• 2 February

  Competition open

• 23 April

  Competition closed

• 1 July

  Announcement nominees

• 16 - 24 October

  Announcement winners DDA 2021

• 16 - 24 October

  (Virtual) DDA Exhibition during DDW 2021

• Product

  Industrial design or limited editions that improve life and make it easier.
  From products for the working or living environments, to human or animal mobility, for the consumer or the B2B market.

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• Habitat

  Design and layout of private and public spaces that have a positive influence on the quality of life. From infrastructure to interiors and from cultural to commercial, permanent or temporary.

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• Communication

  The original way in which design is used to create an effective and innovative connection between the aim, message, medium and end user. From brand and graphic design to digital and advertising.

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• Fashion

  Fashion, whereby wearability is not a requirement. From collections, unique pieces and accessories to offline or online performances.

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• Design Research

  Scenarios and concepts based on thorough research. From speculative to applied, from research to design and from ideas to solutions, with an emphasis on the research phase.

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  Criteria specific to this category

  Additional criteria for the Design Research category:
  • The research issue has evident potential for the future.
  • The work sets a precedent.

  General criteria

• Data & Interaction

  Design of interactive installations and interfaces in which data is used to add value for people, society and/or nature.Projects are innovative in character and encourage (inter)action.
  From artistic expressions to commercial solutions, from app to site and from installations to virtual worlds.

  Note: Category is replacement for Service & Systems category as of 2021.

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  Criteria specific to this category

  Additional criteria for the Data & Interaction category:
  • The work is characterised by creativity and originality, in concept and/or design.
  • Technology and innovation have been applied successfully and with user-friendliness.

  General criteria

• Best Commissioning

  The prize for clients that use designers and design strategically and structurally in their business or institute. From selection and briefing to offering creative space and securing results within the organisation.

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  Criteria specific to this category

  The jury uses the following criteria when assessing entries in the Best Commissioning category:
  • The quality of the request.
  • The strategic impact and sustainability of the collaboration.
  • The level of innovation of the collaborative form.
  • The professionality of the parties involved.

  General criteria

• Young Designer

  This is the incentive prize for young, talented designers who graduated no more than five years ago. Participartion for students is excluded. The designer is central in the assessment process, and the quality of the entire portfolio is judged.
  Keep an Eye Foundation and Dutch Design Awards believe that financial support can really make the difference at the beginning of someone’s career. Keep an Eye has therefore linked a financial stimulant to the DDA Young Designer Award since 2018, so that we can give young designers a seriously helping hand.

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  Criteria specific to this category

  Note:
  In the Young Designer category you submit 2 to 3 different projects from your portfolio. You do this by submitting several separate entries in the category.

  • The designer demonstrates potential for the future.
  • The designer’s work questions the current state of affairs within his/her discipline.

  General criteria

• Public Award

  The Public Award is presented to the winner with the most public votes. During Dutch Design Week the public can vote for winners from the categories: Product, Fashion, Habitat, Communication, Design Research, Service & Systems, Young Designer and Best Commissioning.

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• Keep an Eye Foundation

  Keep an Eye Foundation and Dutch Design Awards believe that financial support can really make the difference at the beginning of someone’s career. Keep an Eye has therefore linked a financial stimulant to the DDA Young Designer Award since 2018, so that we can give young designers a seriously helping hand.

  Keep an Eye Foundation keeps an eye open for young, promising talents. Thanks to various scholarships, prizes, shows and festivals, these talented musicians, artists, photographers, designers and filmmakers are given the chance to further develop their talent, to create new possibilities and above all to realize their creative dreams. Keep an Eye also strives for further exchanges between the different disciplines and educational courses.

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• BNO Piet Zwart

  This oeuvre prize is awarded by the Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers (BNO) and DDA to a designer who excels in one or more of the professional areas in which photographer, typographer, spatial and industrial designer Piet Zwart worked. The prize is awarded once every two years. The next BNO Piet Zwart Award will be presented in: 2021.

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DDA assesses how a design relates to Dutch society in the broadest sense of the term: economically, socially, culturally and intrinsically. Large and small issues, both in the Netherlands and abroad, demand a new, relevant design approach and form a reason for chasing new dreams. At the same time, design is also an applied profession. It changes people’s lives and makes things better and more valuable. Sometimes with relatively small, smart changes, sometimes with a groundbreaking idea. The expert panels and main jury assess all designs based on four overarching criteria. They apply a different emphasis per category and use additional criteria where necessary.

• Impact

  • The work impacts on a social, economic and/or individual level.
  • It appeals to a relevant issue, development or trend.
  • It initiates and/or accomplishes meaningful change.

• Distinction

  • The work is innovative in character.
  • There is evidence of a multidisciplinary or discipline-transcending collaboration or approach.

• Expressiveness

  • The design succeeds in communicating the designer’s intentions.
  • The work appeals to the imagination and displays a well-considered balance between form and function.

• Production method

  • The work has been produced in a responsible way.
  • It shows professional use of materials and techniques.
  • The work is of high quality.