About WIA
The World Illustration Awards, presented by the Association of Illustrators (AOI) in partnership with the Directory of Illustration (Di), showcase great work being made by illustrators all over the world today.
WIA focuses on supporting and celebrating creativity, by connecting illustrators with their peers and the global illustration industry.
Info & KeY Dates
The World Illustration Awards (WIA) are on a roughly two-year cycle. The Call for Entries opens in December and runs until mid February, announcements are made from May. Once the Winners are announced later in the year, all winning projects go on tour to be exhibited around the world for the next year.
What could I win?
WIA rewards excellence, offering cash prizes to our overall winners, plus a range of valuable networking and promotional benefits to our category winners, shortlist, longlist and even entrants. Find out more.
Award Winners will be announced in September 2025.
Awards:
- 1 Overall Professional Winner (Cash Prize of £2000)
- 1 Overall New Talent Winner (Cash Prize of £1000)
- 4 Cross Category Winners (Various Prizes)
- 20 Category Winners (one New Talent and one Professional per category)
- 20 Highly Commended Projects (one New Talent and one Professional per category)
- 200 Shortlisted Projects
- 500 Longlisted Projects
What are the key dates?
- 4 December 2024 – call for entries opens
- 7 January 2025 – early bird offer ends (midnight UK time)
- 19 February 2025 – Deadline for submissions
- March – May 2025 – judging
- 29 May 2025 – longlist announced
- July 2025 – shortlist announced
- September 2025 – winners announced
- November 2025 – touring exhibition available for hire
- December 2025 – new Call for Entries launches
What are the entry fees?
£34 (GBP) per Single Entry // £53 (GBP) per Multiple Entry
€41 (EURO) per Single Entry // €64 (EURO) per Multiple Entry
$43 (USD) per Single Entry // $67 (USD) per Multiple Entry
The member discount of 20% is automatically applied in the cart.
Find out mOre
The Association of Illustrators has run a juried illustration competition since 1976. The World Illustration Awards, presented in partnership with the Directory of Illustration, has been going strong and growing since 2015.
The World Illustration Awards is a global celebration of illustration: WIA focuses on supporting and celebrating creativity, by connecting illustrators with their peers and the global illustration industry.
The Awards are split into two groups: New Talent and Professional. All work, commissioned or self-initiated, is accepted across the ten categories as long as it has been created within the past year before the Call for Entries closes. Each year, the awards are independently judged by an international panel of 30 judges who select the 500 project strong Longlist, 200 shortlisted projects, and their Category Winners and Highly Commended. Each category has one New Talent and one Professional Winner and Highly Commended.
Many projects are shared on our extensive socials from the Call for Entries stage onwards, putting a spotlight on the fantastic illustration work being created globally today. The selected projects are showcased online and promoted to the industry.
Testimonials
Being [selected] excites me because it validates my hard work and creativity. It offers recognition from industry experts and opens up new professional opportunities
Zhang Jiayi
WIA2024 New Talent Advertising Category Winner
Being [selected as a winner] for WIA2024 has got me buzzing with excitement! It’s like winning the golden ticket to the illustrator’s chocolate factory.
Fang Fang Han
WIA2024 New Talent Animation Category Winner & SAA Cross Category Award Winner
I am most excited about the extensive promotional efforts of WIA. Being [selected] in such a major illustration competition holds great prestige and allows more people to become aware of my work.
Pingnan Lu
WIA2024 New Talent Design, Product and Packaging Category Winner
It is so exciting! I haven’t entered many competitions before, and to get shortlisted for the biggest is mind blowing! I am super excited for the reach this will give my work.
Martin Beckett – WIA2024 Shortlisted Illustrator -Exploration Category
What can I enter?
Illustration, or projects featuring illustration, in any format or usage can be entered into WIA 2025. This includes still images, animated gifs and animations, created in any medium such as digitally, painted or collage.
Work can be self-initiated, such as coursework, or commissioned, and created by illustrators working in any sector. The illustration must have been created, completed, commissioned, or published since January 2024.
You must enter using the online form. You will need to choose a category, single or multiple format and whether to enter as a New Talent or Professional illustrator.
Before you start, it might be helpful to check out projects from the past on our WIA project page.
Please note – Entries that have been created with the use of AI text-to-image generating software or platforms are not currently eligible to be entered into WIA.
Who judges the awards?
The 30 WIA Judges are experts in their sectors, chosen to represent a global view on illustration. We will add new judges below as we go along from January 2025.
They are looking for work that is:
• Technically excellent
• Communicates its idea or message brilliantly
• Explores illustration as an artform
Find out who judged WIA2024
What a pleasure it was to see such a broad spectrum of artists involved in this year’s awards. The artworks invoked real discussion between the judges and with such quality getting to a consensus from various perspectives was a rewarding challenge. Big UP to everyone that entered and congratulations to all the winners.
Steve & Emma Hayles (UPFEST), WIA2024 judges
About the Organisers
The World Illustration Awards are presented by the UK-based Association of Illustrators (AOI) in partnership with the USA-based Directory of Illustration (Di).
The Association of Illustrators is the professional body for illustration in the UK. Established in 1973, the AOI champions illustrators and the illustration industry with education, promotion and campaigning to achieve a thriving industry for us all. Memberships are available for illustrators, agents and colleges with discounts available for students and represented artists. The AOI is a not-for-profit company that is fully funded by its members, for the benefit of its members. As part of the partnership, the AOI selects one Member Award Winner who receives a free annual membership.
Workbook’s Directory of Illustration, the world’s leading illustration resource, is distributed free of charge to thousands of art commissioners who regularly hire freelance artists and animators. Advertising agencies, corporations and publishing companies depend on the searchable directoryofillustration.com website and annual printed Directory to find top talent for their campaigns and projects. In print, on-line and on social, we help artists successfully grow and sustain their professional careers. The Di sponsors the generous DI Award for Professional Shortlisted entries as well as the Overall Awards for WIA.
What are the Categories?
The ten categories in the World Illustration Awards reflect the breadth of illustration being created today. Click on each image to see previous winners.
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About THE
AWARDS
The World Illustration Awards is a global celebration of illustration.
The Association of Illustrators has run a juried illustration competition since 1976. The latest incarnation, the World Illustration Awards in partnership with the Directory of Illustration, has been going strong and growing since 2015.
WIA focuses on supporting and celebrating creativity internationally, by connecting illustrators with their peers and the global illustration industry.
The Awards are split into two groups: New Talent and Professional. All work, commissioned or self-initiated, is accepted across the ten categories as long as it has been created within the past year before the Call for Entries closes.
If you have any questions get in touch with the awards team
awards@theaoi.com
PRESENTED BY
The Association of Illustrators
The Association of Illustrators is the professional body for illustration in the UK. Established in 1973, the AOI champions illustrators and the illustration industry with education, promotion and campaigning to achieve a thriving industry for us all. Memberships are available for illustrators, agents and colleges with discounts available for students and represented artists.
Directory of Illustration
Workbook’s Directory of Illustration, the world’s leading illustration resource, is distributed free of charge to thousands of art commissioners who regularly hire freelance artists and animators. Advertising agencies, corporations and publishing companies depend on the searchable directoryofillustration.com website and annual printed Directory to find top talent for their campaigns and projects. In print, online and on social, we help artists successfully grow and sustain their professional careers.
Support WIA
and Become a Sponsor
We offer various levels of sponsorship and are always open to tailor packages to your needs. You could sponsor one event, a whole category or something else that would benefit both you and the artist community. Download the sponsorship deck below to find out more or get in touch with awards@theaoi.com.
