Make Your Mark - 2D Design
Design a sterling silver spoon that can be used “from porridge to pudding” and proudly displays the London hallmark.
We are delighted to partner with The London Assay Office for the 2024/25 GC&DC Awards and give you the opportunity to enter their Make Your Mark design challenge.
Entrants are invited to design a sterling silver (925) spoon which can be used as a personal, practical and portable piece of cutlery for every meal “from porridge to pudding”.
The brief is inspired by one of the earliest items in the Goldsmiths’ Company Collection to bear the London Hallmark, a silver spoon produced around 1425. At that time in England, a single silver spoon would have been a much-treasured possession that its owner would have carried on their person and used as a principal tool for eating along with a knife and their bare hands. They were made and sold by silversmiths in nearly every market town, yet silver was an expensive material, so the spoon may have been the only item of silver that its owner possessed. Records show that they were gifted at christenings, passed down in wills, and given as gifts – they were important items, uniquely personal to their owner, and used for every meal, from porridge to pudding.
Designs are encouraged which re-imagine a single silver spoon for the modern world as a beautiful, personal, portable and precious “tool” that can be used every day, for every meal. It should be practical, comfortable to hold, and proudly display the full UK hallmark, as applied by the London Assay Office, in a position and size that is complimentary to the design.
The spoon has a place at the table of nearly every society on the planet, and entrants are encouraged to incorporate elements of their heritage and culture into the design.
Essential design requirements...
Your design needs to embrace the following:
Include a series of four scaled drawings with measurements that show your design in profile from the top, bottom, side and end. They should include placement of the Hallmark. Designs can be created by hand or using CAD.
You may submit your design on multiple mounted boards, either:
A4 (maximum x 4),
A3 (maximum x 2), or
A1 (maximum x1)
(See below for guidance on presentation & anonymity)
Include a 250 word description on a separate sheet, that explains your inspiration, and the concept development of your design.
Show consideration for the size, location, and configuration of the hallmark and its five component marks.
Be practical and take into account that this is an object designed to be held in the hand and put to use every day.
Spoon from the Goldsmiths’ Company Collection, circa 1425
Photo: Chris Mann | The Goldsmiths’ Company
An unmissable opportunity
Subject to their approval, The London Assay Office, in liaison with the winning designer, will explore the potential of taking the winning design into manufacture with the prospect of exhibition and promotional opportunities.
Tips
Key points of consideration are:
Originality and aesthetic appeal;
The highest standards of visual communication and presentation are required to communicate your design accurately;
A successful design includes functionality;
A celebration of the London Hallmark;
An understanding of the various components of a Hallmark.
Guidance & Entry Form Requirements
Entries must comply with the 2D design and submission guidelines:
Good standards of visual communication and presentation will be highly regarded;
Description of your design, the concept and material specifications (gemstones, metals etc) must be provided on the design board.
Outline method/s of manufacture where relevant.
Entrants are requested to declare on the entry form if they have had their design rendered by a CAD technician or a digital artist.
Presentation
Designs are to be presented on one side only and mounted on card, foam board or equivalent backing board.
Paper only entries are not acceptable.
Maximum dimensions for Make Your Mark
You may submit your design on either:
A4 (maximum x 4),
A3 (maximum x 2),
A2 (maximum x2); or
A1 (maximum x1)
Anonymity
Please ensure your name is on the reverse of your design board;
Do not put your name or identity/logos on the front;
Entries that don’t conform to the above requirements may be disqualified.
When you look at or touch a piece of silver or jewellery, it’s impossible to tell exactly what it is made from. It may be silver or gold coloured, but not really made of silver or gold. To make ensure the quality of precious metal matches their description, anything made of a gold, silver, platinum or palladium, it must be assayed (independently tested at an assay office). Once it has been assayed, it is given a special set of marks called a hallmark that tell you
The hallmark is the UK’s oldest form of consumer protection. A set of component marks applied with punch or laser to items made of gold, silver, platinum or palladium. It takes its name from Goldsmiths’ Hall, where Hallmarking began more than 700 years ago. It can tell you when and where an item was tested and marked, which metals it is made from and their purity or fineness, and who submitted it for Hallmarking.
Based at Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London, and with locations in Hatton Garden and at Heathrow, the London Assay Office hallmarks approximately 3 million precious metal articles a year.
Learn more about Hallmarking: https://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/hallmarking
Learn more about the ways in which we apply Hallmarks: https://www.assayofficelondon.co.uk/hallmarking/our-hallmarking-methods
14 Jan 2025
Online Entry Form submission deadline
14 - 16 Jan 2025
Entry submission @ The Goldsmiths’ Centre, EC1M 5AD
3rd Mar 2025
Awards Ceremony @ The Goldsmiths' Hall, EC2V 6BN
4 - 7 Mar 2025
Awards Exhibition @ The Goldsmiths' Hall, EC2V 6BN
13 - 14 Mar 2025
Entry collection days @ The Goldsmiths’ Centre, EC1M 5AD
