The Product Design
Excellence Award
Inaugural Edition · Open for Submissions
Honouring product designers who solve real problems with genuine originality — where clarity of purpose, quality of execution, and the refusal to compromise produce something people reach for every day.
For Those Who Shape How People Live
Product design is the discipline closest to daily life. The objects people reach for every morning, the tools they rely on without thinking, the things that outlast trends because they simply work — these are the products that define the standard. Good design here is invisible. Great design is irreplaceable.
The Product Design Excellence Award by Design Authority recognises designers and studios who approach their craft with this conviction. Whether your work is home goods, consumer electronics, kitchen objects, tools, or appliances, we are looking for the quality of thought that makes a product genuinely better than what came before.
This is not an award for the most prominent name. It is an award for the most compelling work — submitted, evaluated, and ultimately chosen by a public that cares deeply about the spaces it calls home.
What Recognition
at This Level Unlocks
Winning a Design Authority Award carries weight that extends well beyond a certificate on a wall.
Reach the People Who Buy Your Products
The DA Awards audience includes design-conscious consumers, buyers, and media who discover and purchase exceptional products. Your recognition puts your work in front of the people who matter.
Retail & Trade Credibility
A DA Awards badge is a buying signal. It tells retailers, distributors, and end consumers that your product has been assessed against rigorous criteria — and earned recognition on merit.
Open to Every Studio and Maker
Independent designers, startups, and established product studios compete on the same terms — on the quality and originality of the work alone. No minimum sales volume required.
Distribution & Retail Opportunities
Our Winners Directory is browsed by buyers seeking distinctive product lines. Award credentials give your product the independent endorsement that retail conversations often require.
Permanent Editorial Profile
Each winner receives a professionally written feature on Design Authority — articulating the brief, the design decisions, the user insight, and what makes the product genuinely better.
Digital Emblem
A high-resolution DA Awards emblem for your packaging, e-commerce, pitch decks, and social channels — a mark that stands out on a crowded shelf.
How Entries Are Judged
Every entry is scored by our editorial team against five criteria — Form, Function, Craft, Innovation, Emotion — contributing 70% of the final score. Public appreciation adds the remaining 30% — this is an award that rewards holistic excellence, not a single dimension of skill.
Problem Clarity
Does the product define its problem precisely? We look for work where the brief is understood deeply — and the solution answers it without equivocation.
Functional Excellence
Does it work? We assess the product against its own performance criteria — reliability, ease of use, and the degree to which it does what it was made to do.
Form & Usability
Does the product's form serve its function, or compromise it? We look for work where aesthetic decisions and ergonomic ones are made at the same time.
Material & Manufacture
Is the product made from the right material for the right reasons? We assess material choice, finish quality, and the honesty of the manufacturing approach.
Originality
Does the product introduce a genuinely new solution, or does it simply execute a familiar one better? Both are valid — but we recognise both on their own terms.
User Impact
Does using this product change something? We ask whether it makes a task easier, a space better, or a daily habit more considered — measurably and meaningfully.
This space is reserved for
the work that moves people.
Could it be yours?
The inaugural Product Design Excellence Award is open for submissions. The products recognised here will be chosen by the people who use work like yours.
Frequently Asked
Your Work
Deserves to Be Seen
Submissions close 20 August 2026. Don't let the window pass.