AOI - World Illustration Awards 2020 - Graphic design competition

by Irena Sibila on Dec 04, 2019

This competition has expired on ◷ 18/02/2020

This Aoi - world illustration awards 2020 now is over!

CALL FOR ENTRY: The AOI World Illustration Awards, recognised as the most prestigious illustration awards globally organised by (AIO) Association of Illustrators has been recently opened for entries in its 2020 edition.

About ⇣

The AOI World Illustration Awards, the most comprehensive and significant award and illustration competition in the UK organised by (AIO) Association of Illustrators in partnership with USA-based Directory of Illustration, has been recently opened for entries for 2020.

The World Illustration Awards this year has ten categories that reflect the breadth and diversity of illustration being made globally today:

• Advertising
• Book Covers
• Commercial Publishing
• Alternative Publishing
• Children's Publishing
• Design, Product & Packaging
• Editorial
• Exploration
• Science & Technology
• Site Specific

Submission requirements:

Organiser are looking for work which is:

- Technically excellent,
- Communicates its idea or message brilliantly,
- Explores illustration as an artform

When you are thinking about what to enter, as well as considering those judging criteria, think about illustration that really sings – work with the spark that lifts it off the page or screen. It may be that it has come from a personal passion, or challenged you technically – or been one of those surprise commissions that just works. There is no right or wrong – most illustrators will have at least one project that makes them sit up and think ‘Yes! That’s what I want my work to do’. Usually, those are the projects to enter.

The work you enter can be in any medium, and realised or published in any format.

The work doesn’t have to be commissioned but has to have been created or published after 1 January 2019 up until the deadline.

You can enter a single and multiple entry so you can decide how many images you want to submit.

Single entries are useful for things like book covers, single editorial illustrations, logos, packaging labels, or anything that is a standalone, single piece of work.

Multiple entries are useful for showing different aspects of a project, for example a series of inside spreads from a book, a series of spot illustrations for a website, a series of animations, different angles of a three dimensional or site-specific work, or any project that has more than one illustration as part of it that you would like to showcase.

The AOI will announce a longlist in Spring 2020, and a shortlist in Summer 2020. Each category has a New Talent and Professional winner, with 20 Category Winners and two Overall Winners announced at the Awards Ceremony in October 2020.

Entry fees:

Entry fee cost £29 (GBP) per Single Entry and £49 (GBP) per Multiple Entry (inclusive of VAT). AOI Members receive a discount of 20% off their entry fees.

Eligibility ⇣

The Awards are open to professional and new talent illustrators living and working in any country.

Prize ⇣

Four Cross-Category Awards, such as the SAA Award for an unrepresented Student, The Directory of Illustration (DI) Award for a professional artist and the AOI Award for the best member entry will also be announced then. There is a new Innovation Award in 2020 celebrating the most ambitious, experimental work. The two Overall Winners will be awarded cash prizes totalling £3,000. Category Winners enjoy in-kind benefits, as well as the coveted WIA trophies.

All shortlisted entrants will be presented in a digital and print publication sent to commissioners worldwide and available for sale. Shortlisted entries will also be presented in a new look exhibition, as part of the WIA Events Programme in October 2020.

There will be a new programme of talks and events alongside a showcase of all 200 shortlisted projects at Elephant West in October 2020. This will include masterclasses and panel discussions as well as social events to allow illustrators, agents and commissioners from around the work to meet, explore and celebrate.