About the Award

The National Design
Award of Latvia

The National Design Award of Latvia is the highest recognition in the field of design in Latvia. The purpose of the award is 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 Latvian Design Annual Award was established in 2017 with the support of the Ministry of Culture. Until May 2028, it will be organized by the Latvian Design Centre, which received the delegation of the task after winning the competition announced by the Ministry of Culture for performing the public administration task of — quality assessment in the field of design. The Latvian Design Centre also organized the competition in the previous period (in 2023, 2024, and 2025). Before that, the award was organized by the association «Latvian Designers' society» (in 2020 and 2021) and the design office «H2E» (in 2017, 2018, and 2019). 

From 2022, the annual competition will be held in accordance with the goals of the "Latvian Design Strategy 2022-2027" and the principles of the New European Bauhaus - beauty, sustainability and inclusion. Material and non-material design, including product and service design, communication design, environmental design and digital solutions, can be submitted for evaluation in the The National Design Award of Latvia competition. 

«Virzība» (Progression/Movement) has been chosen as the leitmotif for The National Design Award of Latvia 2026. With this theme, we wish to emphasize the importance of the design process and remind people that success requires persistent work and goal-oriented development. Marking the new competition cycle, this year the award's visual communication will be created by the young, internationally acclaimed designer Elīza Tolstika. Her work has been developed in dialogue with the visual identity created by designer Kirils Kirasirovs for the competition's previous cycle, and the competition logo developed by the design studio «H2E» has also been retained.

Latvian Design Centre is a non-governmental organization founded with the aim to advance the development of design in Latvia by promoting the use of design as a strategic tool for economic growth and innovation, environmental sustainability, well-being of society and individuals, as well as strengthening of cultural identity and national brand. 

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.

Latvian Design Centre has participated in the organization of the Baltic design exhibition “Tactile Baltics” at the London Design Festival together with Lithuanian Design Forum and online platform NID. During the development of the Design Strategy of Latvia 2022–2027, cooperation has been established with the Latvian Association of Architects and Latvian Association of Landscape Architects for the implementation of the European Commission's strategic initiative “New European Bauhaus” in Latvia. Together with the partners from the Latvia, Estonia and Denmar, Latvian Design Centre implements its first European Strategic Partnership project — Design and Creative Thinking Development Toolkit.