Industry Insights & Resources
Browse our collection of expert insights on awards management, creative competitions, and industry advice. Resources for creative professionals and organisers.”
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Creative Resources for Women’s Empowerment
Creative women have been breaking barriers for centuries.
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Grants For The Arts: A Funding Toolkit
You’re a creative, you have a vision for a great piece of art, but you can’t do it alone. You need funding for equipment and space.
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Marketing your Award Effectively (even on shoestring budgets)
Without good marketing, no one will submit to your award/competition. Here are a few tips to increase exposure to your programme
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5 Creativity and Wellbeing tips
Let’s face it, we could all do better at taking care of ourselves. The pursuit of creativity is a journey which can be as thrilling as it is perilous…
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Choosing the best tools for managing submissions
Taking submissions can be a breeze or a nightmare; the deciding factor is your tools. Here are our top tips in picking the right ones for your needs.
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Supporting Growth Within Creative Communities
Now is such an important time to support one another. We’ve put together a list of organisations, individuals and collectives that pay an extraordinary amount of attention to fostering growth, equality and strength within the creative community.
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Maximising Engagement using Competitions
How to maximise engagement for your open call, create exposure for your brand, show support for your community & begin a meaningful dialogue.
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Writing the perfect guidelines for your competition
Writing good guidelines can make or break your competition. This article covers best practices to guarantee candidates apply with the right content for your needs.
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How to approach judges for competitions
Getting partners involved and securing high-level individuals to help you select winners is no easy task. But having someone recognisable on your panel is a big perk for candidates who want their work seen. Here are our top tips to…
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Drawing up your schedule
Timing is everything – opening your submissions at the wrong time or for too long could negatively impact the number of candidates who apply. Find out more on what to watch out for when crafting the schedule of your programme.
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Planning the selection process for your competition
Seeing submissions reach into the hundreds then into thousands is a real buzz. But that euphoria can quickly turn to dread if your process to select successful candidates isn’t built to cope.
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10 Questions with Guy Armitage
This year, Zealous celebrates its 10th Anniversary. In recognition of this momentous occasion, we’ve interviewed founder and CEO, Guy Armitage, to find out more about the company’s past, present and future.
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Sharing Four Lessons from Running a Business
Ten years have gone by quickly, and we are still learning. After a decade of building Zealous, we thought we should share some of our top lessons.
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Establishing the perks for your competition
The only reason applicants will take the time to submit is that there’s something in it for them. Defining what’s in it for those selected, and understanding what you have available to you, could allow you to run a competition…
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Perfecting Your Artist Statement for Awards & Submissions
Having a clear and compelling artist statement is essential for grant applications, exhibitions, open calls and residency submissions. To ensure you communicate what matters, we’ve compiled a quick and easy guide to help you tackle the daunting task of putting…
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Streamlining what you ask for from candidates
Asking candidates for the correct information when they submit is a fine art.
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Creative Resources: Where to Get Your Grant
Every discipline comes with its own set of requirements and costs. It can be hard to filter through the plethora of opportunities to find the perfect one suited to your project and its needs. We’ve put together a selection of…
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Defining the purpose of your programme
Purpose is powerful. It allows you to inspire people to take part and measure your goals effectively once your program ends. Without a clearly articulated purpose, marketing your offering and getting candidates to submit will be an uphill struggle.
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Mastering Online Networking
Networking is a skill that is critically important, but often nerve-wracking and tricky to navigate. Now more than ever, individuals have had to exercise their networking efforts online – but this doesn’t have to impact you negatively!
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7 Awards Platforms for the Creative Industries
Choosing the right process whilst taking entries could save you hundreds of hours of admin. To save you a little time we’ve compiled a list of the best submission platforms serving the creative eco-system at this time.
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A Handcrafted Christmas
From unique handmade stocking-fillers to creative masterclasses, we have compiled a brilliant list of virtual market experiences, workshops, and Zealous makers for you to check out this Christmas (and beyond).
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Making the perfect writing award application
Writing awards can be daunting, particularly for those new to the craft. To help you navigate the process, we asked three industry professionals: ‘what do you look for in a writing awards application?’ These firsthand insights will equip you with…
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Trends for Running Competitions in 2021
Much has changed in 2020. For that reason, we’ve compiled our top tips on things to take into consideration when planning & running a successful competition in 2021.
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Creative Resources: Self-Promotion
Many creatives shy away from self-promotion fearing they’ll be branded arrogant, but their fear is misplaced. If you don’t tell people about what you do – and why you do it – how will they know? If you want to…
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Creative Questions: How Do I Get My Name Out There?
We’re tackling those all-important questions asked by our creative community. In this article we explore: how to get your name out there. Three arts professionals share their wisdom to provide you with a series of valuable insights.
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Top sites to list your writing competition on
Boost submissions to your writing contests by listing them on these amazing sites.
