clueCOMPETITIONPlan an entry
For the ideas worth making

Tools for your next creative competition.

Make sense of the brief, shape your idea and get the details right. Practical help for design, photography and writing entries.

Explore the toolkit Read the guides

Free to use. No account needed. Your work stays yours.

one idea,a clearer purpose.
Observe → explore → refineA space for ideas
Understand the requirementsDevelop your own approachSubmit with the details checked
Useful from the first draft

A small toolkit. A better starting point.

All tools

AI brief checker

Turn pasted rules into a checklist with supporting quotes and points to clarify.

AI assisted

Entry planner

Keep your idea, requirements and final checks together. Save a plan and export a deadline.

Plan & organise

Word-limit checker

Refine a statement, caption or short answer with live word and character counts.

Write & edit

Practice brief generator

Exercise your creative thinking with original prompts for design, photography and writing.

Make & explore
From a brief to a finished entry

Give the idea room.
Give the details a plan.

A strong creative entry responds to the brief and makes its thinking easy to understand. Start with a clear plan, then spend your time on the work itself.

Start your entry plan
  1. Read what is actually being asked.

    Separate the theme, eligibility and submission requirements.

  2. Make the idea specific.

    Decide who it is for, how it works and what you need to show.

  3. Leave time for the final checks.

    Review the files, permissions, word count and deadline.

The useful reading

Approach your next entry with a little more clarity.

All guides
Before you begin

How to read a competition brief

Turn a long set of rules into decisions, requirements and questions.

Design & lighting

Build a lighting-design concept

Start with people and place, then explain what your lighting would change.

AI & originality

Using AI without losing sight of the rules

Know the difference between organising your work and generating the entry.

Looking for competitions to enter?

Start with our guide to finding creative opportunities, including places to browse free UK prize competitions.

Arrived through an old CLUE lighting link?

This domain previously hosted a lighting-design competition. Find the background and published sources.