Let your creativity take centre stage -
Calling all creatives

Dulux Trade in partnership with annual Design Show Clerkenwell Design Week and the show’s official talks programme ‘Conversations at Clerkenwell’ invites designers, creators, and visual thinkers to take part in our Light up the Rhythm of Blues Design Competition 2026.

Meeting of Minds is the essence of ‘Conversations at Clerkenwell’, the 3-day talks programme, hosted in the historic St Bartholomew’s Church, Spitalfields Market. The renowned talks are where the global design community converges —where ideas are exchanged and challenged. A place of dialogue, discovery, and creative momentum. It’s where the world’s most inspiring creatives come together to spark conversations that shape the future of our industry.

This competition asks you to explore the Meeting of Minds, through colour - what happens when creativity meets colour.

The prize

The winning design will feature on 2 oversized lightboxes flanking the Talks Stage throughout Clerkenwell Design Week, visible to leading designers, architects and press from around the word.

You’ll also win £500 prize money plus an exclusive 1‑to‑1 colour workshop at the Dulux Academy*, where you’ll mix and name your own bespoke colour.

Light up the Rhythm of Blues

Dulux Trade collaborates with the show, bringing this energy to life through its Colours of the Year 2026: Rhythm of Blues, a trio that captures emotional depth, fluid movement, and contemporary expression.

This competition asks you to explore what happens when creativity meets colour—when minds meet to create something new.

Discover the Rhythm of Blues

The challenge:

Your challenge is to visually articulate this moment of connection, the meeting of minds, using the Dulux Colours of the Year 2026: Rhythm of Blues—Slow swing™, Free Groove™ and Mellow Flow™. We would like you to explore how form, colour, rhythm, texture, motion, and composition can express collaboration, dialogue, and shared creative intelligence.

Colours Requirement: Dulux Colours of the Year 2026 – Rhythm of Blues

Your artwork must incorporate all three colours from the Rhythm of Blues trio, prominently.

You may use the colours subtly or boldly—layered, contrasted, blended, or structured—but they must be clearly present and intentionally integrated into the overall concept.

Technical Requirements

Submissions must include:

· All three colours from the Rhythm of Blues

· Digital Artwork formatted to the vertical lightbox dimensions. Each lightbox is 2016mm high x 1512mm wide.

· A written design statement (150–250 words) explaining how the concept brings together:

· “Meeting of Minds”

· Dulux Colour of the Year palette

· Your unique design thinking

Any style is welcome—illustration, abstract forms, geometric work, visual storytelling, typographic exploration—provided the design translates well through light.

How to enter:

· Submit your digital design as a PDF (max 10MB) to decr.colourstudio@akzonobel.com

· Include your name, contact email address and telephone number.

· Submit your design by 10^th March 2026. The winner will be notified by 13^th March 2026.

Find out more about The Rhythm of Blues by downloading the

Dulux Trade Colours of the Year 2026 Guide.

Evaluation Criteria

Dulux Trade’s Creative Director, Marianne Shillingford, and Colour Consultant Martha Dunican will judge entries based on the following criteria:

Creative originality
Emotional and visual interpretation of “Meeting of Minds”
Effective and creative use of the Rhythm of Blues palette
Impact and clarity when backlit

The winner will be contacted to obtain the full high-resolution artwork files for use in the installation.

To enter, send your design by 10th March, to this email address - decr.colourstudio@akzonobel.com

As part of this promotion, Dulux Trade reserve the right to use the winning design in promotional materials across channels, including email, social, paid media, pr and web. The designer’s name will be included where the design is used.

Please send any queries about this competition to - decr.colourstudio@akzonobel.com.

*Full terms and conditions – Dulux Trade Clerkenwell Design Week Competition T&Cs

A showstopping design for inspirational talks

Meeting of Minds is the essence of ‘Conversations at Clerkenwell’, the 3-day talks programme, hosted in the historic St Bartholomew’s Church, Spitalfields Market. The renowned talks programme is where the global design community converges —where ideas are exchanged and challenged. A place of dialogue, discovery, and creative momentum. It’s where the world’s most inspiring creatives come together to spark conversations that shape the future of our industry.

Clerkenwell Design Week 2026 takes place 19th – 21st May.

Find out more

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