Keep it clear and simple
It is important to provide a clear narrative for your projects and keep the layout and organisation of your images simple and straightforward. Highlight what makes the project unique, its environmental components, its long-term value, and how it raises the bar for the profession. The faster the jury understands your scheme and the better the level of its clarity, the higher chances of winning you have.
Leverage on your uniqueness
You would know your own strengths. Bring out these strengths and speak less of your weaknesses unless you have an impressive narrative that turns things around. Similarly for projects, there are those which are unique and there are others that are more mundane; select your projects wisely for submission based on quality and not attempt to try your luck based on quantity.
Different context, different strengths
Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East regions is an area with many countries, cities, and diverse cultures. Do not assume that your low-cost project would pale against those exploring high end project. The jury does not just look at pretty images; they would like to understand your context, constraints, the client's brief and the different challenges raised by the context. Leverage on the intrinsic values of the site, the strength of your response within a specific cultural context and make that obvious and clear to the jury. Also understand that some of the projects you may have, however common in your environment, may not be common in other places.
Prepare in advance
Do not leave things to the last minute and scramble to organise your drawings, photographs and text. Am awards submission requiring careful planning and checking for any errors or mistakes made during rushed hours.
Good photography
Pictures speak louder than words. Good images speak for themselves. Invest in good photography of your projects as this would potentially be your publicity in media coverage. Be prudent in how you select your images based on the narrative description and category you have submitted into. This is also a good chance to impress the jury on first impressions.
Acknowledge your collaborators
It would be wise to highlight any inter-disciplinary involvement and give credit to your collaborators. Ambitious projects are generally more complex and more demanding in many aspects, so impress the jury on how your landscape response has successfully integrated the expertise from various professions on different levels.
Let it mature
Do not rush to submit projects where plants are yet to establish, and the project seems bare of vegetation. Let your plants and trees mature so that the images of your built project are impressive and reflect your design intent.
Not always about the end product
There are projects that deserve to win because of their processes and not necessarily the end product. Sometimes these processes are more valuable and serve a greater outcome than the finished product. Provide good images and clear narratives of these processes and do not underestimate their criticality.
Be contactable
Be prepared and be ready to be contactable once you have submitted. We do not want to simply disqualify any submission and would like to provide opportunities for rectification or request for any missing information. Hence it is wise that your company has someone ready to provide such information if called upon to do so.
