New and Updated Categories for the Henry van de Velde Awards

From 20 April until 24 May 2026, you can submit your project for the Henry van de Velde Awards 27. Several updates have been made to the categories in which projects can be submitted. Two new categories are being introduced, while some existing categories have been renamed or given a more clearly defined scope. Here’s an overview.

The new categories are Service Design and Social & Systemic Design:

Service Design: the award for innovative services and user experiences that help organisations optimise processes and interactions for customers or citizens. These are solutions that respond to the real needs of users, customers and stakeholders, and that use design to improve usability, accessibility and impact. The focus lies on customer-centricity, co-creation, innovative digital and physical touchpoints through design methodologies and new technologies. This applies across retail environments, public services, healthcare and wellbeing, mobility and transport, financial services, education, culture and leisure, work and office environments, digital platforms and ecosystems, as well as industrial and B2B contexts.
Social & Systemic Design: the award for designs, systems or projects that contribute to social change through design, on either a small or large scale. The focus lies on solutions that address societal challenges (such as poverty, wellbeing, sustainability, polarisation, inclusion, safety, inequality, ageing, education, etc.) by intervening at the level of behaviours, policies and systems, regardless of scale. This can include social innovation projects; participatory processes with citizens or communities; interventions in public space; behaviour-changing campaigns; policy design; and more.

The following categories have been updated:

Craft Driven Design by Bokrijk: the award for products, objects or projects in which craftsmanship plays a central role and where ‘design thinking’ is used as a driver for innovation and renewal. This category recognises creations in which artisanal knowledge and techniques are reinvented, combined or translated into contemporary applications and contexts. The focus lies on materiality, making processes, experimentation, aesthetic quality and/or the integration of traditional (pre-industrial) and new techniques.
Graphic & Brand Design: the award in which the graphic design, visual execution or illustrations of a product, digital application, campaign or system are groundbreaking and distinctive, resulting in effective and compelling communication or identity. This can include print or digital campaigns, typography, branding and identity, packaging, editorial design, motion design, signage and infographics.
Digital & Interactive Design: the award for digital and interactive designs that improve user experiences, enable new forms of interaction and stimulate digital innovation. This category recognises 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 interactions, digital experiences, ease of use and the integration of technology to create meaningful and functional digital experiences. This can include websites, apps, digital platforms, interactive installations, interface design, UX/UI projects, digital tools for work or leisure, and experimental or educational interactive applications.

The remaining categories — Habitat, Consumer Innovation, Business Innovation and Spatial Design — remain unchanged. Read the full description of all categories in the rules.