On 15 November 2024, the selection jury for the National Design Award of Latvia 2025 (NDLA) - the highest design award in Latvia - was announced with the aim to identify, evaluate and promote the achievements of Latvian designers, as well as to promote the use of design created in Latvia and the development of the design industry.
The selection jury will be composed of eleven renowned Latvian design professionals representing different fields of design, judging entries in five categories: products, services, communication, environment and digital solutions. Each category will have a jury chair and two jury members.
The following have agreed to take on the role of category chairs for the selection juries:
- Partner and Design Director at Kid Design Maija Rozenfelde;
- designer, founder of Studio Sarmīte and the brand "(Un)woven" Sarmīte Poļakova;
- architect and founder of Brigita Bula Architects Brigita Bula;
- design entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Riga TechGirls Anna Andersone.
The selection panel will also include:
- designer and entrepreneur Edgars Zvirgzdiņš;
- Director of the Patent Board Agris Batalauskis;
- designer and co-founder of the design association Support System Evija Krištopane;
- designer and founder of Don't Panic Design Solutions Mārcis Ziemiņš;
- designer and architect, co-founder of design studio Gateris Works Reinis Leo Miķelsons;
- Product developer and co-founder of the data visualisation platform Infogram Alise Dīrika;
- Co-founder and Creative Director of digital agency Wrong Digital Oskars Cirsis.
Maija Rozenfelde
Partner and Design Director of KID Design Studio, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Graphic Design at the Art Academy of Latvia. In the design process, she enjoys delving into different fields, looking for the most authentic possible solution and always maintaining the attitude of a curious beginner. The most important projects of recent years have been created together with Stenders, Latvian National History Museum, Laima, XXVII Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival, JVLMA and other clients. Maija's work has won awards at the Red Dot, Print Awards and Art Directors Club Europe, as well as the National Design Award of Latvia 2020 Grand Prix.
Sarmīte Poļakova
Designer, founder of Studio Sarmīte and the brand "(Un)woven". She works with and around materials that are transformed into research and products of art, design, science and human interaction. Alongside her studio work, Sarmīte teaches at various European universities and runs workshops on materials, circularity and sustainability.
Brigita Bula
Leading architect at Brigita Bula architects, member of the National Architecture Council and the Council of the Latvian Association of Architects. Brigita's practice creates sustainable architecture for green and forward-thinking clients: private homes, office fit-outs, public buildings, cafes and exhibitions. Brigita's Salt House in Pāvilosta was awarded the Grand Prix of the Latvian Architecture Award in 2019 and nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2022.
Anna Andersone
Design entrepreneur, one of the leaders of the start-up ecosystem in Latvia and head of the Riga TechGirls movement. Anna has been working in the design, communication and technology sector and entrepreneurship for more than 20 years, co-founding startups Froont and Berta.me and serving on the board of TechHub Riga. Anna is a guest lecturer at the Riga School of Economics (SSE Riga) and co-founder and CEO of StartSchool, a new technology and business training programme in Riga.
Agris Batalauskis
Director of the Patent Board of the Republic of Latvia. Agris is a legal professional whose previous experience in management positions has been highly appreciated. He has been responsible for the supervision and implementation of many strategically important development projects and has represented the interests of the justice sector in various international forums. Thanks to Agris' active involvement in the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the EUIPO European Design Award ceremony took place in Riga in September 2024.
Evija Krištopane
Co-founder of the design association Support System. She creates organisational identities, writes design theory and develops projects based on it. Previously, she led the design team at Overpriced, created the brand strategy for the Sport Palace Gardens project and organised KDD's online design talks. She studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Design Institute in Chicago and the Netherlands Institute of Art, where she is currently researching the vocabulary of contemporary design.
