Expressions of interest for The SAY Award Design Commission 2025 are NOW OPEN!
Each year, The SAY Award Design Commission sees an artist, designer or maker create bespoke prizes for the bands and artists recognised at The SAY Award Ceremony, highlighting the enduring links between music, art and design in Scotland. Previous makers have fabricated jesmonite arches, used natural slate veneer, and have created sand-cast sculptures using recycled glass.
As part of The SAY Award’s host city partnership with Dundee, the artist or designer selected for 2025’s commission will be living or working in the Dundee City Council area.
The SAY Award Design Commission offers a fee of £3,000 for the design and manufacture (including materials and packaging) of the fourteen required awards. The creative chosen and the prizes they produce will be amplified across SAY Award social media channels, and supported by our host city partners, Leisure and Culture Dundee, V&A Dundee, Dundee City Council and UNESCO Dundee City of Design.
The prizes will be showcased at this year’s SAY Award , taking place on Thursday 6 November at Dundee’s Caird Hall.. A short video package on the commission will be shown at the live event, prior to the commissioned prizes being presented to some of Scotland’s most outstanding musical talent.
Applicants are invited to outline how they would propose to embed sustainability at the forefront of all stages of the process, giving consideration to design, materials, manufacture and packaging.
We encourage applicants to take inspiration from the city and region of Dundee.
Last year we commissioned Dunblane-based contemporary glass maker Elin Isaksson who created striking glass sculptures, sand-cast from local natural rocks, which used gem-like fragments of coloured glass recycled from previous commissions. Each award was a stunning reflection of the colours of the Scottish landscape.
We’re excited to return to questions around what an ‘award’ is in the context of the climate emergency, whilst recognising the importance of both music and design to our cultural lives.
If you'd like to be considered, please read the below brief and register your interest before midnight on Tuesday 15 July.
BRIEF
The Design Commission invites Expressions of Interest from artists, designers or makers living or working in the Dundee City Council area to create fourteen bespoke prizes for the bands and artists recognised at this year’s Scottish Album of the Year Award (SAY) Ceremony. At this stage, we are not asking for ideas/sketches or concepts.
- Applicants should demonstrate what format their concept of an award would take, their proposed materials, and how they would embed sustainability at the forefront of the design and production process.
- Applicants are encouraged to take inspiration from the city and region of Dundee.
- Applicants are invited to reflect on the concept of what an ‘award’ is in the context of the climate emergency, whilst celebrating how music and design elevate our lives.
- Applicants are invited to think outside of the box and steer away from ideas which resemble a ‘traditional’ award - no brass plaques!
- The awards produced will be presented to the winners at the live award ceremony. Whatever format the awards take, it is required that they are of a suitable size to be visible for the live audience, carry the award ‘name’ and work for the event photography. We suggest applicants look at the awards created by the previous Design Commissions using the links below. Suggested minimum height per award is 25cm.
For The SAY Design Commission 2025, we require the production of 14 awards in total:
- 1 x Winner of The SAY Award 2025 will receive a bespoke award
- 9 x SAY Award Shortlist awards - these 9 awards should be the same
- 1 x Modern Scottish Classic Award – bespoke award
- 1 x The Sound of Young Scotland Award – bespoke award
- 2 x replicas of The SAY Award Winner award for the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA)
After the Expressions of Interest window closes on Tuesday 15 July, our Design Commission panel will choose the creative who will be awarded the commission. The SAY Award team will work with the appointed creative to discuss and agree the final concept. Catch-ups will be scheduled during the production process to help keep the project on track and address any questions which may arise.
The project timeline is detailed below. Applicants should ensure the project timeline works for them prior to submitting an Expression of Interest.
Project Timeline:
Past commissions include:
Elin Isaksson (2024) unique glass awards sand-cast from natural rocks featuring gem-like fragments of recycled coloured glass, and reflecting the colours of the Scottish landscape. You can learn more by watching this short video:
Brutal Concrete Workshop (2023) bejewelled low-carbon concrete with recycled glass terrazzo to create statuesque totems cast from recycled moulds. You can learn more by watching this short video:
ART FUTURO (2022) who fused natural slate veneer with technology to create bespoke trophies that were both sculptural and useful. You can learn more by watching this short video:
Still Life (2021) who used 21kg of waste plastic to create 2021’s prizes, challenging and changing perceptions around what we consider as waste altogether. You can learn more by watching this short video:
Check out examples of other trophies/prizes created as part of The SAY Design Commission over the years: https://www.localheroes.design/project/say-award-design-commission
