), the collaboration with the Designer must occur with an ASID Industry Partner or non-Designer Affiliate in good standing with ASID.
  • The Designer must be the Primary Entrant and should be the who actually submits the entry.
  • The ASID Industry Partner Representative or non-Designer Affiliate must be named in the entry under the “Team Members and Titles” field of “Designer/Team Information” section of the Entry Form.

Students: 

  • Student members must be in good standing with ASID as either an individual Student member or under the umbrella of a Higher Education Partner.
  • As long as a Student member is enrolled in a program that falls under the umbrella of the ASID Texas Chapter or is individually assigned to the ASID Texas Chapter, he/she may enter this competition. 
  • For the 2 Student categories (Commercial & Residential), if submitting a group project, the Student member must list student collaborators (whether or not they are ASID Student members) under the “Team Members and Titles” field of “Designer/Team Information” section of the Entry Form.
ELIGIBLE ENTRIES
  • Each project entered must have been completed after January 1, 2021.
  • The location of the project does not matter - just where the designer/firm is located.
  • If a project has ever been a winner in Celebrating Design Texas then it cannot be resubmitted. A winner includes all categories, either 1st or 2nd Place.
  • If a project has been submitted previously into Celebrating Design Texas and not won in ANY category, then it can be resubmitted.
  • If a project has won other awards through design contests such as SubZero-Wolf, IIDA, IDS, NKBA, NARI, etc. it can be submitted as long as it meets the above requirements.
  • Previously published projects may be entered.
  • Comprehensive projects may be entered in only one (1) category. However, different rooms from the same project may be entered in multiple categories if they are not included/shown as part of the comprehensive project. For example… If you enter XYZ Residence in “R02: Entire Residence (< 5,000 SF)”, “R04: Kitchen – New Construction” and “R10: Bathroom – New Construction”, then photos included in the kitchen and bathroom entries may NOT also be included in the entry for “R02: Entire Residence (< 5,000 SF)”.
  • Only two (2) projects per Entrant/Firm per category are allowed.
  • All entries must adhere to entry requirements and judging criteria. Failure to comply with these specifications will result in disqualification of entry and forfeiture of the entry fees.
DESCRIPTIONS / PHOTOGRAPHY / DRAWINGS
  • No identification of designer, firm or project shall be included in the Design Concept Statement, Project Challenges, Project Design Solutions, Impact Statement, or photo captions. Entries failing to follow instructions will be disqualified with no refund.
  • No identification of designer, firm or project shall be visible on uploaded photography and/or drawings (including file names), including Designer name / Firm name and respective logos, trademarks, etc. However, in commercial design categories, it is acceptable for Client's company logos and signage to appear in photographs. Entries failing to follow instructions will be disqualified with no refund.
  • If the photos submitted do not have permission to be published by both the Photographer and the Owner, then the project cannot be entered. 
  • Professional photographs are not required, but high quality photos definitely help “sell” the project to judges. You may want to reference the webinar "How To Take Magazine Worthy Smartphone Photos" that the ASID Texas Chapter offered in 2022.
  • During the submission process, indicate the ONE photograph - which cannot be a PDF file - you would like to have published to represent your project should you be a winner. To do this, click the image thumbnail, then click “Edit/View,” and then click the checkbox that says “Select as entry cover photo.”
  • For larger projects that may contain many spaces, it is allowed to include multiple photographs on single page and upload as a single image for one of your photographs; however, no multi-photograph image like this may be designated as your Cover Photo. See an example of this in the “Submittal Information” document in the Downloadable Files section.

 

JUDGING CRITERIA

100 points possible with the following breakdown for all categories except the 5 categories listed below:

  • Design Concept Statement: 15 points
  • Design Challenges & Solutions: 20 points
  • Effective Space Planning/Functional Use of Space: 15 points
  • Scale & Proportion: 15 points
  • Creativity: 15 points
  • Overall Quality of Project (Except for the two Student Categories, takes into account how the project’s design impacted the lives of its occupants.): 20 points

100 points possible with the following breakdown for categories A03, C15, C16, R20 & R21:

  • Design Concept Statement: 15 points
  • Design Challenges & Solutions: 20 points
  • Scale & Proportion: 15 points
  • Creativity: 25 points
  • Overall Quality of Project (Takes into account how the project’s design impacted the lives of its occupants.): 25 points

Judges are selected from ASID Practitioner members across the nation and represent a variety of disciplines. They reserve the right to award any combination of honors in a particular category – e.g. a 2nd Place in absence of a 1st Place. Judges may also re-categorize any entry, if in their opinion, it has been entered in the wrong category or if the entry is better suited to another category. The judges reserve the right not to issue an award for a category where they feel the quality of work does not meet the design standards.

TIPS FOR WINNING ENTRIES
  • When writing your Design Concept Statement, Project Challenges, Project Design Solutions, Impact Statement, and Photo Captions, take great care to include as many relevant details as possible to demonstrate the extensive thought process, knowledge base, and skill set used to formulate the design. Vague and/or scant explanations score lower. Pay attention to grammar, spelling, and typos, and take care to write professionally and in complete sentences.
  • When uploading project and/or “Before” photos, take the time to caption each photo with detailed information about what the photo is showing – i.e. design details, identification of materials, challenges overcome, design solutions, etc.
  • Always keep in mind that Judges will be evaluating on the Design Concept Statement, Design Challenges & Solutions, Scale & Proportion, Creativity, Effective Space Planning/Functional Use of Space (for applicable categories), and Overall Quality of Project, which takes into account how the project’s design impacted the lives of its occupants.
EVEN MORE TIPS FOR WINNING ENTRIES

On January 26th we hosted the live virtual training session “Entering ASID Texas Design Competitions - What You Need to Know” for our members. We went through the process step-by-step to help you prepare in advance, avoid mistakes, and put your best foot forward for the judges. If you didn't get to join us, it's no problem because we recorded it! 

Watch the Webinar Recording on YouTube
Download a Summary [PDF] of the Webinar

 

AWARDS EVENT

We are thrilled to announce that ASID Headquarters has chosen to hold the 2026 version of GATHER, the ASID National Conference, in Dallas September 16-18, 2026! This dynamic event will bring together ASID members from all across the USA and will overlap with Dallas Market Center's ArchLIGHT Summit and Dallas Design Week for even more value.

For this reason, in 2026 the ASID Texas Chapter will not hold the Education & Expo portion of our chapter conference Celebrating Design Texas (CDT) - i.e., there will be no conference because we want our members to attend and support GATHER26.

However, we will still hold the CDT Awards Event in conjunction with GATHER Catalyst. Our celebratory event where we announce and honor the winners will take place Thursday, September 17 from 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM at Dallas Market Center's World Trade Center [2050 Stemmons Freeway | Dallas, TX 75207] on the 11th Floor. Stay tuned to the ASID Texas CDT website for details and registration!

 

QUESTIONS

If you have a question about…

  • Any membership level status or verification
  • Emerging Professionals status or categories
  • Industry Partner / non-practitioner Affiliate status or categories
  • How an entry should be classified
  • If you or your School falls under the umbrella of the ASID Texas Chapter
  • Or anything else

...then contact Chapter I.T. Chair and Celebrating Design Texas Awards Chair Laura McDonald Stewart, FASID: laura_mcdonald@mac.com / 214-394-2963 c.

 

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING AND GOOD LUCK!
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