On November 9, 2023, the selection stage jury for the National Design Award of Latvia 2024 was announced. The award is the highest recognition in the field of design in Latvia and is presented with the purpose to identify, evaluate and promote the best achievements of Latvian designers, advance the use of design created in Latvia and the development of the Latvian design industry.
The selection jury will consist of nine renowned Latvian design professionals representing various design fields. They will evaluate submitted works in five categories: products, services, communication, environment and digital solutions. Each category will be composed of a chairman and two members of the jury.
Architect and New European Bauhaus expert Ieva Zībārte, designer and entrepreneur Edgars Zvirgzdiņš, graphic designer Kirils Kirasirovs and head of the UX design department and partner of the company Cube Mārcis Miķelsons–Germs, have agreed to take on the duties of chairmen and chairwomen of the 5 categories. The selection jury will also include: Edijs Laksa, the author of the design of the military vehicle «VR-1-FOX», the winner of the National Design Award of Latvia 2023 in product design category, Dārta Apsīte, co-author of the Riga Patriots Month communication campaign, the winner the jury's special recognition for promoting self-esteem and belonging sense using design techniques, fashion and interior designer Baiba Ripa, Anna Andersone, an entrepreneur in the field of design and leader of the Riga TechGirls movement, and Didzis Jaunzems, the architect and manager of the design office DJA.
Ieva Zībārte
Architect and publicist, head of the Development and Construction Project Management Department of the municipal corporation Rīgas nami. As an architecture and design expert in Latvia, Ieva represents New European Bauhaus, the European Commission's strategic initiative, works for the National Architecture Council of the Ministry of Culture, acts as the board member of the Latvian Architects' Union and the Coin Design Commission of the Bank of Latvia. Ieva also writes about architecture, design, urban environment and popular culture.
Edgars Zvirgzdiņš
Designer, founder of design studio "Associates, Partners et Sons" and co-founder of the Scandinavian brand "Aretai". In addition to his design practice, Edgars is actively engaged in design management processes and development of brand design strategies. His interest field covers the connection of different media and cooperation with a wide range of specialists, creating expressive experiences and products. Numerous projects with Edgars creative involvement have one significant recognition such as the National Design Award of Latvia, the Latvian Architecture of the Year Award and the Red Dot Design Award in product design.
Kirils Kirasirovs
Graphic designer, founder of the «augusts.co» studio. Kirill's works carry through his very own characteristic minimal, laconic visual language. He has collaborated with numerous culture projects and initiatives - “Arterritory», «Fotokvartāls», «Tactile Baltics», «Punctum» and the Center for Contemporary Art of Latvia. Currently Kirils is the author for graphic design for exhibitions at the Pauls Stradiņš Medical History Museum.
Mārcis Miķelsons–Germs
UX and service designer, head of the UX design department and partner in digital design, consulting and development company «Cube». Marcis is planning and managing the development of digital products and experiences for large, medium and small sized companies on a daily basis. Such Baltic brands as "Rimi", "SEB", "Elektrum", "Virši", "LMT", "Ergo" and "Circle K" are just to name a few among the long list of “Cube” clients.
Edijs Ļaksa
Product designer with more than twenty years of experience in graphic design. He runs his own company "D1", which specializes in car design and product visualization. Edijs designed the frame of the world-recognized "Eurofighter" series drift car and the frame of the military vehicle “VR-1-FOX”, which received the National Design Award of Latvia 2023 for the best product design. Eddy also received the "Golden Hammer" award in the interactive category.
Dārta Apsīte
Creative director, previously worked at the "Wrong" agency, headed the Brand and Design Department of the Riga City Council, while supervising the renewal of the Riga brand visual. During the last two years visual communication campaigns created under the leadership of Darta have won numerous awards for creative excellence in both local and international competitions. Darta's campaigns promote self-esteem and a sense of belonging to Latvia with design and audiovisual techniques.
Baiba Ripa
Fashion and interior designer, founder of the brand "Baiba Ripa" which specializes on couture knitwear, therefore all collections naturally fit into both cultural heritage and avant-garde fashion worlds. Thanks to careful research into the sustainability of fibers and fashion cycles, Baiba's design approach is highly valued in biggest world fashion meccas such as New York and Paris. During the process of creating private and public interiors, the Baiba Ripa always pays special attention to details and quality.
Didzis Jaunzems
Architect and designer, head of design office "DJA", lecturer at RISEBA Faculty of Architecture and Design. Before founding his own studio, Didzis worked at OMA, one of the world's leading architectural offices. He has created scenographies for several European opera houses as well as multimedia stages in Latvia. Didzis works with exhibition projects of various scales, including Latvian "EXPO Dubai 2020" pavilion. He has previously won the Latvian Architecture of the Year Award and the National Design Award of Latvia for environmental objects.
Anna Andersone
Entrepreneur actively working in the design field, one of the major leaders of the start-up ecosystem in Latvia and head of the Riga TechGirls movement. Over 20 years Anna's work has been related to the design field, communication, technology and entrepreneurship. She has co-founded such start-ups as "Froont" and "berta.me", as well as serving on the board of "TechHub Riga". Under her leadership, "Riga TechGirls" trained more than 20,000 people in Latvia and abroad in three years. Anna is a guest lecturer at the Riga University of Economics (SSE Riga), and has led a business school for young entrepreneurs.
Submission of the works is carried out in two periods
The application procedure for the National Design Award of Latvia 2024 ensures the possibility for the authors of works or their clients to submit works to the competition in two periods - in autumn and winter - thus making both the application process itself and structuring the evaluation more convenient. Autumn application for the competition runs from October 1 to November 10, 2023 and winter application from January 2 to January 31, 2024. Additional information https://dizainabalva.lv
Works can be submitted by its author, or another person related to the work, such as its owner or contractor. Works can be submitted by individuals or legal entities, including state administrative institutions, municipalities, educational institutions, companies, organizations, etc.
Works created since January 2021 can be submitted to the National Design Award of Latvia. A work can be submitted to the competition, if it has been realized in Latvia (regardless of the author's nationality) or it has been realized elsewhere in the world, if the author's country of origin is Latvia. Works need to be submitted via the submission form on www.dizainabalva.lv
Evaluation process
All submitted works are evaluated in two stages. During the first stage works are evaluated by members of the selection jury. First stage is carried out twice a year: autumn session takes place in november - december, while the winter session is held in february - march. Selection jury goes through all submitted works and decides on the ones who proceed to the second stage. Final jury further evaluates the nominees of the second stage and decides on the finalist list establishing a winner for each of the five categories as well as the winner of the Grand Prix.
Evaluation criteria
The evaluation of the works submitted for the National Design Award of Latvia will take into account the goals and directions defined in the Latvian Design Strategy 2022-2027 and the principles of the "New European Bauhaus" strategic initiative - beauty, sustainability, togetherness.
The evaluation of works submitted to the NDAL includes the following quality criteria:
- originality and novelty;
- setting of the problem and conformity of solutions to the work task;
- co-creation, stakeholder involvement and cooperation in the work process;
- functionality and technological solution;
- aesthetics and other dimensions of quality of experience;
- economic importance, 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.
Latvian Design Centre is a member of the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA) and an official partner of the European Commission's «New European Bauhaus» Initiative. Latvian Design Centre is involved in design policy making, research and education, and initiates cooperation and strategic partnerships with other design organizations, designers, companies and design users. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, Latvian Design Centre maintains the creative industry communication platform «FOLD».