Burning Bright with Design Trail!

Since its founding, Bitcamp has always considered itself a design-friendly hackathon. In the past, this has been embodied by our design competition, Colorwar, which is one of the biggest events of the hackathon. However, while Colorwar allows designers to have an outlet besides just participating in a hacker team, it does not resonate with designers as much as it could. It only takes one hour of the hackathon, which makes designers who aren’t already experienced hackers wonder what they would do for the rest of the time, and its rapidfire format doesn’t allow competitors to use the iterative design thinking process that design students learn in school. While it is an incredibly fun and exciting event and we have no intention of getting rid of it, we want Bitcamp to be a truly welcoming place to designers new to the tech scene.

Why does this matter?

At Bitcamp, we believe that design is important. Technology is absolutely central to the lives and livelihoods of everyone on the planet, and design is the one of the few systems of thinking that allows a small group of creators to make something that actually helps such a wide variety of people. In other words, products that take advantage of design talent are generally better products. But hackathons, one of the major ways that tech students learn how to build things, don’t teach participants how to do this. We want the projects that come out of Bitcamp to be as thoughtful as real projects.

What can we do about this?

We can create a program tailored specifically to designers that lasts throughout the hackathon! The engineers who work with them can learn from them and be in an environment that is more like an actual tech company, while the design students can meet recruiters from tech companies, learn tech skills, and have an opportunity to practice their design skills in an environment more like the real world. The sponsoring companies can meet design students, learn what schools and programs they come from, and make connections that could bring more resources into underfunded design schools.

How do we make this happen?

This year at Bitcamp, we are allowing students to participate specifically as designers. These designers will function like mentors at many hackathons: teams can request a designer with a specific set of skills and be matched with someone who can help them through a task, such as creating a logo for their product, theming their website, or conducting research to figure out the best way to lay out their interface. Designers will work with many teams over the course of the hackathon and build a Bitfolio of the designs that they create, which will be judged for prizes.

Who is this program for?

If you’re a student designer from any design background or discipline, including user experience design, motion design, and graphic design, and whether or not you have experience with technology or programming, then the Design Trail is for you. We want designers with an open mind, a willingness to work with new people, and a passion for creating new things.

Why should you participate?

Participating in Bitcamp as a designer is a great opportunity to further develop your portfolio in a creative environment and get feedback from professionals! Bitcamp also has workshops that can teach technical skills like programming and hardware, opportunities to network with companies, and all kinds of fun events. Your Bitfolio will also become a whole collection of new projects that you can polish and put in your portfolio. And you’ll meet design students from many different backgrounds and have opportunities to work with many engineers, so you’ll get to make some new friends!

How do I take part?

Since the Design Trail is a more specialized program, we will be restricting the number of participants. To apply for Design Trail, complete the general Bitcamp application at https://apply.bit.camp/. Then, submit your portfolio and information in the official Design Trail application at https://bitcamp.typeform.com/to/XZw7vR. Our team will be admitting designers based on their portfolio submissions. Stay tuned for more specifics on the application soon, and mark your calendar for April 6–8, 2018!