Great design deserves a global audience — and to be recognized and celebrated by design leaders, design lovers, and everyone in between. In case you couldn’t tell by our 11 design competitions, that’s something we here at IIDA love to do. And going into 2027, our slate of competitions is going to be bigger and better than ever! IIDA will kick off the year with the new, expanded IIDA Global Excellence Design Awards (GEDA). (Sign up for the Designed for Excellence newsletter to learn more.) You’ll compete in one of three regional competitions across 19 categories for the chance to win the Best of the Global Excellence Design Awards.

Tell me more

Your work deserves to be honored for its innovation and creativity in a big, meaningful way. With GEDA, you’ll compete on a global stage for recognition by one of the most respected organizations in design, IIDA. Projects will be reviewed and carefully considered by a world-class jury of experts with serious credentials — forward-thinkers who have real chops.

Okay, so how does it work?

The new Global Excellence Design Awards include three regional competitions based on the project location — the Asia Pacific Design Awards; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Design Awards; and the Americas Design Awards. You’ll enter your project in the category (or categories) of your choice in the relevant regional competition (your region = where your project is based). Jurors will then review the submissions and select category finalists, category winners, and one Best of Competition for each region. The Best of Competition winner in each region will compete to win the overall “best of” award: Best of the Global Excellence Design Awards. (To put it succinctly, Best of GEDA.)

Regional competition finalists and winners will be announced, followed by a winners’ celebration where each region’s Best of Competition winner, plus the Best of GEDA winner, will be announced!

What do I get if I win?

Well, bragging rights obviously! In addition, every winner gets a marketing package that includes promotion and recognition on IIDA’s marketing and content channels. And everyone gets invited to the party: a winners’ celebration in Paris. You’ll not only be competing on a global stage, but also be honored in one of the most celebrated, design-forward cities in the world.

When do I submit my project, and when are the winners announced?

The regional competitions have rolling submission periods. See below:

IIDA Asia Pacific Design Awards: March 2-April 12, 2027
IIDA Americas Design Awards: April 13-May 24, 2027
IIDA Europe, Middle East, and Africa Design Awards: May 25-July 6, 2027

Judging for all three regional competitions will take place in July 2027, with finalists announced in August and winners announced in October. Best of Competitions and the overall Best of the Global Excellence Design Awards winner will be announced live on stage in February 2028 at the winners’ celebration in Paris.

What does this mean for IIDA’s Best of Asia Pacific Awards and Latin America Awards? And didn’t the 2026 Global Excellence Awards just close?

The spirit of these awards lives on in the Global Excellence Design Awards’ regional Asia Pacific and Americas competitions. They haven’t gone away, exactly, but have taken on a new form — and gained the visibility and prestige that come with competing against the rest of the world to win the Best of GEDA. And yes, submissions for the 2026 Global Excellence Awards did just close in mid-October, and winners will be announced in January 2027. The Global Excellence Design Awards will launch in their new format in March 2027.

I’m in! How do I apply?

Bookmark our submissions page and check back in 2027, or even better, sign up for IIDA’s Designed for Excellence newsletter to receive everything you need right in your inbox.