Samsung and Dezeen have teamed up to launch a global contest seeking innovative designs for the home that can be made by repurposing cardboard packaging.

The Samsung Out of the Box Competition challenges contestants to design household objects that can be built from repurposed cardboard at home.

Open for entries until 29 May 2020, the contest is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18 and features prize money totalling $20,000.

Click here for more information about how to enter, including the brief and entry rules.

The competition is inspired by Samsung's Eco-Package concept, which was named an honouree at this year's CES Innovation Awards.

The packaging is part of Samsung's ongoing efforts to make its business more sustainable, which it set out in a report last year, by making its components and manufacturing more environmentally friendly, and reducing greenhouse emissions and other waste.

Competition inspired by Samsung's Eco-Package concept

Electronics companies use thick, corrugated cardboard boxes for shipping in order to properly protect the goods inside. These boxes often end up as waste, as the size and weight of the cardboard boxes means they are difficult to recycle in an average home, which contributes to around 90 billion cardboard boxes being discarded after a single use every year in the US alone.

The Eco-Package concept, which is a first in the industry according to Samsung, aims to reduce this waste by providing customers with a way to repurpose its television packaging into new household items.

Samsung currently uses Eco-Packages to ship its The Serif, The Frame and The Sero televisions to customers and plans to introduce the concept to more televisions in future.

The Serif television features a distinctive I-shaped profile. Designed by French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, it is intended to be more like a sculptural item of furniture than a piece of technology.

The Frame is designed to look like a framed piece of art, either hung on the wall or on an easel. Users can choose to display a range of artwork on the screen when it's not in use, so that it disappears into the decor of the room it's in.

The Sero, which means "vertical" and "new" in Korean, is a television with the ability to pivot between horizontal and vertical orientations. It has been designed to smoothly display both traditional video content, as well as vertical video formats designed for mobile consumption.

Each Eco-Package cardboard box is printed with a special dot matrix pattern, which, when the box is opened out flat, can be used as a guide to create a range of different objects for the home by cutting and reassembling the box.

The sturdy nature of the cardboard makes it suitable for constructing a range of different objects. Samsung provides instructions for different furniture designs through a QR code located on the box. Currently available designs include a TV console, a storage box, a magazine rack and even a cat house.

Create an innovative design by repurposing cardboard packaging

By launching the design contest, Samsung hopes to increase awareness of its Eco-Package concept and get more people thinking about and sharing ideas for how cardboard packaging can be repurposed.

"The competition with Dezeen is a way to make our eco-friendly message more widespread, with innovative ideas from entrants," said Samsung. "It is a chance for audiences to consider how to help protect our environment by thinking 'out of the box' about how we can reuse cardboard packaging."

The contest is seeking innovative new objects for the home that can be made by repurposing cardboard packaging, which are different to the examples presented by Samsung.

Contestants are free to design any kind of functional object for the home that can be made by reusing cardboard packaging.

The design must be something that anyone could build for themselves at home. It must therefore be practical to assemble with everyday household tools and not require any specialist skills or equipment.

Entrants should also consider who their product is designed for and how it will fit in with and enhance their lifestyle. Entrants must submit a short description of their concept explaining what lifestyle the object has been designed for and how it is assembled. In addition, they should submit up to ten images showcasing their design.

$10,000 prize for the winner

A shortlist of the best designs will be published on Dezeen in July.

A jury comprising Samsung executives and Dezeen editors will select first, second and third place. These will be announced on Dezeen and published on Samsung's @SamsungTV Instagram account in September 2020.

The winner will receive a top prize of $10,000, the runner up will receive $5,000 and third place will receive $3,000. The fourth- and fifth-placed entrants will receive $1,000 each.

Competition closes on 29 May

Entries for the Samsung Out of the Box competition close on 29 May 2020.

For more information about how to enter, including the brief and rules, entry form and full terms and conditions, go to www.dezeen.com/outofthebox.