For four decades, the AOI has presented the most comprehensive and significant awards for illustration in the UK. This year, after an incredibly successful first collaboration, we welcome back our international partner, the Directory of Illustration, to build on the success of the inaugural World Illustration Awards, honouring the most inspiring illustration throughout the world.
Work entered into the World Illustration Awards will be reviewed by a jury of distinguished international industry professionals. The competition shortlist reflects exceptional work by illustrators currently making an outstanding contribution to visual culture and is published in full on www.theaoi.com.
Award winners will be announced at a prestigious ceremony at Somerset House, the major arts and cultural centre in the heart of London. Selected works will be displayed in their spectacular Terrace Rooms, which welcomed over 22,000 visitors during the October 2015 WIA2015 exhibition. Following this, the exhibition tours to multiple venues across the UK – currently at UWSTD Swansea – which receives approximately 40,000 visitors during its run.
Selected works will also be showcased in an accompanying publication, which will be circulated to all major commissioners of illustration – half of these by the Directory of Illustration to their high profile American list.
Who Can Enter? The World Illustration Awards are open to illustrators working in any medium, context or geographical location. Work must be entered as either a New Talent entry or a Professional entry.
New Talent entrants are undergraduate students, post-graduate students or graduates within two years of graduation. Professional entrants are all other professional illustrators.
Work can be entered by the creator of the work (illustrator themselves) or by any third party such as an Agent, Designer, College, Publisher or Commissioner.
What Can Be Entered? Work entered for the competition must have been created or published between 1st January 2015 to February 2016. Work in any medium can be entered in any category.
Entries can either be Single Entry (one image per entry) or Multiple Entry (up to 5 images per entry), including animation URLs. Single or Multiple Entries can be entered in any category, depending on the size of the project or number of images within it. Multiple Entries are more expensive and should therefore be used to showcase different elements of the same project (multiple illustrations, spreads from a book and so on).
Professional entries must have been commercially commissioned for all categories except Public Realm and Self-Initiated Work.
New Talent entries do not have to be commercially commissioned and should be entered into the category that is most relevant to the work. For example, a college project creating a picture book should be entered as a New Talent entry in the Children’s Book Category.
Work must be entered into one of the 8 Categories. These are very broadly defined to welcome work of all types and in all contexts where illustration is used.
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