About

The Henry van de Velde Awards showcase and laud Flemish designers, companies, products, projects, services and systems that, through the smart use of design, have a positive impact on society, the environment and the economy. 

The Henry van de Velde Awards are widely supported thanks to the shared vision of a professional and independent jury with significant expertise in the sector. With its own website, the official award ceremony, the publication and the activities, the Henry van de Velde Awards is a true platform for Flemish design.

The Henry van de Velde Awards are presented by Flanders DC and are the most important design awards in Belgium. Because design is so broad, designers, organizations, clients and companies with recent products, services or projects can enter within the following nine categories: Business Innovation, Consumer, Crafts by Bokrijk, Design Research, Digital Design, Environment, Graphics, Habitat and Spaces. 

The favorite project from these categories receives the Henry van de Velde Public Gold Award through an online vote. The jury also announces the winners of the Henry van de Velde Lifetime Achievement, Young Talent, Company and Ecodesign by OVAM Gold Awards.

The Henry van de Velde Awards consist of several types of awards:

• The Gold, Silver or Bronze Awards within the Category Awards, for which a project can be submitted.
• The Public Award, which is presented from all winning projects within the Category Awards.
• The Jury Awards, for which one cannot submit an entry but can only be considered through nomination.

CATEGORY AWARDS

Habitat
The prize for a product or object that contributes to pleasant living or comfortable (home) working and thereby enhances personal well-being. These may include furniture, lighting, textiles and objects for both indoor and outdoor use, for home, office or the project market; wall coverings, tableware and other accessories.

Consumer Innovation
The prize for (semi-)industrial end products, smart (digital) solutions and services that improve and facilitate the daily lives of individuals in areas such as food, well-being, leisure, mobility, media, lifestyle and recreation.

Business Innovation
The prize for innovative solutions — business models, products, services or digital applications — in industry, the business world, healthcare or professional environments. The solutions should optimise and improve efficiency in administrative, production, logistics or distribution processes; enhance working conditions; and/or have a positive impact on the environment.

Spatial Design
The prize for designs and interventions that shape a private, public or professional environment — indoors or outdoors — and improve experience, functionality and quality of use. This category rewards projects that respond, through design, to how people experience or use spaces. The focus lies on spatial experience, use logic, materiality and the relationship between people, objects and their environment. These may include (re)design of living and working environments, scenography, temporary or modular installations, retail and exhibition concepts, spatial interventions (indoor & outdoor), and repurposing of existing spaces.

Craft Driven Design by Bokrijk
The prize for products, objects or projects in which craftsmanship plays a central role and is used through design thinking as a driver for innovation and renewal. This category rewards creations in which artisanal knowledge and techniques are reinvented, combined or translated into contemporary applications and contexts. The focus lies on materiality, the making process, experimentation, aesthetic quality and/or the integration of traditional (pre-industrial) and new techniques.

Graphic & Brand Design
The prize for graphic design, visual execution or illustrations of a product, digital application, campaign or system that are boundary-pushing and distinctive, resulting in effective and compelling communication or identity. This may include print or digital campaigns, typography, branding and identity, packaging, editorial design, motion design, signage and infographics.

Digital & Interactive Design
The prize for digital and interactive designs that improve user experiences, enable new forms of interaction and stimulate digital innovation. This category rewards products, platforms, applications or systems in which design plays a central role in usability, engagement and the connection between people and technology. The focus lies on intuitive interaction, digital experience, ease of use and the integration of technology to create meaningful and functional digital experiences. These may include websites, apps, digital platforms, interactive installations, interface design, UX/UI projects, digital tools for work or leisure, and experimental or educational applications.

Service Design
The prize for innovative services and user experiences that help organisations optimise processes and interactions for customers or citizens. These are solutions that respond to real user needs and that, through design, lead to improved usability, accessibility and impact. The focus lies on customer-centricity, co-creation, and innovative digital and physical touchpoints using design methodologies and new technologies. This applies across retail, public services, healthcare, mobility, finance, education, culture, work environments, digital platforms and B2B or industrial contexts.

Social & Systemic Design
The prize for designs, systems or projects that contribute to societal change, at any scale.
The focus lies on solutions addressing societal challenges such as poverty, well-being, sustainability, polarisation, inclusion, safety, inequality, ageing and education, by intervening at the level of behaviours, policy and systems. This includes social innovation projects, participatory processes, public space interventions, behaviour-change campaigns and policy design.

Public Award by Nationale Loterij
The Public Award is an integral part of the Category Awards. All winners from the nine categories are automatically eligible. The winner is determined through an online vote in which the public can vote for all awarded products, services and (research) projects.

JURY AWARDS

Lifetime Achievement
A design prize for a designer or design studio that has been active for at least 30 years and has had national impact on an economic, societal and/or cultural level, and is an international player in the sector.

Young Talent
A design prize to stimulate a young designer or studio that has been active for a maximum of 10 years. The evaluation focuses on the designer or studio and assesses the societal relevance and overall quality of the portfolio. The laureate receives a cash prize of €10,000.

Company
A design prize for companies that strategically deploy designers, design methodologies and design thinking. This rewards strong clientship in relation to design. Key criteria include professionalism, strategy, sustainability and innovation.

Ecodesign by OVAM
A design prize for a company, organisation or designer that serves as a role model for others. The laureate demonstrates a well-considered integration of ecodesign principles throughout the company culture and strategy and/or within the developed products and services. Key criteria include impact, growth potential, vision and continuity in sustainability.

For all questions you can send a mail to info@henryvandevelde.be or call us at 03/746 09 46.

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The prizes were launched in 1994 by the former Vlaams Instituut voor Zelfstandig Ondernemen (VIZO), Dienst Kunstambacht, later known as Design Flanders. They are unique in their genre in Belgium because they aim to cover the entire broad design sector, fully in line with the vision of Henry van de Velde himself.  

The Henry van de Velde heirs agreed to dedicate the design prizes to and name them after the designer and architect Henry van de Velde, one of the great Belgian designers of the 20th century. 

Throughout the years, the Henry van de Velde Awards have responded to developments in the design field. The awards are regularly adapted in line with developments, but three of them have been in existence since the beginning: Lifetime Achievement (or Career), Young Talent and Public. In 1995 they were joined by the Henry van de Velde Company Award, which is also here to stay.

The first editions were presented and shown in the Museum of Decorative Arts (now Design Museum Ghent), which later became the Design Flanders Gallery in Brussels. When the space there also became too small, Design Flanders found an enthusiastic partner in the Flemish Parliament. At that time, the OVAM also became a partner of the Henry van de Velde Awards with the OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO. And in the same year, the awards were also expanded to include the Henry van de Velde Labels, quality labels for products and a replacement for the prize for the best product. 

Since 2014, the awards have been presented in the magnificent Henry Le Boeuf concert hall in Bozar. For the exhibition, the public can visit the Foyers. More than 1,400 people attend the ceremony each year. 

In 2016, the changing role of design becomes clear in the abolition of the Henry van de Velde Labels and the introduction of awards in multiple categories that showcase the social, economic and aesthetic value of design. The introduction of the categories is clearly paying off. Not only is the number of entries potentially increasing every year, but there is also a great deal of interest from the general public, both in voting for the Henry van de Velde Public Gold Award and at the presentation and exhibition in Bozar.