For anyone interested in design competitions, Autodesk acquired Instructables.com; an online community of creative and innovative people who share and discover DIY projects and how-to information.  As part of the “Maker Movement’ with roots in technology and individualism, Instructables fosters invention within its community, supporting and encouraging ideas and personal design.

Autodesk has just opened a design competition at Instructables for everyone “who makes something that can be reasonably described as art or design.”  The object of the open-ended competition is to share your 3D printed, micro-controlled, animated, photographic, sculpted, canvassed, fabricated, fashionable, jeweled, furnished, automotive, or graphic project.  Judging will be on the basis of the following criteria – “clarity, ingenuity, creativity, quality of presentation, and execution of the Instructable.”  Finalists are determined by a combination of user votes and multiple judges.

Grand prizes include a Full Spectrum New Hobby Laser Cutter, an Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display and a Canon EOS-M camera.  The deadline to enter is January 29, 2013.