To All Awards

2026 Design Awards

Call for Entry: November 24, 2025
Deadline: March 13, 2026
Eligibility Period: March 2025 – March 2026
Results Notification: late April 2026

YOUR CREATIVITY, CELEBRATED.

YOUR WORK, PUBLISHED.

YOUR TALENT, RESPECTED.

Have your work seen by the best of the best. An international jury of design professionals will select the 2026 Design Awards winners.

Winning an Applied Arts Design Award can spark new business, a career shift, and—most importantly—industry-wide creative recognition. Winning entries will be published in the Design Awards Annual, alongside the 2025 Photography & Illustration winners, showcased online in the Winners Gallery and the Awards archive.

Canadian, US and International design studios and independent designers are eligible to enter their latest corporate design, interactive, editorial, packaging, promotional, and interactive media work created between March 2025 and March 2026 can be entered into the 2026 Design Awards competition.

Winning an Applied Arts Design Award puts your work in front of leading design professionals — a career-boosting platform for your creativity.

Who Can Enter

Current students, you are ONLY ELIGIBLE to enter the Student Awards Competition, where work is judged alongside your peers at a similar level of experience.

2026 Call for Entry Kit 2026 Design Awards Categories Kit Awards Entries

Jury & Judging Process
Categories & Entry Fees
Entry Material Guidelines
How to Enter
Payment & Refunds
Winner Recognition
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact
Disclaimer

Enter Now

Jury & Judging Process

Our Design Awards jury panel consists of 16 award-winning creatives actively working in the design industry today, both in Canada and internationally. They lend us their discerning eye and expertise to evaluate each entry, enabling us to celebrate the best design in all its facets — from editorial and corporate design to packaging, digital, and environmental design. With their guidance, we continue to spotlight the best of the best in the design world.

Entries are judged digitally by award-winning creatives working in Canada and beyond.

Categories & Entry Fees

Entry fees vary per sub-grouping and category. Download the 2026 Design Awards Categories Kit for detailed pricing.

ENTIRE DESIGN PROGRAMS - $125
Cause-Related/Social Responsibility Program
Complete Brand Identity Program
Complete Rebrand Identity Program
Entire Design Program
Entire Packaging Design Program
Entire Promotional Design Program
Guerrilla Marketing Program
Pro Bono/PSA/Charity Ent. Design Program
Small Community/ Business Design Program

DESIGN – SINGLE: $60/SERIES: $85*
Annual Report
Brochure
Cause-Related Creative
Data Visualization
Digital Album Cover – NEW 
Environmental – Environmental Design
Logo Design
Poster
Pro Bono/PSA/Charity
Small Community/Business Design
Unpublished/Personal

EDITORIAL DESIGN – SINGLE: $65/SERIES: $85*
Cover/Page/Spread
Entire Book Design
Entire Publication Design

PACKAGING DESIGN – SINGLE: $65/SERIES: $85*
CBP Infused/Alcohol Beverages
Alcohol-Free Beverages
Consumer Product
Food
Promotional Packaging
Rebrand Packaging
Sustainable Packaging

PROMOTIONAL DESIGN – SINGLE: $65/SERIES: $85
Artist/Design Firm Promotions
Point-of-Sale Messaging
Premium/Gift Item
Promotional Collateral
Promotional Messaging
Retail Applications

TYPEFACE DESIGN – SINGLE: $85/SERIES: $125
Typeface Design

TYPOGRAPHY – SINGLE: $65/SERIES: $85*
Corporate Application
Digital Application
Editorial Application
Environmental/Experiential Application
Motion Application
Packaging Application
Promotional Application

CRAFT – SINGLE: $65/SERIES: $85
Calligraphy/Hand Lettering
Illustration
Motion/Animation
Photography
Printing/Bindery/Finishing

DIGITAL DESIGN – SINGLE/SERIES: $100
Content
Apps
AR & VR
Editorial for Digital Editions
Experimental/Innovative
Gaming
Social/Viral/Promotional
Self-Promotion – Social

Website
Business-to-Business
Consumer Products
Consumer Services
Commerce
Educational/Reference
Entertainment, Art & Tourism
Public Service/Charity
Self-Promotion

MOTION DESIGN – SINGLE: $100/SERIES: $150*
Videos (Educational and explanatory videos, social media videos, event graphics, online graphics, etc.)
Pro Bono/PSA/Charity
Small Community/Business

YOUNG BLOOD - SINGLE: $50/SERIES: $60/CAMPAIGN: $85
Entries can be from any application from the sub-groupings above.

