Pro Retro Design Competition

Official Rules and Terms of Participation

Presented by Fluora and IDSA New York 

By submitting an entry, you agree to these terms.

1. The Organizers

This competition is organized by Color and Light LLC ("Fluora") in partnership with the Industrial Designers Society of America, New York Chapter ("IDSA NY"), with curation by Not For Granted Studio and production by Shift Alt Events (collectively, the "Organizers").

2. Eligibility

• Entrants must be 18 years or older at the time of submission.

• Open to designers, artists, and makers worldwide. Entrants outside the United States are responsible for their own shipping, customs, duties, and any applicable taxes.

• IDSA membership is not required to enter.

3. Submission Requirements

• Submissions must be received by September 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT.

• Submissions must be for a freestanding lamp in floor or table format, designed to incorporate the Fluora Monos core as its light source.

• All submission fields must be completed. Incomplete submissions will not be scored.

• Submitted images may be renderings, sketches, physical mockups, or other visual material. You do not need to have built the lamp to submit.

4. Selection

• Submissions are scored out of 35 points across the published criteria.

• Up to 30 finalists will be selected based on the highest scores.

• Finalists will be notified by September 21, 2026 at the email address provided.

• Selection decisions are final and at the sole discretion of the Organizers. Scores and individual feedback will not be released.

• If a selected finalist declines or fails to respond within [5] business days, the Organizers may select an alternate.

5. Finalist Obligations

If selected, you agree to:

• Make all efforts to fabricate the physical lamp shade substantially as proposed in your submission.

• Bear all costs of materials, labor, fabrication, packaging, and delivery.

• Deliver the finished lamp to TBD ADDRESS in NEW YORK CITY or BROOKLYN, NY by October 25, 2026, or arrange drop-off by prior agreement.

• Produce a short video (~60-120 seconds) describing your design and process, delivered by 10/25/26 for use in exhibition and promotional materials. Video submission guidelines to be sent to finalists.

• Respond to reasonable communications from the Organizers within [3] business days during the production period.

Failure to deliver on time or to deliver work substantially consistent with your proposal may result in your work being excluded from the exhibition.

6. The Monos Core

• Each finalist will be provided one (1) Monos lighting core and (1) Monos Power Supply at no cost, shipped to the address provided.

• The Monos core is provided for use in fabricating your competition entry.

• You agree not to disassemble, reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the design, firmware, or construction of the Monos core, and not to develop, manufacture, or sell any product derived from that analysis. This obligation survives the end of the competition.

• If your lamp sells, the Monos core is included in the sale and transfers to the buyer.

• If your lamp does not sell, you may retain the Monos core and lamp shade you designed.

7. Fabrication and Safety

Because finished lamps will be publicly exhibited and offered for sale to consumers:

• Your lamp must be structurally stable and safe for use in a residential setting.

• The Monos core must not be deconstructed or modified in any way, unless you are explicitly given approval by Fluora.

• All electrical connections must be executed to a professional standard. Do not modify the Monos core's electrical system, wiring, or power supply.

• Materials in direct contact with or adjacent to the light source must be non-combustible or appropriately rated.

• The Organizers reserve the right to decline to display or offer for sale any work they determine, at their sole discretion, to be unsafe, unstable, or non-compliant.

8. Exhibition

• The exhibition will take place at Collectible Design NYC, November 5–8, 2026.

• Selection as a finalist does not guarantee that your work will be displayed. Final display decisions rest with the Organizers based on curatorial, spatial, and safety considerations.

• Selection as a finalist does not include admission to the event.

• The Organizers control installation, presentation, lighting, and placement of all work.

9. Sales and Proceeds

• Finished lamps will be offered for sale during the exhibition on a consignment basis. Title remains with the designer until sale.

• Retail prices will be set by the Designer, in consultation with Fluora and IDSA.

• On a completed sale, proceeds are split as follows:

• General entrants: designer receives 50%, Organizers receives 50%

• IDSA members: designer receives 60%, Organizers receives 40%

• Splits are calculated on the net sale price after applicable sales tax and payment processing fees.

• Payment to designers will be issued within [30] days of the close of the fair and receipt of cleared funds. Designers are responsible for providing valid tax documentation (W-9 for US persons, W-8BEN for non-US persons) before payment.

• Designers are responsible for reporting and paying their own taxes on any proceeds.

10. Risk of Loss, Damage, and Insurance

• The Organizers are not liable for damage arising from the inherent fragility of materials, inadequate packaging, or defects in fabrication.

