The 17th Hiiibrand International Brand & Communication Design Awards 2026 is organised by Hiiibrand to recognise outstanding brand practices and communication design. The competition comprises the Brand Awards, honouring companies and organisations for achievements in brand positioning, strategy, innovation and communication, and the Design Awards, recognising teams and individuals for excellence in communication design.
The 2026 Design Awards cover Branding, Logo, Packaging, Typography, Editing & Publishing, Advertising, Environment & Space, Digital Media and the newly introduced AI Visual category. The AI Visual section encompasses brand visuals, motion visuals and experiential visuals created through meaningful collaboration between human creativity and artificial intelligence.
Entries are assessed beyond surface aesthetics. Brand Awards judging considers brand story and vision, strategy, innovation and practice, and brand identity, while Design Awards judging examines communication, execution, creativity and long-term influence. Parallel professional and student levels give established practitioners and emerging designers opportunities to present their work to an international jury.
Entry fee: Regular Design Awards fees from August 1–31 are US$80 per professional Branding entry and US$40 per student Branding entry; all other categories cost US$48 per professional single entry or US$80 per professional series, and US$24 per student single entry or US$40 per student series, while eligible Brand Awards submissions are free.
Eligibility
Open to professional agencies, studios, design teams, marketing departments, freelancers and rights-holding brands worldwide, as well as graduate, undergraduate, college and technical-school students, with work created from January 1, 2024 within the stated 2026 eligibility window; professional entries must be commissioned and actually applied, student entries may include practice work, and AI Visual entries must demonstrate at least 30% substantive AI involvement with the tools, process and human–AI collaboration disclosed.
Prize
The Brand Awards plan to name 3 Best Brand and 12 Excellent Brand recipients, while each of the nine Design Awards categories provides professional Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit distinctions in a planned 1/2/3/10 structure and student distinctions in a planned 1/1/1/5 structure, subject to the quality of entries. Organisation awards include 8 Best Delegation and 8 Best Tutor distinctions, with additional Most Popular Awards selected through public voting. Best Brand winners receive a Kaleidoscope trophy, Design Awards recipients at Bronze level or higher receive one trophy, and winners and finalists receive certificates and Hiiibrand Awards logo-use rights; eligible work may also be promoted through Hiiibrand channels and included in touring exhibitions.