Edgars Zvirgzdiņš
Designer, founder of design studio "Associates, Partners et Sons" and co-founder of the loudspeaker brand "Aretai". In addition to his design practice, he is involved in design management and the development of brand design strategies. She is interested in bridging different media and collaborating with a wide range of professionals to create expressive experiences and products. Several projects Edgars has been involved in have been awarded the National Design Award of Latvia, the Latvian Architecture Award and the Red Dot Award for Product Design.
Mārcis Ziemiņš
Designer and founder of Don't Panic Design Solutions. He has worked as a graphic designer in various advertising agencies and since graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven he has been creating a wide range of environmental and product design solutions for 10 years: scenography, interactive installations, moving objects and other solutions for cultural and entertainment events. Marcis creates experiential design projects that use new forms of expression and ways of interacting with the audience, and these projects have won numerous international awards. Mārcis is also a lecturer in product design at the Art Academy of Latvia.
Reinis Leo Miķelsons
Designer and architect, co-founder of the design studio "Gateris Works". Previously worked at SZK and Annvil interior architecture studios, participated in the interior design of Zunda Towers, managed the interior design of Zuzeum art centre and several hotel and restaurant interior design projects in Norway. In addition to commercial projects, together with graphic designer Eva Abduļina, he explores the Latvian form in depth and translates it into everyday objects. Together with his colleagues he founded the new design platform "Home Ground".
Alise Dīrika
Product development and user experience specialist with a background in digital design and technology innovation. Co-founder of data visualisation platform Infogram. She has led the product development team at animation and vector graphics solutions startup Linearity and developed product solutions for the Prezi platform. Currently, Alice works at HackMotion, developing a solution that helps golfers analyse their movements and improve their game. She actively supports young entrepreneurs and technology professionals as a mentor in Riga TechGirls and Unilab programmes.
Oskars Cirsis
Co-founder and Creative Director of digital agency Wrong Digital, with more than 15 years of experience in digital design and communication. His work has been recognised in competitions such as Cannes Lions, ADwards, Eurobest and Red Dot. Oskar experiments with the latest technologies to create innovative solutions. He is an active member of the Latvian design community, sharing his experience and knowledge with other professionals and students of the Latvian Art Directors Club.
Submissions to NDLA 2025 are open twice a year: autumn submissions are open until 20 November 2024 and winter submissions will be open from 1 February to 20 March 2025. Submissions can be made via the website www.dizainabalva.lv, where you can find the application form.
Entries submitted to the NDLAare judged in two rounds. In the first round, the selection jury evaluates the entries received during the submission period and nominates the candidates for the next round. In the second round, the final jury evaluates the nominees and nominates the finalists. The final jury will also decide on the winner of each category and the winners of the National Design Award of Latvia Grand Prix and the title of "Young Designer". The second round of the competition will conclude with the Design Award ceremony at the end of May 2025. The exact dates will be announced in due course on www.dizainabalva.lv.
Entries can be submitted by the author of the work or by another person connected with the work, such as the owner or the commissioner. Entries can be submitted by natural or legal persons, including public administrations, municipalities, educational institutions, companies, organisations and others.
The National Design Award of Latvia 2025 is open to works created since January 2022. You can submit works that have been realised in Latvia (regardless of the nationality of the authors) and works that have been realised anywhere else in the world, provided that their country of origin is Latvia.
NDLA entries will be judged taking into account the design objectives and action lines defined in the Latvian Design Strategy 2022-2027 and the values of the European Commission's New European Bauhaus initiative.
The evaluation of the entries submitted to the competition will be based on the following quality criteria:
- originality and creativity of the idea,
- the defined problem and task(s), and the chosen solutions to solve the problem,
- co-creation, stakeholder involvement and cooperation in the work process,
- functionality and technological solution,
- aesthetics and other dimensions of quality of experience,
- economic relevance, sustainability, and circularity,
- social relevance, inclusion, availability and accessibility.
The National Design Award of Latvia was established in 2017 with the support of the Ministry of Culture. Until May, 2025, the organization of the award ceremony lays upon the Latvian Design Centre.