Design Skill
Terms and Conditions – Design Skill Awards
Welcome to the official website of the Design Skill Awards 2026 (“DSA”). These Terms and Conditions govern your access to and use of the DSA website and services. By using the site, creating an account, registering or submitting a project, you agree to comply with these Terms in full.
1. Registration and Project Submission
1.1 Create your participant account. Use the account registration page. When registering by email, confirm your email address using the activation message, then sign in. Returning participants use their existing account. If you forget your password, use password recovery on the sign-in page.
1.2 Register and pay for your project. In your participant account, choose Register New Project, enter the project and billing details, select the nomination or nominations and complete payment via Stripe or PayPal. Each additional project requires a separate registration and payment. Creating an account alone does not register a project for the awards.
1.3 Prepare your materials. After payment is confirmed, open the project in My Entries. Add the project description in English, the author or designer, the project country, image credits or the copyright owner, a square cover image and any supporting materials. Complete the required confirmations concerning your authority to submit and permission to use the materials. You may save a draft and return to it later.
1.4 Submit your entry. Review the saved materials and use Save and submit before the submission deadline. Payment alone does not complete the submission. Check that the project is marked Submitted in your account. No registration key or separate submission form is required.
1.5 Manage your entry. Drafts and submitted projects can be updated in the account while submission remains open. Once the submission period closes, the entry becomes read-only. Additional nominations for the same project may be purchased in the account while that option is available; they are added after payment is confirmed and use the same project materials.
1.6 Saved drafts at the deadline. When submission closes, the system automatically submits paid drafts that contain the required project details, a cover image, paid nominations and both required permissions. Only saved materials are included. Incomplete or unpaid entries are not submitted automatically. Participants remain responsible for checking completeness and submission status before the deadline.
1.7 Collected data includes account contact details, billing details, company name and tax number where applicable, project title, project status, selected nominations, project materials and the permissions provided. Account contact and billing details are not published as project content. Author, studio, image credits and other project information supplied for publication may appear with the project in accordance with the permissions granted.
1.8 Payments, available invoice PDFs, project status and project history can be reviewed in the participant account. If an older entry does not appear in your account, contact us with the email address used for registration and the project title.
2. Eligibility
2.1 Anyone who developed or produced the project and has the right to submit it may enter it.
2.2 Projects must not be older than seven years from the date of their registration for the DSA.
2.3 Projects that participated in previous editions, including winning entries, are eligible to enter again.
2.4 The competition is open to individuals aged 18 and older and to companies with a valid tax number. Check your billing details before each payment: the billing details saved with a payment are used for its invoice. Updating your account details does not change an existing payment record or issued document.
3. Payments and Refunds
3.1 Entry fees are required for participation and are payable at registration via Stripe or PayPal.
3.2 By submitting payment, you agree to these Terms.
3.3 All payments are final and non-refundable.
3.4 Registration fees include 23% VAT for individuals. Companies using a valid tax number are subject to the reverse-charge mechanism. In both cases, the total registration fee remains the same.
4. Entry Deadlines and Fees
| Period | Registration fee, USD | Additional category, USD | Additional entry, USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Bird (until 24th April 2026) | 140 | 70 | 140 |
| Advance (until 29th May 2026) | 160 | 80 | 160 |
| Standard (until 1st July 2026) | 180 | 90 | 180 |
| Extended (until 7th August 2026) | 200 | 100 | 200 |
| Late (until 9th September 2026) | 220 | 110 | 220 |
4.1 Current fees are always displayed during registration in the participant account.
4.2 Registration and project submission have separate deadlines. The project submission deadline is 13 September 2026. Follow the closing date and time zone displayed in your participant account. Materials must be saved before submission closes.
4.3 Students are eligible for a reduced entry fee; trophies are not discounted. Student entries follow the standard submission process, and the organizer classifies eligible projects into a dedicated student category.
5. Awards Schedule and Announcements
5.1 The DSA process includes the following stages: Registration, Project Submission, Evaluation, Winners’ Announcement and Trophy Ordering. Dates may be adjusted as needed.
5.2 Winners will be announced on 9th October 2026 and listed on the official winners page: https://designskill.org/winners/design-skill-awards/.
5.3 Winners receive a digital kit including a certificate, digital banners and logos, available in the participant account and announced by email.
5.4 As the process is automated, emails may be blocked by your email provider. Please check your Inbox and Spam folders. If your project appears on the winners page but you have not received an email, please contact us as soon as possible.
6. Evaluation and Jury Process
6.1 All projects undergo a preliminary review to ensure compliance with content and format requirements.
6.2 If only one project is submitted in a nomination, it is automatically awarded Platinum.
6.3 All other projects are evaluated by the Design Skill Awards jury on a dedicated judging platform.
6.4 Each juror scores projects on the following three criteria:
- Innovation & Originality
- Design & Aesthetic Quality
- Functionality & Spatial Integration
6.5 Each criterion is scored from 1 to 100. Final scores are calculated as the average of all scores received.
6.6 Awards are presented at four levels: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Honourable Mentions may also be given.
