Design and Technology Exhibition

Design and Technology Exhibition General Information

Scenery, Costume, Light, Sound and Make-up Design Awards

Design Awards: National and Regional

A major element of our annual festival is the Design & Technologies Exhibition which provides opportunities for students, faculty and staff to share work from all areas of theater; some realized projects and some ‘paper’ projects.

Design awards in Region I are given at both the national and regional levels. A student may enter a design (or more, as long as they are separate entries) for either national or regional competition, but not both. Designs are presented at the Region I festival to a panel of respondents who are professional and/or academic designers and are not affiliated with Region I. Respondents may elect to not award a winner in any category (national or regional) even if there are entries that meet the basic eligibility requirements. Respondents may also elect to award regionally sponsored “honorable mention” or “meritorious achievement” accolades to notable work regardless of entry level.

National competition is limited to productions that have been entered at the Associate or Participating level for KCACTF in that year. Barbizon sponsored awards are given in Scenery, Costumes and Lighting. The Mehron sponsored award is given for Makeup Design. A KCACTF award is given for Sound Design. All finalists are eligible to compete at the KCACTF National Festival at the Kennedy Center where overall winners in each category are selected from this competition. In 2003, the Mehron winner from Region I also received over $100 worth of makeup products from Mehron.

Requirements for National (Barbizon and Mehron) Awards:

The designer must be a bona fide student at the time of initial screening of the project. For these awards a bona fide student is defined as an undergraduate student registered for at least 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours; a graduate student registered for at least 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours; a continuing part-time student enrolled in a regular degree or certificate program.
The designer must present his work at the KCACTF Region I festival and orally defend his presentation at the design response session.
Students must also register individually for the Region I Festival

Regional competition is limited to productions that have not been entered at the Associate or Participating level for KCACTF in that year. These designs may in any category, either produced or paper projects. In 2003, a modest monetary award was given to Region I winners in Scenery, Costumes, Lighting and Sound.

Requirements for Regional Awards:

The designer must be a bona fide student at the time of initial screening of the project. For these awards a bona fide student is defined as an undergraduate student registered for at least 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours; a graduate student registered for at least 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours; a continuing part-time student enrolled in a regular degree or certificate program.
The designer must present his work at the KCACTF Region I festival and orally defend his presentation at the design response session
Students must also register individually for the Region I Festival

What your presentation should include

Designers should present their designs as professionally as possible. You should be prepared to give a brief verbal overview of your design that will last no longer than two to three minutes maximum. You must leave time for the respondents to comment and time is limited. The visual or audio presentation should be self explanatory and should include:

your name
your design area and name of show
a brief summary of the design concept (what did you try to accomplish)
selected important research
include materials that are appropriate to your design such as:

models or renderings
production photographs
CD or tape of finished sound design and a means of listening to it
appropriate paperwork like cue sheets, costume plots, drafting, etc.
actual costumes, props or other small displayable items (dress forms not provided. You must bring your own.)
other material that you feel helps explain your approach and product

You will be given part of a table space, approximately 30 by 36 inches. Have a self standing board to display items and pin pictures on. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to attach artwork to the hotel walls.

Include everything you will need to display:

extension cords
headphones
dress forms
pins, tape, stands, etc.

How to register

Individual designers should register for the festival using the 2009 Registration Form found at http://www.kcactf1.org/festival_info.asp. Register early to get the best available price. To enter your production through the KCACTF national office go to the National Website. All designers from a Participating (whether chosen or not) or Associate entry are automatically eligible to compete.