Call for Entries: 2025 IODA International Original Design Award

The IODA International Original Design Award (http://www.ioda.com.cn/) is a core intellectual property (IP) initiative vigorously promoted by the IODA International Original Design Alliance. In collaboration with international platform organizations from Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and other regions, it aims to draw upon global resources of "premier-level" original creative brands and designers. With an innovative and integrative approach, the award seeks to discover a cohort of designers who embody "advanced design concepts, novel design methodologies, and possess original intellectual property rights," thereby facilitating the global outreach of Chinese original design.

Guided by the principle of "protecting original copyrights" and with the objective of "enhancing the value of creativity," this competition provides designers and design enthusiasts worldwide with an "open, fair, and just" creative platform. It aspires to establish itself as one of China's most significant annual international design brands, enabling more people to appreciate the allure of original design and recognize the importance of original value.  

I. Competition Theme
Empowering through Intangible Cultural Heritage

II. Competition Content
The competition is divided into three categories: "Themed Competition," "Open Competition," and "Special Topic Competition."

(1) Themed Competition
Focusing on the creative transformation and innovative development of intangible cultural heritage (such as calligraphy brushes, embroidery, ceramics, wood carving, paper cutting, dyeing and weaving, metal crafts, etc.), participants are encouraged to use design art as a medium to explore the cultural connotations and technical essence of intangible cultural heritage. Through modern design languages, technological means, or cross-disciplinary integration, they should endow traditional crafts with new forms of expression, functional values, or dissemination methods, promoting the integration of intangible cultural heritage into contemporary life and achieving the protection goal of "seeing the people, objects, and life."

(2) Open Competition
Participants are encouraged to break free from traditional thematic constraints and create from a completely open perspective, centered around personal interests, social issues, technological fantasies, cultural explorations, or emotional expressions. Works can involve any art form or design field, with the only requirement being the demonstration of originality, intellectual depth, and artistic value, showcasing a diverse understanding and unique interpretation of "freedom."

(3) Special Topic Competition
For details on the special topic competitions with assigned themes, please refer to the competition announcement section on the website homepage.

III. Entry Categories
(1) Visual Communication Design: Brand and identity system design; packaging and print design; advertising and poster design; book and publication design; mascot IP design; interactive interface design, and other related visual communication designs.
(2) Digital Media Art Design: Dynamic visual design; virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) design; game art design; interactive installation art; short films and micro-movies, and other related digital media designs.
(3) Environmental Art and Landscape Design: Public space design; interior design; ecological landscape design; exhibition and stage design, and other related indoor and outdoor environmental art and landscape designs.
(4) Apparel and Fashion Design: Ready-to-wear and haute couture design; modernization of traditional apparel; functional clothing design; costume and conceptual clothing design; apparel and fashion patterns, and other related apparel and fashion designs.
(5) Product Art Design: Consumer electronics design; furniture and home product design; transportation design; social innovation product design, and other related product designs.
(6) Cultural and Creative Design: Cultural and creative product development; digital cultural and creative projects; cultural event planning; traditional craft innovation; intangible cultural heritage element design, and other related cultural and creative designs.
(7) Arts and Crafts Design: Ceramic and glass art; metal craft design; fiber and textile art; woodworking and lacquer art, and other related arts and crafts designs.
(8) Other Categories: Inclusive of innovative practices not covered by the above categories, such as biological design (e.g., mycelium materials), sound art, cross-media performances, and other experimental designs.

IV. Work Specifications
(1) Static Works: Submit 1-3 display boards in the form of flat photographs of physical objects or models, design renderings, etc. Each display board should be in a vertical A3 format (width 297mm × height 420mm), within 10M in size, with a resolution higher than 300dpi; upload in JPG/PNG/JPEG format.
(2) Dynamic Works: Submit in video format, with a size not exceeding 100M, normally within 5 minutes, with an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 2.35:1, and in mp4 format (video encoding: H.264).
(3) Textual Works: Submit one display board in a flat format, requiring a vertical A3 layout (width 297mm × height 420mm), within 10M in size, with a resolution higher than 300dpi, and upload the work in JPG/PNG/JPEG format; additionally, submit the text as an attachment in PDF format, requiring a vertical A4 layout (width 210mm × height 297mm), with no size limit and the main content within 20 pages.

V. Participants
(1) Undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students from domestic and foreign higher education institutions; vocational college students; each team is limited to 1-3 members, with 1-2 advisors.
(2) Practitioners in the design and art industry domestically and internationally, including professional design and art institutions, design and art groups, university teachers, designers, artists, freelance media professionals, and individuals from the art and media industry.

VI. Organizing Institutions
Organizer: IODA International Original Design Award Organizing Committee
Undertaker: Zhejiang High-Level Talent Innovation Federation, IODA International Original Design Alliance, Henan Provincial Professional Photographers Association, China-Europe International Design and Culture Association (CEIDA), Zhejiang Meilian Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd.
Supporting Institutions: China Native Brand Design Research Institute, Nanjing Arts Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China Academy of Art, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Huzhou Vocational and Technical College, and other domestic and foreign art and design institutions and design teams.
Supporting Media: Design Discourse ONLINE, Xiang Sai, ART DESIGN RADIO, etc.

VII. Competition Schedule
Online Collection: From now until October 10, 2025
Judging Period: Late October 2025
Award Announcement Date: To be announced separately

VIII. Award Settings
The proportions of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards for each competition category are 10%, 15%, and 25%, respectively (rounded to the nearest integer). If parallel groups are set up in the competition, the award proportions can be averaged across the parallel groups. Additionally, several Excellence Awards, Finalist Awards, Outstanding Advisor Awards, and Outstanding Organizing Institution Awards will be presented.

IX. Entry Fees
The organizing committee of the competition does not charge any entry fees; participation is free.

X. Copyright Statement

All works must be original creations by the participants and must not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others. If any work is found to be fraudulent, plagiarized, etc., upon verification, the participant's eligibility will be immediately revoked or the award withdrawn, and the participating institution/unit will be notified, with the right to pursue further legal liability reserved.
The content of the works should have a positive theme, healthy thoughts, comply with the propaganda work guidelines, and abide by national laws and regulations.
Works that have been publicly released before the issuance of the competition notice, have intellectual property disputes, have received national or corporate funding, involve leaks of secrets, or harm national and people's financial security are not eligible to participate.
Information such as the school, participating team members, and advisors must not appear in the competition works or accompanying documents; any such discovery will be treated as a violation.
Unless otherwise specified, the organizing committee of the competition has non-profit usage rights over the participating works.
Participants are responsible for paying personal income tax on any prize money or subsidies received after winning an award. Failure to pay personal income tax will result in adverse personal impacts, for which the participants will be solely responsible.
Before submitting their works, participants have carefully read the above terms, fully understand them, and agree to them. The final interpretation rights for any matters not covered herein belong to the organizer.
XI. Competition Inquiries

(1) Participating coaching teachers are requested to join the IODA event consultation QQ group: 972856840 (Verification information: IODA consultation) (Scan the QR code below).

(2) Email address of the IODA Organizing Committee: 3694170776@qq.com.