6.7 The organizers reserve the right to split nominations if necessary for fair assessment, and to reassign a project to a more suitable nomination if it increases the project’s chances without affecting existing winners.
7. Trophy Orders
7.1 Ordering trophies is optional and is done in the participant account during the trophy ordering period, which ends on 6th November 2026.
7.2 Winners may order multiple trophies. The current price per trophy, including shipping, is shown on the trophy order page in the account.
7.3 Production and delivery take from 7 to 14 weeks. While we strive for prompt delivery, delays may occur.
7.4 All trophy orders are sent to production in one batch after the order deadline, so a trophy cannot be ordered after the deadline.
7.5 Once shipped, the recipient is responsible for tracking, customs and any required documentation.
8. Rights and Intellectual Property
8.1 Participants retain full copyright to their submitted projects.
8.2 By submitting, participants grant the DSA a perpetual, non-exclusive right to publish and promote the content on its platforms and those of its media partners, starting from the date of project submission.
8.3 Participants must confirm that they hold the legal rights to grant this permission.
9. Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions
- Submissions may include text, drawings, diagrams, photographs, renderings, collages and similar materials.
- Upload a square cover image of at least 1024 × 1024 pixels and up to eight supporting images. Accepted formats are JPG, PNG and WebP, with a maximum of 5 MB and 24 megapixels per image. Follow the limits displayed beside each upload field.
- Do not include names, logos or any identifying elements, unless entering the Logos or Branded Content category.
- The cover image must be square (1:1). Choose and confirm a square crop in the project editor before uploading, or upload an image already cropped to a square.
- Images are compressed for display. Avoid small visuals or fine print; all information should remain clear without zooming.
- Selected images may be used for promotions or published on the project’s page. Publication of all images is not guaranteed.
- Each submission must include a concise summary of the concept, objectives and key project elements, and follow the requirements displayed in the project editor.
- Entries violating anonymity or content rules may be modified. Submissions that severely breach the rules may be disqualified at the discretion of the organizers.
- All submissions must be in English. If your project is in another language, provide an accurate English translation.
10. Late Submission Policy
10.1 The submission deadline is 13 September 2026. Projects not submitted by this deadline may be excluded from participation at the discretion of the organizers.
10.2 If a project is not submitted on time, the DSA may use publicly available sources (e.g. websites or social media) to complete the presentation. If such a project wins, the participant will have the option to update or improve the final submission.
11. Technical and Behavioural Restrictions
Users must not:
- Submit false or misleading information
- Spam or abuse the submission system
- Interfere with the website’s functionality
- Copy or extract data or content from the site
- Contact jury members in an attempt to influence the outcome of the competition. Projects associated with such actions may be disqualified.
12. Sanctions, Restricted Jurisdictions and Content Integrity
12.1 Participants must comply with all applicable international, European Union and Polish sanctions laws and regulations. The DSA does not accept registrations or project submissions from individuals, companies or organizations subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union or the Republic of Poland; from individuals or entities acting on behalf of, or for the benefit of, sanctioned persons or organizations; or from government institutions, state-owned entities or public organizations of countries subject to EU or Polish sanctions.
12.2 The organizers reserve the right to verify the eligibility of participants in relation to applicable sanctions regulations, to request additional information or documentation to confirm compliance, and to reject, suspend or cancel any registration or submission that violates these requirements at any stage of the competition, without refund.
12.3 Trophy production and shipping are subject to international trade regulations. Trophies will not be shipped to countries or territories subject to EU or Polish sanctions, and alternative delivery to a restricted jurisdiction is not guaranteed.
12.4 Participants are solely responsible for the accuracy, legality and compliance of all submitted materials. The organizers may review, edit, partially restrict or remove any submitted or published project at any time, without prior notice or compensation, if its content violates applicable laws or regulations, contains misleading or false information, infringes third-party rights, or may harm the reputation, legal standing or interests of the organizers or the awards program.
13. Jurisdiction and Dispute Resolution
These Terms are governed by the laws of Poland. Disputes will first be resolved amicably. If not resolved, they will be handled by the competent Polish courts.
14. Modifications
The DSA may modify these Terms at any time. Continued use of the site constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
15. Contact
This website is operated by:
Digital Art Group sp. z o.o.
Registered in Poland, Rybitwy str. 22/318, 30-722 Kraków
VAT ID: PL6772449938
Email: [email protected]
Main website: https://designskill.org/
Thank you for participating in the Design Skill Awards 2026.