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 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, which received the delegation of this task after winning the competition announced by the Ministry of Culture for the performance of the state administration task - quality assessment in the field of design. In previous periods, the competition was organized by the Association of Latvian Designers (in 2020 and 2021) and Design Studio "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. 

The author of the visual communication concept of the The National Design Award of Latvia 2023 is Ieva Kalēja. The author of the NDAL graphic design and website is Kirils Kirasirovs. The black-and-white graphic communication includes references to mountains and the road - intended as an invitation to move up and away towards ambitious goals. In order to ensure continuity, the award logo, developed in 2017 by the design studio "H2E", has been integrated into the visual communication.

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. 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.