For those of you who have been paying attention, With Kerlaff recently invited all comers to submit new designs for the Shadow Screen service. The opportunity was sponsored by Channel 4 and hosted by Central Station, and the shortlist of ten entries can be seen here. Comments are welcome before the final decision in just over a week; the winning entry will receive a cash prize of £500 but any number of the shortlisted entries could be offered licence agreements.

One of the ambitions of this opportunity is that it offered value, not only to the sponsor(s) of the event but also to those involved. In a ‘stakeholder’ analysis of the Shadow Screen service, the main group that is not represented is the Shadow Screen clients – architects and interior designers who actually specify the screens. I would love to hear comments on the entries from those who actually will be using them, because the breadth of entries suggests some fascinating questions regarding value.

For example, what place should the Shadow Screen occupy in the hierarchy of an interior design palette? Some of the entries clearly demand to be centre stage, whilst others would be more valuable as contributors to the overall experience. How much attention should a screen demand, or expect?

For my own part, I will be trying to tread a line between rewarding those designs which question the boundaries of the material, and developing commercially viable patterns. These might be exactly the same things, but also might be divergent. I look forward not only to seeing the winning design made, but also to discovering which of these concerns actually shapes the relative impact of each design.

See the entries and comment here

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