TTC Beard
The Designer Toy Awards season is upon us. It is a time of anticipation for the events that are forthcoming. If it’s DTA season, it is also Five Points Fest season and we are all anticipating that in NYC later this spring (but that’s a whole different story altogether), but with DTA season firmly in the air, it is time for the numerous (see: countless) social media posts (as we do every year) from our favourite artists asking for their friends, family, neighbours, haters etc to go and nominate the artist in question. There is a difference between nominated and being a DTA finalist. With that being said, here are a few pointers that I think will help you on your quest for that coveted DTA Finalist spot.
Artists, STOP!
Now isn’t the time to be asking for nominations, you have bigger things to think about right now. Let me talk you through a couple of things you can be doing in this nomination phase…
Think about 2019!
What did YOU do as an artist in 2019. From Jan 1st 2019 to Dec 31st 2019, what did you achieve? Go through your orders, your notes, your releases, your social media and make note of what made 2019 great for you as an artist. Make sure you collate all the nice images of your work, all the nice pieces of information such as the name of the art piece, your website/social media links. Now for the fun part…
NOMINATE YOURSELF!
You have now created a list of all the work that you are super happy you generated in 2019. It is time to feel proud about nominating yourself in the appropriate Designer Toy Award categories. This is no time to feel guilty or wrong for entering your own details. Ultimately, you WANT to get your work in front of the DTA Nomination Committee. It’s ok to rely on your friend, family, neighbour, haters etc, but what happens when they don’t nominate your work? Don’t count on others at this crucial stage. Log in to the DTA website and create your own nominations. Nominate everything you feel was a great addition to the Designer Toy community in 2019.
I’ve said this before, but worth repeating, it only takes one nomination to get in front of the DTA Nomination Committee. Whether that nomination comes from you or your momma, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you have a thousand nominations for one release, or just the one, the DTA Nomination Committee will have the chance to review your work and decide if it makes their cut to the finalists.
There is nothing wrong with a little self-nomination. It won’t make you go blind, won’t give you hairy palms etc. It will give you the opportunity to have your work reviewed by the DTA Nomination Committee. No one knows either. You can self-nominate in private.
Make sure 2019 Information is Clear!
Once you have nominated yourself for the great Designer Toys you have released in 2019, it is now important (VERY) to ensure that information is crystal clear on your social media/website.
Talking from experience on the DTA Nomination Committee, information is KEY! The DTA Nomination Committee go through each category and ensure that each & every nomination fits the criteria of the category. Did an art piece get made in sofubi, soft vinyl, resin? How many were released? Did it get delivered to collectors in 2019? These are all important aspects of ensuring that nomination are legit & deserve to be considered for the Designer Toy Awards. The DTA Nomination Committee often have to trawl through social media posts after social media posts to find information, and it is often lacking.
As an artist is your responsibility to have as much information as possible on your work. This goes beyond the Designer Toy Awards, in my opinion, if you have clear, concise information available to collectors, you will stand a better chance of making a sale. Collectors know what they need to do, when they need to do, where they need to do it etc, and this applies not only to Collectors but to the DTA Nomination Committee too, as it allows them to quickly navigate all the nominations and see the clear information for them to base their votes to decide on who makes it through to the all important finalist stage!
I should note that this shouldn’t be a deterrent for collectors to go nominate your favourite artists, releases, toys, stores, blogs, podcasts etc. FCUK YEAH you should totally go out there and nominate ALL your favourites. Even if you have 100 favourite resin releases – NOMINATE THEM ALL!
The Nomination period is about getting as many of your favourite releases in front of the DTA Nomination Committee.
How do the Awards work?
1. Open Nominations – Call for entries is open for anyone (yourself included) to make a relevant nomination. Nominations are private and will be used to determine the Finalists.
2. Nomination Committees – The DTAs host small committees of industry professionals and fans, carefully matched to categories in order to take the list of nominations and to determine the Finalists. The committees meet and discuss every entry, using the published list of award criteria to make their selections. These will be published on the website as the year’s official Finalists.
3. Voting – There are two voting blocks:
DTA Panel: DTA Panel: Industry professionals make up the DTA panel. They are charged with voting once per category for the winner in the panel-voted awards. Each year new panel members are added to keep our list as diverse and relevant as possible.
Fan Voted: The public voters contribute by getting one vote per category (which is ensured by tracking IP addresses and other means of maintaining voter integrity).
4. Winners – Winners of each category are determined by the most votes in each category. Clutter, nor The Designer Toy Awards, or Five Points Festival staff, vote in or “choose” the winners.
5. Awards Ceremony – The awards are presented at a ceremony on May 31st, 2020, during the weekend of Five Points Festival. For members of the public to attend the ceremony, you must purchase a VIP ticket for Five Points Fest. Details on how you can purchase your VIP Five Points Fest tickets will be released in due course soon!
Designer Toy Awards Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designertoyawards/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designertoyawards/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thetoyawards
If you want to support The Toy Chronicle, we have a number of options available to you. We have started to stock a wide range of releases that we think you will enjoy. Ranging from production pieces from Superplastic, to original pieces from our favourite artists. Purchasing one of our pins also really help. A quick, cheap way to also support the TTC is by making a small donation. These can all be completed below through our online shop. We appreciate all the support! Thanks!
