We are always looking for new themes and various kinds of articles. If you are interested in contributing, but haven’t yet read the magazine, read some of our articles first to get an idea of what we are after.

We are seeking manifestations of design in the lives of ordinary people, simple but powerful stories of unexpected creativity. One of the fundamental assertions of Works That Work is that creativity is not the exclusive domain of artists or designers, but something that surrounds us in our daily lives, something so embedded in our everyday experience that it often escapes our attention. As a principle, we favour the practical over the theoretical, exploring simple case studies in which small inventions improve people’s lives. We focus on storytelling — recounting firsthand experiences of how human creation can make a difference, going in-depth to explain the impact of design and how it is relevant to a wider audience.

You don’t need to be an award-winning author to contribute. You’ll be working with Peter, our editor, and Ted, our copy editor to shape the text and structure for publication. And then Johanna, our proofreader will make sure the text is perfectly error-free.

We publish short texts (about 150 words) in the Artefacts section, which is edited by Anne, as well as longer stories (1000–4000 words). We don’t start with a specific word count, but instead look for how to make the most of the contribution and find the right length for it.

For photographers: we occasionally commission new photos, but more often look for photo essays, narrative series of photos that tell a story of unexpected creativity — usually in combination with extensive captions. (We help with the text.) Here are some examples of photo essays we have published recently: 1, 2, 3, 4.

We do pay our contributors. Please send us your proposals and something about yourself. Please try to make your proposals as specific as possible: explain what the subject is and why you want to cover it.