It's safe to say that 2020 was a year the design world never expected, but will change the course of the practice for years to come. COVID-19 forced people around the world to adapt to entirely new routines and lifestyles, and designers' work inevitably addressed these shifts. While 2020 was a year of great challenges, it also became an opportunity for designers to re-prioritize and focus on projects that truly improve the well-being of people around the world.

And while the new year not only marks the end of a crucial year of design development, 2021 also happens to be the 10th anniversary of the Core77 Design Awards. We've spent the last decade celebrating the best innovations to hit the market, and we want to wrap up the best of the ten years in a big way—by celebrating your best work.

Tia, a "one-stop shop" women's health clinic designed by LAB at Rockwell Group, took home the 2020 Built Environment Professional Runner-Up prize

Good design lives in many subsects, and our 18 original categories aim to recognize these many facets of the design world. With distinctions for Professional and Student entries alike, the Core77 Design Awards has awarded over 250 individual design firms including IDEO, frog, Pentagram, and fuseproject, as well as countless students from around the globe.

The judges

Each year, the program hand-picks a jury of international design talent to judge each category. This year's lineup is no exception, including design experts like Dr. Deepa Butoliya, Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan, Tariq Dixon, Co-founder of TRNK NYC, Sloan Leo, Founder of Flox Studio, Ian Montgomery and Marisa Sanchez-Dunning, co-leads at Guacamole Airplane, Hector Silva, Executive Director of Advanced Design, and many more to be announced. These professionals are each asked to build their own judging teams that promise a wide swath of experience and perspective, ensuring a diverse point of view for each category.

The winners

The best part of this process, however, is the announcement. Not just to finally satiate everyone's anticipation for who the winners are, but to kick off a conversation on the current state and future of design in the years to come. After reviewing, jurors announce their decisions via a video where they describe, in their own words, the process, observations, and discussion that led them to their final choices. It sheds light on a process typically kept behind closed doors, and sparks a meaningful discourse in the weeks that follow.

Design student Kenneth Kuh of ArtCenter was the 2020 Student Winner in the Visual Communication category for Guerewol Festival, a visual identity for an annual courtship ritual competition among the Wodaabe Fula people of Niger

What do you get for all this? Beyond another line on your LinkedIn profile, you'll get your work showcased across the Core77 blog and the general web, adoration by your peers, visibility by esteemed designers in your field, as well as a trophy designed by none other than New York studio Rich Brilliant Willing. Inspired by the kind of group effort that designers and their clients engage in every day, the trophy doubles as a mold, allowing you to, well, make more! As many as you like.

The Core77 Design Awards trophy in all its glory

Sound up your alley?

The 2021 Core77 Design Awards are currently open for entry now. Meaning, right now! Early Bird pricing ends on February 1st, Regular Deadline ends March 8th, and the Final Deadline to enter is April 1st. That's it. Winners will be announced this summer in June.

Worked on a COVID related project this year you'd like to enter? Learn more about how you could be eligible for a discount in this year's awards.