Sheesh! I'm post-happy today, no?

On the heels of last week's judging, here are some sure-fire ways to be sure your entry to (any) design show gets a fair shake—or not:

• DO fill out the entry form neatly and completely. If there's a typo in the show annual, it's probably the result of the entrant's sloppy handwriting. Make sure that doesn't happen.

• DO include a paragraph that tells the judges about the project: its particular challenges, why it succeeded, how you developed the concept.

• DO consider how you assemble or package your entry. If the judges need a box cutter or jackhammer to extract your project from its wrapping, they'll give up.

• DO use design competitions as an occasion to assemble your body of work from the past year in a sort of self-critique. Look at everything you've done, note what worked and didn't, and learn from it.

• DON'T let your competition wins go unnoticed. When your work appears in any design show, book, publication, whatever, by all means send a letter or press release to your clients telling them about it.

• DO make design awards part of your regular marketing efforts. Going into 2008, consider all the places you'll want to enter your work, make note of entry deadlines, budget for the fees and plan for the follow-up.

And good luck!