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DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2026 | Winners shortlist announced
We’re delighted to announce the shortlist of entries that will win a DBA Design Effectiveness Award in 2026.
Congratulations to the agency and client partnerships who will be taking home Bronze, Silver or Gold awards at our live event in March.
As the world around us changes, one thing remains constant; the ability of designers to create solutions and reinterpret challenges into new ways of thinking and shape the way forward.
The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are the most rigorous standard for measuring the effectiveness of design, rewarding entries that have demonstrated the value of investing in design to drive business and societal success.
Much more will be revealed about this year’s list of winners at The Design Effect event in March 2026, and we encourage you to read the winning case studies when they are published online at that time. Understanding what makes a winning case study goes much deeper than the project name and accompanying pictures – these aren’t like other awards.
Projects may have societal, environmental or category defining impacts for example, when you look beyond their outward appearance. There may be projects that involve product or digital design alongside branding, that have fundamentally impacted that company’s operations and success.
The next entry deadline will be in November 2026. If you’d like to see the kind of work you do represented in the case studies, get in touch with us now so we can help you lay the groundwork for proving your case: awards@dba.org.uk
These case studies fuel the DBA’s work in championing and proving the impact of design in businesses like yours.
DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2026: Winners shortlist
| Business | Consultancy | Project title |
| Canon EMEA | 2LK | Canon: The Power to Move |
| Cornish Bakery | A-Side | Finding Purpose Beyond Pasties |
| Isle of Wight Tomatoes | B&B studio | Transforming Isle of Wight Tomatoes |
| Posman Books | Beardwood&Co. | Posman Books |
| Heineken UK | Bloom Design | Cruzcampo UK Launch |
| Heineken UK | Bloom Design | Inch’s Cider |
| Diageo India | Bulletproof | Royal Challenge: Redesigned. Reclaimed. Reignited. |
| Sofitel | Conran Design Group | The Sofitel Rebrand |
| Diageo Brand Homes | Dalziel & Pow | Guinness Storehouse Ingredients Experience |
| The Story Museum | David Carroll & Co | The Story Museum Rebrand |
| Heineken International | BulletProof Amsterdam, Design Bridge Amsterdam, Froq, ITG, Kellerman, LEW, LOVE Creative, npk, Reggs, Sunshine&Sausages | A Decade of Heineken Brand Design |
| InPost UK | Dragon Rouge | InPost UK – a True Challenger in Parcel Logistics |
| Pladis | Dragon Rouge | Jacob’s Bites – Bursting Out of The Box |
| Heineken Vietnam | Elmwood Brand & Design Consultancy | Bia Viet: Redesigning a National Icon |
| IsaDora Cosmetics | Everland | True Swedish Beauty |
| Skin Diligent | Free The Birds | Skin Diligent Brand Transformation |
| Nestlé Brazil | Futurebrand | Nestlé Aveia: Feed Yourself With Good Surprises |
| Newcastle City Council | Gardiner Richardson | Grainger Market Rebrand |
| Abbott | HMA | Strength for Life: Make Muscle Matter |
| Princes | Honey | Napolina Brand Redesign |
| Prestige Brands | Hunt Hanson | TheraTears Brand Creation |
| CleanCo | Knockout Design and Innovation | CleanCo Redesign |
| Little Freddie | Lewis Moberly | Little Freddie Organic Baby Food UK |
| Ricola | Lewis Moberly | Ricola Max |
| Lloyds Banking Group | Lloyds Banking Group In-house Team | Modernising the Deposit Accounts Journey |
| Institute of Directors | Manasian & Co | IoD: From Decline to Renewed Purpose |
| The Royal British Legion | Matter | The Plastic Free Poppy |
| Wild Cosmetics | Morrama | Wild Refillable Deodorant |
| Glasgow Life | Museum Studio | The Burrell Collection |
| Marketreach Licensing Services | Office Twelve | Paddington Flagship Store |
| TRIBE | Outlaw | TRIBE Redesign |
| Muse | Smiling Wolf | Repositioning Muse |
| JW Lees | Squad | Founder’s Hall: Heritage Reimagined |
| Caledonian MacBrayne | Stand | Every Journey Starts a Story |
| TympaHealth | Team Consulting | Tympa Ear and Hearing Health Solution |
| RSPB | The Way Design | RSPB Maps For All |
| Big W | Twelve | Big W Next Gen Store Design |
| T&R Theakston | WPA Pinfold | Repositioning Theakston Brewery |
| NOOA | Xfacta | NOOA Brand Launch |
| GoSolr | Xfacta | GoSolr Brand Launch |
Founded in 1989, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognise impactful, wide-ranging examples of design that have had a tangible and measurable impact upon business and societal success. Judged by a broad range of business leaders and entered jointly by client and designer, the Awards draw focus onto the role design plays in enhancing people’s lives and delivering competitive advantage for business.
Congratulations to the winning agency and client partnerships and thank you to our fantastic judges who brought their insight and experience to rigorously judge the entries this year. Find out more information about the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards and view the judging panel.
“The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards provide clear evidence of how design drives better business results, and how it has the ability to improve lives and shape a better world. This year, we saw an incredibly rich and diverse set of entries, ranging from projects for large multi-nationals to startups, from food and beverage to medical devices, from digital, to product, to packaging and service design.
Against a background of uncertainties, the case studies we reviewed offered some amazing insights into how design can deliver better outcomes, building brands, generating value, and truly helping business and society grow inclusively and responsibly.
What sets these awards apart is the presentation of actual evidence. This is not a discussion around the aesthetic merits of a product or service. The entrants go to great lengths to gather facts, figures and results that demonstrate how design has delivered a tangible competitive advantage.
This year’s panels of judges consisted of an incredible cross section of business, marketing and design leadership, ensuring that we had a diverse set of perspectives when evaluating the entries. As Chair of these judging panels, it was truly an honour to witness the quality and depth of the discussions triggered by each entry. The shortlisted winners can be extremely proud of the recognition they have received.”
Sean Carney, Chair of the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards Judging Panel