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ABOUT

While the competition has now finished we are still looking for people to submit ideas for inclusion on the website and to form part of a future exhbition. Please download the brief and submit your ideas for hope the vote, the running of elections and the forming of government can be changed.


When we received the entries for our previous competition (Common of Houses: No Expense Spared) we noticed that most entrants were keen not just to see changes in the rules governing MPs’ expenses but also to see major changes in the way in which Government is actually formed and operates.

We started to think about other aspects of Government policy/ procedures that could do with a creative redesign. If we were to start again, what, and how would designers change the way that politics runs in this country? With the election guaranteed to be coming up in May 2010 there seemed like only one sensible place to start – the vote.

“In a representative democracy, voting commonly implies election: a way for an electorate to select among candidates for office. In politics voting is the method by which the electorate of a democracy appoints representatives in its government.”

Voting reform is a bit of a hot topic at the moment, not just because of the forth coming election but also as “reform” has become a bit of a political toy in the wake of the MPs’ expense fiasco with each of the main parties trying to outdo each other in the drastic measures they advise are required to fix the “broken” system. One of these measures being electoral reform, but how enthusiastic are the main parties to change a system which has served them so well for so long?

BRIEF
This is where we need you, the creative minds of the UK (and elsewhere). Basically the challenge is to suggest how you would redesign the voting system. This could be through:

1. Redesigning the voting forms for the current system.
2. Designing a new voting form for one of the alternative voting systems or your own.
3. Designing how the vote is actually taken – punch card, electronic machine, ticking a box.
4. Another aspect of the vote ie a poster encouraging people to vote.

Exactly how this works is up to you. It could be a dating agency questionaire to match you to a party with similar views or it could be a large jar of coloured marbles which get drop into a slot. For more information on alternative forms of voting system please read a short description here.

COMPETITON
A panel of judges reviewed all the entries and will chose their favourite for a prize.

PRIZES
As per our previous competition the prize is decided by the entrants. Each entrant is asked to submit a prize nomination. Thses nominations will then be put to the public vote. If your design is successful, we will try to provide you with whatever is the voted upon prize. As the budget is limited - there obviously may have to be artistic license used in the representation of your prize.

SUBMISSION
While the competition has now finished we are still looking for people to submit ideas for inclusion on the website and to form part of a future exhbition. Please download the brief and submit your ideas for hope the vote, the running of elections and the forming of government can be changed.

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CONTACT

While the competition has now finished we are still looking for people to submit ideas for inclusion on the website and to form part of a future exhbition. Please download the brief and submit your ideas for hope the vote, the running of elections and the forming of government can be changed.


For any further information or questions please contact :
info@commonofhouses.co.uk


For more of our projects, please visit http://www.holeinmypocket.com/

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FAQ

When does the competition close?
While the competition has now finished we are still looking for people to submit ideas for inclusion on the website and to form part of a future exhbition. Please download the brief and submit your ideas for hope the vote, the running of elections and the forming of government can be changed.



Where did the idea for the competition come from?This competition is a spin off of the competition we organised in 2009 entitled Common of Houses: No expense spared. That competition came about when we were sitting reading the paper one day - on one page was an article all about the second home expense problems and accusing some minister or other of having done a diddle of his accounts and on the other page, an article about the huge rise in unemployment within the architecture Industry. The two seemed destined to cancel each other out and so we decided to set about killing two birds with one stone. It became clear through the entries we received for CoH: NES that people were keen to see more areas of democracy re-designed and with the General Election coming up in May, the system and methods on which voting operates was the natural choice.
Who are the judges?
Lost of top names from the design and political world including Patrick Burgoyne, Michael Johnson, Michael Wolff and Medhi Hassa. To see them all click here.
Is the competition fun or serious?
Both. While we want to encourage people to think out the box and suggest any and all manner of possible solutions to the problem - the basis of the competition is to encourage an open and thoughtful debate about some serious issues facing our society and hopefully generate some actual proposals on how to solve them. We really want to see beautifully thought out and crafted proposals capable of both dealing with the brief but being future symbols of the UK. Who can come up with an idea that both solves the problems but also creates a modern UK design icon?
What are the submission requirements/ the brief?
Take a look at our downloads page for more info.
How much does it cost to enter?
The competition is free to enter. Full brief and rules can be found on the downloads page.
What is the prize?
The main prize is for you to choose. Each participant is asked to also include a fake expense claim/ receipt for something they would like to win. If your design wins then we will try to make your expense request come true. Obviously due to budget constraints there may need to be a great deal of artistic license used in the representation of your prize.
We are also currently in discussion with project partners over prizes that they can supply for the main winner but at the judges discretion there may be more than one prize or there may even be the opportunity to develop some concepts to a further level.
Who are Hole in my Pocket?The himpsters at work (giving a lecture on astro pyhsics to the Nobel prize committee)
'Hole in my Pocket', are a dynamic art duo whose multi-disciplinary antics include film, painting, sculpture, design, architecture, illustration and travelling around Scotland with an air hostess trolley.
Their first project together saw them win the Pigeonhole City competition run by GLAS in conjunction with The Lighthouse in Glasgow and judged by Cedric Price.
In recent times they have directed some short short films for Channel 4, written some mini books, participated in various art exhibitions, created The Smallworld Experiment and designed a Storytelling Machine as part of the permanent exhibition collection for the new museum and gallery in the Shetland Isles.
Basically they jump around from one project to another depending on what interests them at any particular time.
(They also make very fine pancakes - contact them and they might send you one. )
To find out more about our further adventures and details of all our other exciting projects then please visit our main site at http://www.holeinmypocket.com/
If anyone has any further questions then please drop us an email info@commonofhouses.co.uk

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ENTRIES

Entires will appear here shortly.

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BRIEF

While the competition has been won, we are still looking for people to send in their ideas for how the voting system and setting up of government can be changed for a future exhibition.
For the full brief and submission guidelines please click on the link below or right click and choose "save target as . . ." to save a copy to your computer



 Click here to download a PDF copy of the brief.

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COMPETITON LAUNCH

News of the competition launch will be announced shortly.

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