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Creative Resources: Studio Spaces
The right studio space can enable artists to develop their practice, network with other creative practitioners and gain access to opportunities which stem from their environment. We have compiled a list of studio resources to help you find the perfect…
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Creating opportunity in adversity
our months ago, the rules that governed society turned inside out. This left communities isolated, lead to freelancers losing their income and forced organisations to reinvent themselves. Cambridge City Council Supporting communities by commissioning talent With schools closed, parents working…
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Embracing Creativity as an Agent of Change
How long will it take before we return to normality? Is the world of yesterday really the world that we want for tomorrow? And in this period of change, how do we make sure we are able to cope with…
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Creating purpose in isolation
This is our time to prove that arts organisations are there for them even in the most adverse of times. Here’s how running a competition can help support our communities now in isolation, give our team a shared purpose and…
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Part 2: Building Relationships with Art Spaces
We’re tackling those all-important questions asked by our creative community. In this article we explore: how to build and maintain a relationship with art spaces (more specifically galleries). Two arts professionals share their wisdom to provide you with more valuable insights.
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Creative Questions: Building Relationships with Art Spaces
Part 1: We’re tackling those all-important questions asked by our creative community. In this article we explore: how to build and maintain a relationship with art spaces. Three arts professionals share their wisdom to provide you with a series of valuable…
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Building inclusivity into your call out
Inclusion is often mentioned, but difficult to get right across all of your processes. Here is a brief guide on what to watch out for when running a call out.
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Here’s to 2020
As a nation we may not agree with choices that were made in 2019 – but a new decade is upon us and there has been no better time to learn from the past and focus on building a future…
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11 Life Lessons If You’re A Creative
Being a creative can be tough. For all the time you spend doing what you love, you’ve got to put in the same number of hours trying to get others’ attention and making the money you need to sustain yourself. These lessons…
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6 Books To Read In 2020
The winter break is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and prepare for the challenges of 2020. It’s also a time of frantic Christmas gift buying, where the stresses of inspiration, finances and expectations collide; leaving us…
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Valuing Your Work
We all know how much milk, coffee and sugar are worth, yet why does the creative industry struggle to value its goods, and why does it feel we’re working harder and making less? (Spoiler – It’s very much down to…
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Creative Questions: Curating a Festival
Completing an application can be daunting; particularly when it comes to arts festivals that are often on the look out for new and engaging work. To help you navigate the process, we asked three festival organisers: what do you look…
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Creative Questions: Finding a Balance
When creating work for specific clients, you may find yourself asking – how do I form a balance between my creativity and client briefs? Here’s what four artists who have long grappled with this issue had to say.
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Writing Engaging Guidelines
Writing clear guidelines can make or break your competition. A lack of information could lead to the wrong content being submitted, too much, and candidates may skip it. Here are a few lessons we’ve learnt from hosting open calls.
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Creative Questions: Approaching a Gallery
We’re tackling those all-important questions frequently asked by our creative community. In this article we investigate: what is the best way to approach a gallery? We spoke to five gallery professionals who have drawn on their own knowledge and experience…
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The Art of Engaging & Placemaking
This short guide highlights steps to better engage with your communities (team, stakeholders, clients, residents) through creative commissions.
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Creative Questions: Stand Out Submissions
In this article, we tackle one of the most frequently asked questions from our creative community – “How do I make my work stand out when applying to opportunities?” Here’s what five industry professionals, directly involved with running or judging…
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The best sites to list your art competition on
Getting your art competition seen by as many people as possible is always key to bringing in more submissions. Taking a little time to list it on external sites is always a great way to increase exposure. To save you…
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Finding a Balance: Social Media for Creatives
Navigating the world of social media is not a simple feat. With an abundance of tips and tricks at our fingertips, it’s no wonder it has become a growing concern for emerging creatives. For those grappling with the ever-evolving trends,…
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The State of Emerging Creativity
Nurturing emerging creators is pivotal in unlocking the creative sectors full potential. To shed light on the challenges faced by those early in their creative careers, we asked 1,800 individuals breaking into the industry how they felt about creating in…
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Imagery to get your competition attention
In an increasingly fast-paced world, getting attention to your competition is difficult. Using the right imagery plays a huge part in making users notice you and eventually submit to your opportunity. This guide will take you through 6 tips that…
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Freelancer Survival Guide
There’s no one size fits all approach when it comes to managing your freelance business. Whether you’re already self-employed, or thinking about taking the plunge, our survival guide highlights some of the vital factors that will make diving into these…
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Enhancing Your Creative Environment
Creativity cannot function in a void; it needs an effective environment to flourish. Whether it’s our bedroom, office or studio, the spaces that we spend time in impact our productivity, thinking and work ethic. We’ve compiled some of our top-tips…
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The Art of Changing Humanity
How can we rebalance society in a world where politics, core beliefs, and knowledge have become increasingly extreme.
