“Winning a Design Week Award helped us recruit new talent and reach new clients”

The Design Week Awards is open for entries and submitting could help you recruit top talent, win new business and give your work the credit it deserves.

We spoke to Method – winners of the Design Week Awards 2017 in the website design category – which designed a new digital platform for San Francisco Ballet.

Method was tasked with creating an online destination that recognised the legacy of what is the longest standing professional ballet company in the US and reconciling this with attracting the next generation of dance enthusiasts and donors, while providing a coherent experience across all touchpoints.

Taking a visual and editorial storytelling approach, Method was able to increase engagement with new and existing audiences. Judges were impressed by the way that the site balanced aesthetics and user experience (UX) to create something that was effective and beautifully designed.

At the time, the judges said: “Like the ballet, this website has motion, pace, and the art direction is inspiring and experiential. Beautiful photography and dancer profiles make it accessible and the design is intuitive, rich and engaging.”

Method, which has studios in San Francisco, New York and London, says that winning a Design Week Award has helped it to attract top class designers. The award’s value is recognised by prospective clients in pitches, the studio adds, and it increases the credibility of their work.

Method’s marketing lead Laura Ascenso says that anybody thinking of entering a Design Week Award needs to have a piece of incredible work – “Something truly stand-out that deserves the recognition of an award like this.”

She adds: “You really need to break boundaries with what you’re doing. If you have this, the next thing is to understand how to tell the story for your submission; whether that’s through a video narrative, photography or any other supporting material, the main thing is to bring the piece of work to life.”

You can find out how to enter here.