Judging Ideas That Matter

Rule29’s principal and creative director, Justin Ahrens, will be serving as one of five judges for Sappi North America’s 2018 Ideas that Matter Grant Grant Program.

Sappi’s Ideas that Matter is a long standing program that, since 1999, has recognized and funded projects which positively impact society created by designers, design firms, and design students who partner with socially driven organizations. Since its founding, the program has provided over $13 million to support over 500 charities. Past winning projects can be found on Sappi’s Ideas That Matter Website.

Other esteemed design experts who will be judging alongside Justin this year include:
Maurice Woods, Senior Experience Designer, Microsoft and Inneract Project Founder
Jacinda Walker, Founder, designExplorr
Terry Marks, Principal, tmarks
Julia Zeltser, Founding Partner and Creative Director, Hyperakt

The judges will convene and review projects in August and grants will be announced in September. Projects are judged on “creativity, potential effectiveness and practicality” and each winning design project receives a grant ranging from $5,000 to $50,000.

Sappi, an international wood fibre and paper products company, is the only company in their industry that hosts a grant program such as Ideas That Matter.