Note: Entry fees vary per sub-grouping and category. Download the 2026 Design Categories Kit for details.

Entry Material Guidelines

Main Entry Files

REQUIRED
Main Entry File(s) must clearly show the images, ideally without additional graphics to be judged in hi-res format.

PERMITTED

SINGLE | 1 file

A single design unit – Such as an annual report, book/publication, multiple-page brochure, package, poster, environmental signage for an event/storefront, website, etc.

SERIES | 3 files miximum

2-3 design units – Such as a family of logos, packages, posters.

CAMPAIGN | 9 files maximum

Up to 9 elements/units from an entire program to promote an event, brand, product, service or business.

*Exceptions are noted in specific categories.

NOTE ON MULTIPAGE PDFS: Recommended when incorporating any additional images into the maximum number of files allowed (e.g. the image in context, inside pages from a book, or multiple views of 3-dimensional entries such as packaging). It only counts as 1 file.

Support Files

Support Files help clarify your entry for judges. They are not for publication (unless noted) and do not count towards your main file limits. Only one (1) file or URL may be uploaded.

REQUIRED
~ English translations for non-English entries; must be included either as a Support File or within a multipage PDF as your Main Entry File.

PERMITTED
~ Brief descriptions: Optional, recommended if the use or intention is not obvious. Limit to 50 words in English (10-second intro for motion).
~ Case studies: Optional, ONLY as a support file. Limit 50 words in English or 45s for videos. Note: judges score the creative, not the outcomes.

NOT PERMITTED
~ Uploading the same creative: Do not submit the same creative either as a file or URL if it's been added as the Main Entry File.
~ Entrant information: Do not add entrant-identifying watermarks on support files or URLs (self-promo work excluded).

RECOMMENDED BEST PRACTICES

Judging is fully online. Here's how to make your entry clear and impactful:

How To Enter

The Entry Form consists of five (5) steps. You can save your progress at any point.

Log in or sign up for an account

View a sample entry

Step 1: entry information

Choose the Awards competition, sub-group, category, and add your entry title.

Step 2: Entry Materials

Upload all required digital files. Follow the Entry Material Guidelines for specs and tips.

Step 3: Winners' Information

For publication only, not for judging.

For teams, list one name as "Winner" here; add others in Creative Credits.

Step 4: Creative Credits

List the creatives who worked on the project and specify their roles.

Step 5: Certificate information

Provide the winning company/individual and/or client name to appear on the certificate.

One certificate will be given for each winning entry. Additional certificates can be ordered later.

FINALIZE & PAY

Click Save to return to your dashboard to add or copy entries.

Payment completes the submission—entries are not officially submitted until payment is processed.

You may edit entries up until payment. After payment, only limited edits (e.g., Winners' Information) are allowed. Once results are released, there will be a 48-hour window to update Winners' Information and creative credit role.

Enter Now

Payment & Refunds

Entries are non-refundable. If an entry is submitted to the same category, entrants will have the option to move the entry to another category or enter new work in its place.

Keep a record of your submissions.

Winner Recognition

Award recipients receive:

OPTIONAL ADD-ONS*

  • Extra certificates for your team or client (with optional plaque mounting).
  • Additional copies of the Awards Annual at a discounted rate.
  • A personalized, engraved Lucite AACE trophy (3.5 × 3.5 × 3.5 in.).

*Additional fees apply

Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility FAQ

Can students enter? No. Students may only enter the Student Competition. Go here for categories, eligibility and deadlines for the Student Awards competition.

Can I enter something I entered last year? Not in the same competition, but if it meets the eligibility period for a different competition, then yes.

Can I enter something in multiple Awards competitions? Yes. Each competition has different eligibility periods; please check each competition for eligibility requirements.

Judging FAQ

Will the judges see my descriptions during the judging? Judges do not see the creative descriptions you have entered. These are only for publishing beside your entry if chosen as a winner. If you feel judges need an explanatory note, you may include a brief description as a Support File (no more than 50 words or 10 seconds for broadcast/video).

Categories FAQ

Can I enter a piece in multiple categories? Yes. In your account on the Awards Entries home page, click "Copy" on any entry you've created. Be sure to change the discipline and/or entry category to the new one you want to submit to.

Which category does my entry belong in? Often the best way to understand a category is to see previous work that won in that category. Check our online winners Gallery for examples. If you still have questions regarding our categories or require assistance in selecting the appropriate category, contact awards@appliedartsmag.com.

NOTE: Applied Arts reserves the right to move an entry to another category if we feel it unsuitable or incorrectly categorized.

