Introducing Best Design Awards – Here’s How To Get The Recognition Your Creative Genius Deserves

Creative
Introducing Best Design Awards – Here’s How To Get The Recognition Your Creative Genius Deserves
Article by Jelena Relić
Last Updated: January 16, 2022

All creative designs have the power to inspire, no matter how subdued or groundbreaking they may be.

Such is the purpose of DesignRush’s Best Design Awards: to inspire ideas and action through categorized designs that excel in aesthetics and functionality.

This article will be your complete guide to the Best Design Awards program — its unique value and benefits, eligibility requirements, evaluation process, design criteria, application guidelines and more!

What Are Best Design Awards?

Best Designs Awards are certificates of excellence for creative design solutions across the following categories:

The Awards program announces one best design in each of the six categories monthly. The winning designs are recognized in the form of expert analysis and commentary, in order to further inspire creation and innovation in the winner’s category and industry.

Let's recognize award-winning designs.
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What Makes Best Design Awards Unique?

DesignRush is the leading online B2B Marketplace that connects brands to over 15,000 professional agencies worldwide.

Our Best Design Awards, together with the Marketplace, Agency Directory, thought leadership articles and more, create an ecosystem that provides value for agencies and brands.

With Best Design Awards, we put quality work front and center.

Each winning design gets showcased and advertised on our website, newsletter, social media channels and other digital platforms to give creators the industry exposure they deserve.

By creating the ultimate library of the very best designs from all around the world, not only do we inspire and educate brands, agencies and designers worldwide — we also bring them more leads and help build their credibility.

Why Join Best Design Awards?

The main values that Best Design Awards bring to successful applicants are industry exposure and credibility-building recognition.

However, the winners also get to enjoy even more tangible benefits. And here's what they had to say about their experience:

The experience ... was brilliant, from the ease of submitting the design to ... [reading] a fantastic article about it. We have since received many more branding project enquiries ...
Richard Longmuir, Launch Scotland
... It's always great to receive this kind of recognition, which gives strength for continuing to work hard along the same path.
Piter Moreira, One-employee company
The process ... was quick and easy without any hassle and [the Awards Manager] was fantastic throughout.
Charlotte Burrows, Slice Design
It brought ~200 users to our site within a month and got us a project worth 25k USD. Winning helped us reach our KPIs, access a new pool of clients, and provided valuable traffic and exposure.
Jean Massad, Lift Agency

Best Design Awards Badge

Each recognized design, i.e. applicant, receives several badge formats to use in a variety of contexts.

The recipients will be able to display the Best Design Awards badge across different channels, such as their:

  • Website
  • Social media profiles
  • Email signatures
  • And more

Awards are powerful social proof. They increase credibility and build the audience’s confidence in a company's capabilities and services. To illustrate, one eCommerce site saw a 72.05% increase in conversions after adding an award badge to their navigation bar.

Best Design Awards winner badges

Valuable DesignRush Promotions 

DesignRush is a powerful marketing platform that attracts over 300,000 monthly B2B visitors, mostly industry experts looking for agency partners that can provide professional business solutions.

In addition to placing the winners in front of this audience in a dedicated article in the Best Designs section, they will also be featured in the following channels:

  • Social Media exposure to our 20,000+ followers on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram
  • B2B Newsletters sent to 20,000+ DesignRush subscribers
  • Certificate of Recognition
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How Does DesignRush Select The Winners?

Our team of design specialists identifies, analyzes and evaluates website, app, video, logo, print and packaging designs from all over the world to decorate creative work that advances the craft of intelligent design.

Each category has its own dedicated panel, as well as evaluation forms and scoring systems.

Submissions for all categories are judged by six main criteria:

1. Impact: 

  • Does the design trigger an immediate response?
  • Does it capture and retain attention?

2. Creative solutions: 

  • Does the design feature creative design solutions? 
  • Does the design offer a new perspective or does it take an innovative approach in terms of techniques, tools, design concepts and materials?

3. Functionality: 

  • Is the design useful? If so, how?
  • Does it achieve its purpose?
  • Does it facilitate and contribute to the user's experience?

4. Execution: 

  • Does the design reflect meticulous execution?
  • Is it detail-oriented?

5. Branding:

  • Does the design reflect the brand it represents?

6. User experience (particularly relevant for web, app, video and packaging design categories):

  • Is the design accessible to all users?
  • Is the design user-friendly and user-focused?

While our network of judges may occasionally highlight a design solution they discover independently, to be considered for a Best Design award, be sure to submit your application. Read on for instructions!

Who Can Apply For Best Design Awards?

Any in-house, freelance or agency designer with a unique design that fits one of our six categories can apply for Best Design Awards.

Yes, brands can also submit their designs, but if the agency or a freelancer designed the material, the brands must provide us with their name(s) as we want to give credits to them as well.

DesignRush will disqualify any submission that shows signs of plagiarism.

How To Apply For Best Design Awards?

To nominate your design for a Best Design Award:

Submit your nomination via the online form on our website and fill out these mandatory fields:

  • Your name
  • Your Email
  • Best Design Category
  • Best Design URL (where you design can be seen online)
  • Your design rationale (a note explaining your design and what makes it great)
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Other Best Design Awards FAQs

Q: How many winners will be chosen every month and what will they receive?

A: There will be a total of 6 monthly winners — one for each category. They will receive:

  • A Dedicated Article in the Best Design Awards section
  • Newsletter Promotions
  • Social Media Promotions
  • Official Best Design Awards Badge
  • Certificate of Recognition

Q: When and where are the winners announced?

A: The winners are informed via email at the start of the month, while they are formally announced on DesignRush.com every 15th of each month, followed by an email newsletter and a social media campaign the following week.

Candidates who failed to secure an award will receive another email with more opportunities for exposure and lead generation on DesignRush.

Q: In how many categories can I submit my designs?

A: You can submit as many designs in as many categories as you want – as long as they fulfill the criteria for each category.

Q: What happens if my design doesn’t win?

A: Best Design Awards is just one of the many perks of connecting with DesignRush. After announcing the winners, our team will get in touch with you for other opportunities like Design Trends articles, Agency Directory and Marketplace.

Q: What happens if a brand receives a badge, but their design agency goes unrecognized for their work?

A: Creative solutions rarely bloom in isolation.

At DesignRush we recognize that design is a collaborative process that combines strategic thinking, creative sensibility and expert guidance.

This is why Best Design Awards welcome applications not only from agencies and designers but from brands as well.

If a brand’s submission is awarded, we will gladly extend the award to their design partner if they prove their involvement in the project.

Q: Are there any costs I should be aware of?

A: You can choose from BASIC ($75), STANDARD ($600) or PREMIUM ($1,500) submission packages to have your designs evaluated. One design per category counts as one submission.

Q: Which package should I get?

A: BASIC is for freelancers who want to get their feet at the door.

STANDARD is for startup creatives building an impressive portfolio.

Last but definitely not least, PREMIUM is for creative teams who want to make the most out of their exposure on DesignRush — with Agency Listing on top of design recognition.

Q: I paid the submission fee. Does it mean my design/s will be featured? 

A: The submission packages allow us to have your design/s evaluated by the jury. It neither guarantees that your entry will win the competition nor is it an assurance to be featured on DesignRush as a Best Design.

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