iF Design Award 2027 opens for entries in 93 categories

James Calloway

More than 130 international design experts will assess iF Design Award 2027 entries in two rounds, with submissions closing on 2 November 2026 across 93 categories.

The nonprofit iF Design Foundation established the annual programme in Germany in 1953 to recognize excellence in design and architecture. It receives nearly 10,000 entries from more than 70 countries each year. Local studios, emerging creatives, international firms and long-established brands can all apply.

The 93 categories span nine design disciplines: product design; packaging; branding and communication design; service, system and process design; UX; UI; architecture; interior architecture; and concepts.

What does the judging process measure?

The award recognizes visually compelling work, but iF Design says a project must also hold up beyond aesthetics. The foundation assesses every project against five equally weighted criteria, each contributing 20 per cent of the score:

• Idea
• Form
• Function
• Differentiation
• Sustainability

An independent jury of international design experts selects projects whose ideas break new ground and whose impact merits recognition on the global stage. iF Design calls the framework rigorous and transparent.

“Based on [the] criteria, the jurors [score] each aspect of an entry and provide participants with meaningful feedback at every stage,” iF Design explained.

Every entrant receives a detailed feedback chart, regardless of the outcome. The chart breaks down scores across the five criteria and compares them with other entries. iF Design says this gives participants objective insight into strengths and areas for improvement, backed by independent expert validation.

“We see the iF Design Award as one of the world’s most important design platforms where leading brands, start-ups, designers and creators can challenge themselves, be inspired and stand out from the competition,” said iF Design CEO Uwe Cremering.

For recipients, recognition carries particular significance. Christian Schluender, senior vice president and general manager of Global Design at Harman, said being part of the award is both humbling and deeply inspiring. He said its value comes from the calibre of the competition and the excellence it represents.

Who has set the benchmark?

The iF Design Lifetime Achievement Award has recently gone to Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola for 2026. British architect Norman Foster received the honour in 2025, after German industrial designer Dieter Rams in 2024. Rams, a former iF jury member with longstanding ties to the organization, has also contributed to the foundation’s research and initiatives on design education.

Among the 2026 Gold Award winners, The Grand Ring—a landmark wooden structure created for Expo 2025 Osaka by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto—won the Gold Award for architecture. Erwan Bouroullec’s wireless Music Studio 5 speaker for Samsung won Gold for product design.

In 2025, One Plus Partnership’s sculptural Haikou Gaoxingli Insun Cinema was among the Gold Award winners for interior architecture.

What else surrounds the award?

Alongside the award, iF Design publishes its annual iF Design Trend Report, runs the Trend Conference, and produces the award-winning Future of XYZ interview series. The recently launched iF Design Academy offers expert-led courses tailored specifically to design leaders.

With the deadline approaching, iF Design says designers, studios and brands have one last opportunity to enter. It calls the submission window the final chance for exceptional projects to receive international recognition alongside respected names in design. The foundation directs prospective entrants to ifdesign.com before 2 November 2026.

The 2 November 2026 cutoff sets the programme’s next measurable step: a field of nearly 10,000 submissions from more than 70 countries moving through two rounds of review by more than 130 experts against five equal criteria.