SEGD Global Design Awards 2026

Competition Brief

The SEGD Global Design Awards 2026 invite entries for projects that shape how people interact with their surroundings through spatial, graphic, and experiential design. The awards programme has existed for many years to honor work which brings people closer to their surroundings through storytelling and visual design and artistic skill and scientific progress. The organization seeks design work which creates thoughtful user experiences through exhibitions and branded environments and placemaking and strategic research and wayfinding and all other interactive design fields.

Intent

The awards intend to recognize design work which establishes better connections between individuals and their environment. The focus extends beyond architectural design to investigate how design elements create user experiences and establish narrative pathways and generate accessible spaces and inclusive environments. The programme demonstrates how critical themes of the design competition process require designers to create user experiences which connect their work with actual design elements of their designs.

Purpose

The purpose is to showcase excellence in experiential design and give global visibility to projects that innovate in storytelling, technology, craft, and cultural impact. Winning entries gain recognition through publication, industry promotion, and celebration at live events. The programme offers extensive coverage which creates challenges for organizations to balance between achieving creative excellence and producing actual results, which is a common problem found in various awards that assess different fields.

Requirements

The competition permits designers and architects and museums and cultural institutions and agencies and clients and interdisciplinary teams to submit their work from any country. Both temporary and permanent projects completed within the eligible period may be entered. Entries must include a written description, high‑resolution images, and supporting materials such as plans or videos. The process relies on an online portal for project uploads and submission data.

Jury

Projects are evaluated by an international jury of design professionals and educators. The panel for 2026 includes:

1. Abigail Honor — Jury Chair; founding partner and creative director, Lorem Ipsum Corp
2. Joanne Chan — Chief Executive Officer, Turner Duckworth
3. Peter D Cook, FAIA, NOMA — Design Principal, HGA
4. Lucy Holmes — Founder and Creative Director, Holmes Studio
5. Donna Lawrence — Founder, Donna Lawrence Productions
6. Taylor Loutsis — Founder and Creative Director, Studio Loutsis
7. Neil Mendoza — Artist and Technologist
8. Gerald Sastra — Graduate Student, Rhode Island School of Design
9. Margaret Zivkovich — Art Director, Ayers Saint Gross

Fees

Rewards

Dates

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

The Society for Experiential Graphic Design organizes the SEGD Global Design Awards 2026, which accepts design entries from around the world to evaluate spatial and graphic and experiential design. The competition operates as a professional event which assesses exhibitions and branded environments and placemaking and research activities. The awards provide recognition and publication opportunities and display at events but lack direct cash awards which makes participation essential for building professional portfolios and gaining public exposure. The jury members possess advanced skills, but the diverse project categories create difficulties for judges to evaluate projects. The competition maintains a balance between conceptual and experiential standards because it uses limited ways to assess performance.

Conclusion and Critical Analysis

The SEGD Global Design Awards 2026 stands as a leading program which evaluates both experiential design and environmental design work. The program permits multiple types of work to participate in its competition which creates opportunities for diverse representation but makes it difficult to assess projects which differ from each other. The award system which provides broad eligibility for nominations must deal with the challenge of keeping its selection process both open and precise.

The jury criteria require clear concept development which covers artistic skill, creative progress, and the ways people interact with their environment. The architectural and environmental design fields require strict standards which architectural practice demands but designers must create measurable results for their work to show results through assessment.

The winning projects receive global recognition through their achievement of international awards and badges and certificates, which get presented during a public event. Participants need to evaluate the true worth of these award recognitions, which help with visibility, because winners need to decide whether the awards will help them become professional leaders or only act as marketing tools, which people examine during their conversations about design recognition systems.

Excellence in experiential design demands not only conceptual clarity but tangible engagement with users, environment, and cultural context — a balance that awards programmes must rigorously interrogate.

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