The RSA’s central mission is to foster good citizenship by closing the gap between our everyday behaviour and the future to which we aspire.

In line with this mission, the RSA Student Design Awards scheme rewards the formal judgment traditionally associated with design and design craft, as well as design's essential optimism with respect to progress and change. The RSA Student Design Awards programme asks young designers to demonstrate how the insights and processes of design can increase the resourcefulness of people and communities. Thus, the RSA works with leading design educators to ensure that the Student Design Awards scheme nurtures young professionals to develop their formal skill and practical confidence whilst demonstrating to people and communities all the powerful things design can do. 

A consultation process with tutors, students, past winners and practising designers in recent years yielded a series of changes to the current scheme to clarify the design task, the judging criteria and the scope of possible responses. In addition, the timetable was amended to give students and tutors more flexibility to work on the projects within their curriculum.

Following the success of these changes in the 2010/11 scheme, we have kept the language of the briefs simple and have introduced the requirement for an even more concise statement of 250 words describing the submission or ‘big idea’. A shorter and pithier text will enable the jury to review submissions more efficiently and effectively and encourages students to be more rigorous in explaining their own work. 

2011 marks a milestone in the 87-year history of the RSA Student Design Awards as it is the 40th consecutive year that Royal Mail has sponsored the Postage stamps brief. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank Royal Mail and all our sponsors for their long-standing support of the RSA Student Design Awards scheme and the breadth of briefs they have developed over the years. 

The 2011/12 projects address important social issues, such as the workplace and working conditions of the future (Tomorrow’s workplace); education and three-dimensional understanding (In the round); intergenerational relationships (Something for everyone); collaborative consumption (Shared assets); and high quality public design (Postage stamps and Recharging stations).

I look forward to another successful year of the RSA Student Design Awards with inspirational and innovative responses to these challenging briefs from talented young designers across the UK and abroad.

Sevra Davis
Senior Developer, Design Education
September 2011