Our Innovation by Design Awards are back—here’s how they’re different in 2025

Each year, our Innovation by Design Awards celebrate the most notable projects across the design world. And while there are many design awards offered across the industry—perhaps too many!—Innovation by Design continues to be the most rigorous, facing the scrutiny of a panel of leading design journalists and influential designers.

But it’s also time for Innovation by Design to evolve. 

So this year, you may see we’re doing things a bit differently. And we’re sure you will like these changes.

First off, we’ve paired back our core design categories significantly, reducing them from 50 to 20. Why? The list had simply gotten big, with too many subcategories that had “feature creeped” over years of additions. We believe that this abbreviated list can fit any design project imaginable—ranging from UX, to architecture, to experience design, to interior design, to material design—but with a clarity that will allow you to know which categories make the best fit for your project.

This update also means there will be fewer than half the winners we’ve had in the past, which will add to the prestige of receiving Innovation by Design recognition. 

It also means we can celebrate each of our honorees with more gusto. This year, our Innovation by Design winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in September during the Fast Company Innovation Festival, Sept 15–18. (Full details to come.) Truth be told, it’s the perfect excuse to throw a big party in New York City and celebrate the year with industry friends—and maybe even head home with a trophy.

To enter Innovation by Design, submissions are due by April 11 . Good luck!

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