Going into its ninth year, ‘Lucid Ideas’ is the latest edition of the annual prototype exhibition organized by DesignTO in partnership with Umbra. A dozen new prototypes by Canadian designers are shown each year at the Umbra Store during the DesignTO Festival. This year, ‘Lucid Ideas’ invites designers anywhere to submit to this open call for submissions.
All selected prototypes will also be considered for addition to Umbra’s growing roster of quality products, to be manufactured, distributed, and sold through the Umbra brand, with royalty. For example, The Bolo Planter by Simone Ferkul has been in the Umbra collection since 2018, and the Cono Lamp by Allstudio is being produced by Umbra and will soon be available for purchase globally.
Call for Submissions
The exhibition invites designers to consider how the material quality of translucency could be considered in homeware design. To what extent can the process of obscuring light be transformative? Alongside providing functionality, how can an object be created to accommodate multiple meanings, allowing them to be understood as many things at the same time? Where does design intent and user perception meet?
Design Considerations
- An understanding of Umbra’s core values: modern, original, casual, functional, and affordable
- Anticipate or integrate technological developments
- A product that can be used in multiple contexts
- A product with a long lifeline
- A product that you want, and that you can afford
- Aesthetics, functionality, manufacturability
- Global appeal
- Submissions of new work are preferred and strongly encouraged; however, submissions of work that have been publicly displayed before will be considered
- Applicants can submit more than one entry using one submission per form
Submission Requirements
- A description of the product (max. 150 words) — please be sure to include the following details: title, function, materials, dimensions
- A short bio on you and/or your creative practice (max. 150 words)
- 2-3 images of the prototype, such as a digital rendering, drawing, or sketch (max. 2MB per image)
- Your contact info (name, email, phone number, mailing address), and website URL and social media handles (if available)
- Signed copy of Umbra’s Design Submission Agreement (in PDF format)
