Are creative awards defunct?

Awards promise recognition, credibility and progress, but they’re also increasingly debated. To get deeper, we’ve unpacked the role they play in creative careers today, from early encouragement to industry validation, and everything in between.

Awards season always brings the same conversation back around. On one side, there’s winners grinning with shiny trophies on LinkedIn. On the other, a growing number of creatives questioning whether awards actually matter. If you’re just starting out, it can feel confusing – like you have to pick a side.

Creative awards are everywhere, from D&AD and Cannes Lions to student competitions and portfolio prizes. They’ve long been treated as markers of excellence, signalling credibility for studios and progress for individuals.

D&AD pencils, one of the most prestigious awards in the creative and design industry

So why, in recent years, has the sentiment around awards shifted? Entry fees are rising, processes are becoming more complex, and tighter budgets make the spend harder to justify. It’s no surprise people are questioning what awards are really for.

Still, writing them off entirely doesn’t tell the full story either.

Who decides what “good” creative work looks like?

For organisations like D&AD, awards are still positioned as a way of setting the standard.

“D&AD has always existed to set the standard for creative excellence,” says Paul Drake, Foundations Director at D&AD. “But what excellence looks like has never stood still.”

In practice, that’s meant expanding categories, diversifying juries and adapting to how creative work actually shows up in the world today. More recently, it’s recognising newer formats, like creator-led content, and making space for different types of brand work. Even with that evolution, Paul acknowledges that accessibility is still a work in progress.

"Free entry might solve one barrier, but not all of them," he says, pointing to initiatives like the free-to-enter New Blood Awards and D&AD Shift. “Confidence and feeling like the industry is genuinely for you – those are harder problems.”

The pressure of awards for junior creatives

For junior creatives, awards often carry more emotional weight. “I used to think not winning D&AD New Blood meant something huge about me,” says Lola DeLafuente, a junior creative at 20(SOMETHING). “More in that very specific early-career panic where you decide everyone else has understood the game and you somehow missed the briefing.”

It’s a feeling many early-career creatives recognise. Awards are often positioned as milestones during education, but that perception shifts once you’re in the industry.

“You realise brilliant people lose all the time,” Lola says. “And average work sometimes wins because it lands with the right jury, in the right year, under the right category.”

For others, the disconnect shows up in a more practical way. Elliot Huckett, a freelance designer who graduated last year, says awards haven’t necessarily translated into opportunity.

“Other students that had D&AD pencils and big wins have found it just as challenging to get a foot in the door,” he says. “What I’ve found is that the work sometimes speaks for itself.”

That doesn’t prove that awards have no value, but it does challenge the idea that they’re a guaranteed shortcut into the industry.

How awards help creatives and studios grow

Despite the criticism, there are still clear reasons why awards exist.

At their best, they create a moment to pause and recognise work in an industry that rarely slows down. They can help studios attract clients, support hiring, build internal pride, and – when judged well – they offer a form of external validation that’s hard to replicate.

“They allow others to champion your work on your behalf,” says Adam Ryan, Head of Pentawards. “They create credibility, amplify success, and help organisations tell their story in a way that feels earned rather than self-promotional.”

It’s also important to be honest about what awards are. “They are a commercial entity for organisations to make money – full stop,” says Richard Brandon Taylor, founder of Brandon. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s important to be clear on that.”

He also points to a split at the heart of many programmes: “There are two sides to the awards coin – creative and effectiveness. Very rarely do the two meet.” Still, Richard believes that doesn’t cancel out their value, adding that awards can “drive reputation and engage teams to produce better work”, even if they don’t tell the whole story.

Laura Carrick, Growth Director at Koto, thinks that value can be more subtle for early-career creatives. “I’ve seen first-hand how awards can play a positive role at that stage,” she says. “At their best, they’re a motivator… pushing people to create work that’s more considered and more strategically thought through.”

Crucially, she points out that the real benefit isn’t the trophy itself, but “the process of making something that demonstrates curiosity, originality and a point of view.”

Even the act of applying can be useful. Phoebe Leadbeater, art director and designer at 20(SOMETHING), says, “Articulating your work forces you to explain the process, clarify the intention, and translate instinct into language.”

What’s broken about the awards system?

Many of the concerns around awards are hard to ignore, and cost is one of the biggest barriers. For smaller studios and freelancers, entry fees can quickly add up, meaning not everyone has the budget to pay.

“There’s definitely room for a kind of middle ground,” says Antonia Arbova, founder of Arbov Studio, “something that makes it easier for smaller or emerging talent to take part and be recognised.”

For some, the issue is less about whether awards matter and more about how they’re structured. “Having a flat entry fee for a two-person agency against a 200-person agency just makes no sense,” says David Enderson, managing director at White Bear. “It rules people out based on cost, not quality.”

He also argues awards need to better reflect real-world impact: “Not enough [awards] are tied to the effect of design on the business.” Ultimately, it comes down to the big question of what success looks like in the first place.

Phoebe sums it up well: “Awards still carry real prestige, but they’re now one node in a distributed network, not the only gateway.”

Should you enter creative awards as a designer?

The honest answer is: it depends.

Awards can open doors and build confidence, but they’re not a guarantee, and they’re not the only way forward. For early-career creatives, maybe the more useful question isn’t whether awards matter but how much weight you give them.

A trophy recognises one moment. What it can’t do is define your whole career.