The entry portal for the 2026 SEGD Global Design Awards is officially open. Celebrating excellence in experiential design worldwide, the Awards recognize projects that connect people to place through meaning, clarity, and impact.
Building on a strong 2025 program marked by robust international participation, the 2026 Awards continue to reflect the expanding global reach of experiential design. From cultural and civic spaces to branded environments, public installations, and digital experiences, the Awards recognize work that advances the field through thoughtful, meaningful design.
Winning projects receive year-round visibility across SEGD.org, newsletters, social media, press features, and the SEGD Awards Annual, reaching designers, clients, and students worldwide.
The awards competition encompasses seven categories that represent key practice areas of experiential design, including:
- Branded Environments — Spaces designed to extend the experience of an organization’s brand, or distinguishing characteristics as expressed in graphic elements
- Digital Experiences — Technology-driven experiences that augment and enhance a visitor’s connection to place through media
- Exhibition — Displays which orchestrate graphic, object or media elements to inform, interpret and educate visitors
- Placemaking — Projects that contribute to the creation of shared spaces and strengthen connections between people and place through graphic, text or media elements
- Public Installation — Projects which imbue public spaces with meaning, mood and context through art and design employing text, image, or media
- Strategy/Research/Planning — Masterplans, standards manuals, strategy documents and published work
- Wayfinding — Information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience of the space
Projects must have been completed between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025. Student projects must have been completed in 2024 or 2025 by full-time students.
Award winning projects will be publicly announced and honored 22-24 October, 2026 at the SEGD Conference in Kansas City, MO.
Since 1987, the SEGD Global Design Awards have set the standard of excellence for experiential design, honoring work that connects people to place by imbuing spaces with context, storytelling, and meaning. The SEGD Global Design Awards celebrate designers and design firms whose work innovates the practice of experience design and enriches the human experience for people of all backgrounds and abilities.
SEGD Global Design Awards 2026 – Fees
- SEGD Student Members: Free $0/entry
- Student Non-members: $50/entry
- SEGD Members: $330/entry. Three or more entries at $275/entry
- All others: $650/entry
There is a $100 late fee per project entered between 1 February 2026 and 28 February 2026.
There is a $150 late fee for any project entered between 1 March 2026 and 15 March 2026.