Cut & Paste: Designers battle live onstage

One stage, four computers, and four big screens — that's the setup for the Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament, which takes the design process out of the studios and brings it in front of a live audience.

The Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament differs from other design contests and awards: Rather than calling for submissions to be judged, it showcases designers and their creative process in the form of an onstage battle. With categories for 2D, 3D, and motion graphics, Cut & Paste brings some of the best emerging designers from around the world to compete live onstage in fast and furious sets running 15-20 minutes each, accompanied by DJs spinning music and bartenders pouring drinks for an engaged crowd. The tournament is judged by leading graphic designers, architects, directors, musicians, and journalists chosen from each of the tour cities.

Now in its seventh season, the 2011–12 tournament kicked off in New York City in October 2011 and continues to 11 other design capitals around the world, returning back to New York in October 2012 for the Global Champs, where the winners from each of the world cities will be flown in to have one final battle for the global crown.

But there’s more to the Digital Design Tournament than the onstage competition. In select cities, Cut & Paste has curated live presentations from some of the best designers in the community, who will perform and walk you through their process, techniques, and inspiration.

And the audience members who are itching to compete also get a chance to participate in their own design challenge. A collaboration with charity:water that is sponsored by Adobe, this year's audience contest is meant to drive awareness for an important global problem: access to clean water for all. In a 15-minute offstage round, audience members are challenged to sketch a graphic, using the Adobe® Ideas touch app, that represents an activity they would do to raise money for clean water. The audience submissions from the events worldwide will be evaluated by charity:water, and one winner will be selected to work with the organization on a campaign to promote clean water.

So come join the crowd and be alternately thrilled at the sparks of creative genius and dismayed when your favorite competitor stumbles under pressure. Find out when Cut & Paste is coming to a city near you, check out the city winners and their artwork, and view videos from the live events on the Cut & Paste site.

And even if you're not going onstage to compete, you can still sharpen your skills with Adobe® Photoshop® and Illustrator® software in the Cut & Paste Training Room, where you can find tips and techniques to realize your own creative vision more quickly.