2025 DesignTO Awards
The DesignTO Awards recognize design excellence.
We are pleased to announce the 13th annual DesignTO Awards!
The DesignTO Awards recognize design excellence at the DesignTO Festival, Canada’s leading and largest annual design festival that celebrates design as a multidisciplinary form of creative thinking and making. The DesignTO Awards celebrates the talent, expression, and diversity of designers from Toronto and abroad.
Founders’ Award
Emerging Artist/Designer Award
Best Product/Object Design Award
Best in Festival Awards
People's Choice Awards
Juror's Choice Awards
Selected by Annie Chou
Selected by Cole Swanson
Selected by Kurtis Chen
Selected by Julian Gregory
Selected by Stephanie Mah
How the Awards work
An annual jury of designers and industry experts vote for the Founders’ Award, Emerging Artist/Designer Award, Best Product/Object Design Award, three Best in Festival award categories and for three Juror’s Choice awards each, while the public votes for three People’s Choice awards.
Awardees are recognized and celebrated through DesignTO’s extensive network.
Eligibility Criteria
Jurors can consider any Festival project for an award.
A selection of exhibitions and installations are visited by the jurors in person during the Festival. Then the jurors reconvene for a jurying session after the Awards application closes.
Awards Jury
Design experts and one former awardee are invited each year to participate in jurying the Awards program.
Jurors: Annie Chou (Co-Founder, Agency of Research and Creation | Arc & Co.), Cole Swanson (artist & educator), Julian Gregory (designer), Kurtis Chen (partner and Certified Passive House Designer, Make Good Projects), and Stephanie Mah (Creative Director, Giaimo).