What is a single, series, and campaign? A single means one piece. Series means you are submitting more than one piece of the same project to a maximum of three (five pieces for the Photography & Illustration competitions). A campaign is up to nine pieces (six pieces for the Student competition). NOTE: Exceptions are noted in specific categories. If an entry contains more than the specified images, we will either contact you to split the submission into multiple entries, or choose which ones will be judged, so it's best to stick to the indicated number of pieces specified.

What is the Young Blood category? Young Blood is a series of categories open only to entrants who have been out of school for up to a certain number of years (three for the Photography and Illustration competitions and five for the Design and Advertising competitions). As with all categories, they are judged on creative excellence, technical merit and suitability for end use, but the jury also takes into account the level of professional experience. You will be required to specify the name of the Young Blood entrant to qualify.

Entry Material FAQ

At what specs do I need to submit my entry? Refer to ENTRY MATERIAL GUIDELINES section for specifications.

Can I submit a hard copy or disk? No. Only digital uploads are accepted.

The program crashed. Did I lose everything? No. You are saving your work as you go through each section of the entry form. If the program crashes as you are completing a certain section, it may not have been saved in that section.

The file I uploaded won't show me a preview. Why? You may not see the image preview if you haven't followed the specs outlined in ENTRY MATERIAL GUIDELINES. Check your file and re-upload. If you continue to experience difficulties, try clearing your browser history or contact awards@appliedartsmag.com.

I uploaded the wrong file. Can I change it? Yes. You can resubmit images at any time until payment is made. Click the "X" beside the appropriate file and re-upload your image.

NOTE: The thumbnail image may not correctly display your new image. If this happens close your browser and log back into "Awards Entries" for the changes to show. If you continue to experience difficulties, try clearing your browser history or contact awards@appliedartsmag.com.

Rights FAQ

Do I need to get the rights of the subjects or material used from external sources in my entry? It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure copyright is not infringed. Upon entry you must grant us the rights to reproduce the image or images for both our online and print publications, so you would most likely need to have these rights in place to protect yourself. Although you do not need to send us a copy of the release forms, we do suggest that you have them. Entrants who request we don't run their winning work because they don't have the rights will not be refunded for their entry. NOTE: Student work is often exempt from copyright rules.

What rights do I retain if my work is chosen? You retain all rights to your images.

My client has revoked the right for me to enter work I've won for. What do I do? We do not issue refunds in these cases, but please contact awards@appliedartsmag.com if you need the entry removed from the Winners' pool.

Payment FAQ

Can I submit more entries after paying? Yes. In Awards Entries, you will have the opportunity to submit additional entries even if others already entered have been paid. This will simply generate a new confirmation email when you complete your entries with payment.

I want to change something after I've paid. What do I do? Once an entry is paid, you cannot change the category, entry title, entry format, winner's information, description of entry, or creative credits. A paid entry is final, so check it carefully before proceeding to the payment field. If chosen as a winner, you will be given a small window of time to add or edit information.

Can I get a refund? Entries are non-refundable; costs cover administration, processing and the judging of the entry. A submission of entry acknowledges acceptance of these rules.

My client has revoked the right for me to enter work I’ve already paid for. What do I do? We do not issue refunds, but contact awards@appliedartsmag.com if you need the entry removed from the judging or winners' pool.

I'm getting error messages when I try to pay. What do I do? If you entered your payment information incorrectly on your first attempt, any subsequent attempts would be declined, even if you change your payment type. Close your browser and log back into Awards Entries. You should now be able to proceed with payment. If you continue to experience difficulties, contact awards@appliedartsmag.com.

Winners FAQ

If I win, what image will you use for reproduction? We will use the image(s) you submitted on entry. In the case of series, complete, campaign, we select a sampling at our discretion from the images/files submitted. For digital or motion, we will contact you to provide us with final image selects.

Contact

Questions? If you've checked all of the above sections and cannot find the answer to your question, or if you are having difficulty entering, contact awards@appliedartsmag.com.

Disclaimer

Applied Arts reserves the right to amend these rules throughout the competition. Applied Arts assumes all entries are original and the property of the entrant, with all rights granted therein. Applied Arts reserves the rights to publish or exhibit entries for our print or electronic formats, or related promotions. Entries are non-refundable. Costs cover administration, processing, and the judging of the entry. Entries may be moved to a more suitable category, if Applied Arts deems the category chosen unsuitable. All descriptions and credits are subject to be edited for length, clarity and grammar in accordance with the Applied Arts editorial style guide. A submission of entry acknowledges acceptance of these rules.