• Designers should retain their own documentation and valuation of submitted work.

11. Unsold Work

• Unsold work must be collected or return shipping arranged by the designer within [30] days of the close of the fair.

• Designers are responsible for the cost of return shipping.

• Work not collected or arranged for return within [60] days of the close of the fair may be deemed abandoned, and the Organizers may dispose of, donate, or retain it without further obligation.

12. Intellectual Property — Ownership

You retain full ownership of your design. Nothing in these terms transfers ownership of your intellectual property, including copyright, design rights, or any rights in your concept, drawings, or finished work.

13. Intellectual Property — License to the Organizers

By entering, you grant the Organizers a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, display, and distribute images, video, and descriptions of your submitted and finished work, solely for the purposes of:

• Operating and judging this competition

• Producing, promoting, and documenting the Pro Retro exhibition

• Promoting Fluora, IDSA NY, and future editions of this program in editorial, social, press, and marketing contexts

This license does not permit the Organizers to manufacture, sell, or license your design as a product. Commercial production requires a separate written agreement under Section 14.

You will be credited by name wherever your work appears, subject to reasonable format constraints.

14. Limited Edition Production

• Fluora may wish to produce selected designs as limited edition products.

• Any such production requires a separate written agreement, individually negotiated, including compensation to the designer. Nothing in these terms obligates you to enter into such an agreement, and nothing obligates Fluora to offer one.

• For a period of [90] days following the close of the fair, Fluora holds a right of first negotiation on exhibited designs: if you intend to commercially produce your exhibited design, or license it to a third party for production, you agree to first notify Fluora and negotiate in good faith for [30] days. If no agreement is reached in that period, you are free to proceed with any party.

• This right of first negotiation applies only to the specific design as submitted and exhibited. It does not restrict your other work, your general practice, or designs you develop independently.

15. Independent Development  

• Fluora, and its design and product teams, may from time to time independently develop or release lamp shades or other products that are visually or conceptually similar to your submission, without having referenced or been influenced by your work. Participation in this competition does not grant you an exclusive claim over that broader design space.

• If Fluora determines that a specific future design was directly referenced by, or knowingly influenced by, your submitted design, Fluora will make a good-faith effort to develop and release that design as a collaboration with you.

• If no such direct connection is made, you agree that you have no claim against Fluora arising from the similarity between your submission and any lamp shade or other product Fluora releases after your submission.

16. Your Warranties

By entering, you represent and warrant that:

• The submitted design is your original work, or that you have full rights to submit it.

• Your submission does not infringe any third party's copyright, trademark, patent, design right, or other intellectual property.

• You have obtained all necessary permissions for any third-party materials, images, or contributions included in your submission.

• If your work was created collaboratively, you have authority to enter on behalf of all contributors, and you are responsible for allocating any proceeds among them.

• Your submission does not violate any agreement you have with an employer, client, or other party.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Organizers, their officers, employees, and partners from any claim, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from a breach of your warranties in Section 16, or from any claim that your work caused injury or property damage.

18. Publicity and Likeness

By entering, you consent to the use of your name, city, likeness, photograph, biographical information, and statements about your work in connection with the competition and exhibition, and in Fluora and IDSA NY marketing. This includes collaborative social media posts. You will not receive additional compensation for such use. You may request removal from ongoing promotional use by written notice, which the Organizers will honor on a going-forward basis where reasonably practicable.

19. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Organizers' total aggregate liability arising from your participation is limited to the proceeds owed to you from a completed sale of your work. The Organizers are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or lost-profit damages.

20. Relationship of the Parties

Participation does not create an employment, partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship. You participate as an independent party and are solely responsible for your own taxes, insurance, and business obligations.

21. Privacy

Information you provide will be used to administer the competition and, where you have opted in, to send you communications from Fluora. See Fluora's privacy policy at https://fluoraplant.com/policies/privacy-policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

22. Changes and Cancellation

The Organizers reserve the right to modify the timeline, format, venue, or rules of the competition, or to cancel it entirely, for reasons including venue changes, insufficient entries, or circumstances beyond their reasonable control. Material changes will be communicated to entrants by email.

23. Disqualification

The Organizers may disqualify any entry that violates these terms, misrepresents authorship, contains material that is unlawful or infringing, or is submitted through fraudulent means.

24. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Alameda, California, and the parties consent to that jurisdiction.

25. General

If any provision is found unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect. These terms, together with the published competition brief, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Organizers regarding this competition. The Organizers' failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.

Last Updated: 8/24/2026