World Illustration Awards 2023

Winners Announced!

After a fantastic Awards Night celebration, we are delighted to announce the Overall, Category and Cross-Category Winners for the World Illustration Awards 2023!

“This year’s entrants demonstrated a remarkable level of creativity and skill, making shortlisting a challenging task.  

Our 2023 winners have truly mastered their crafts, skilfully utilising illustration to explore narratives, evoke emotions, and express complex ideas. We are proud to recognise and reward these winners for their important contributions to the illustration industry this year, made from all corners of the globe.   

We would like to express our gratitude to all the entrants, for sharing their projects and creative voices. Join us in celebrating the vibrant world of illustration, and the talented artists who bring it to life.”

~ Rachel Hill – CEO, AOI

New Talent Overall Winner: Stav Assis for “Fetch!” 

Stav wins a cash prize of £1000 as well as a copy of the Directory of Illustration and a year-long AOI membership.

“I love the fun feeling that brings a smile to me. And I think doing small illustrations in the matchbox size isn’t easy; I think this series works very well.”  Pomme Chan – Judge – Design, Product & Packaging Category

Professional Overall Winner: Orit Bergman & Anat Warshavsky
for “What is More, Yellow or an Elephant?”

Orit and Anat win a cash prize of £2000 as well as a two-page marketing package in the Directory of Illustration, valued at $4,330 US Dollars, including a 100-image professional portfolio on directoryofillustration.com

“The moment I saw this project I wanted to jump into the screen to be able to experience that installation in person. Love the palette, the diversity of the characters and the technique.

The elements created are very rich as individuals but also work perfectly together creating a harmonious playful universe. A perfect way to celebrate the power of imagination.”
Jefferson Quintana – Judge – Book Covers Category, sponsored by London Book Fair

Cross-Category Winners

In addition to the Category Winners, also announced were the four inspiring projects selected as Winners of the Cross-Category Awards (clockwise from top left):

AOI Members Award
Ollie Hirst ‘The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology 2022’

Directory of Illustration (DI) Award
David Doran ‘Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Boxes’

SAA Agents Awards for New Talent
Billy Partridge ‘The Jabberwocky’

Huion Digital Innovation Award
Fengyi Ye ‘Zodiac Rabbit 2023’

Category Winners

Highly Commended

Alongside the winners, we also are delighted to announce that the following projects were highly commended for each Category:

New Talent

• New Talent Advertising Highly Commended: Jiayan Fan / Keep Weird
• New Talent Animation Highly Commended: MarsroverKasei / Illumination
• ‘New Talent Book Covers Highly Commended: Soru Lee / Skinsky
• New Talent Children’s Publishing Highly Commended: Xiaowei Tao / Amusement Part At Home
• New Talent Design, Product & Packaging Highly Commended: Katia Bligh / Cold Brew Tea
• New Talent Editorial Highly Commended: Chiara Xie / Climate Impact on the Indigenous Community
• New Talent Exploration Highly Commended: Denisse Beltran / Casa
• New Talent Publishing Highly Commended: Nate Sweitzer / The Catcher in the Rye
• New Talent Science & Technology Highly Commended: Paula Heister / Glow
• New Talent Site Specific Highly Commended: Weston Wei / After the Applause

Professional

• Professional Advertising Highly Commended: Kid Meng / I Am What I Am
• Professional Animation Highly Commended  Katy Wang / On Being
• Professional Book Covers Highly Commended: Niels Blaesi / ABC Swiss
• Professional Children’s Publishing Highly Commended: Sonja Danowski / By Night in My Dream
• Professional Design, Product & Packaging Highly Commended: David Doran / Piper-Heidsieck Champagne boxes
• Professional Editorial Highly Commended: Sara Neuhart / Visual Thoughts on Current Affairs
• Professional Exploration Highly Commended: Michelle Ku / Mind Body
• Professional Publishing Highly Commended: Alé Mercado / The Masque of the Red Death
• Professional Science & Technology Highly Commended: Olivia Boutrou / Being Human Festival 2022
• ‘Professional Site Specific Highly Commended : Laura Merz / Metsola Beasties

Watch the Winner Announcements!

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All the category winners, cross category winners and highly commended projects are announced on the AOI website.
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The WIA2023 Winner Showcase is also live on the AOI website, including interviews, judges reflections and more, so why not check out some of the great illustration from across the globe by New Talent and Professional Illustrators in the 10 Categories⁠!

World Illustration Awards Showcase 2023

About The World Illustration Awards

Delivered by the AOI in partnership with the Directory of Illustration since 2015, the World Illustration Awards build on a 47-year tradition of the AOI organizing juried survey competitions.

The World Illustration Awards showcase great work being made by illustrators all over the world today. WIA focuses on supporting and celebrating creativity, connecting illustrators to their peers and the industry.

Being part of WIA offers a host of benefits to illustrators, such as increased visibility, opportunities for self- promotion, and the chance to network. WIA also gives many illustrators an international platform to reach new clients and commissions.

World Illustration Awards are a year-round celebration of the power and diversity of illustration being made today. Selected entries are shared on the popular @worldillustrationawards Instagram. This is followed by the announcement in May of 500 longlisted projects, and then the release of the 200 shortlisted projects which will feature in an Online Showcase on the AOI’s website launching in July.

A highlight of the Awards year is the excitement of the winners announcement in September. One New Talent and one Professional Overall winner will be awarded cash prizes and profiled on the AOI website.

This globally-recognised competion has ten industry-relevant categories and is judged by distinguished professionals from the global illustration industry. Commissioners value the Awards for identifying current trends and finding established and undiscovered talent, and illustrators value the connection and sense of community participating brings. The awards assemble an array of creativity and innovation, highlighting diverse approaches to illustration and offering an insight into current practice.

Illustrators, (working individually or as collectives), commissioners, agents and tutors were invited to submit work created, commissioned or published since 1 January 2022, until the deadline in February 2023 into the ten categories of the Awards.

The World Illustration Awards 2023 are sponsored by: