Winners revealed in the 2023 DBA Design Effectiveness Awards

The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards winners’ announcement was held live online on Thursday 29 June and celebrated the wide-ranging impact of design on businesses and people’s lives across the world.

Spanning work for global companies and major retailers, to start-up challenger brands and charities, 23 shortlisted projects were awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold awards.

Congratulations to all of the winners.

Established in 1989, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognise and celebrate the compelling influence of design on the success of a project or business.

The Awards are entered jointly by client and designer and winning projects have been rigorously judged by business leaders from organisations such as Airbus, Carlsberg, Ericsson, Google, PWC, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Volvo Group in three rounds of judging. Crucially, the awards are evidence-based, the impact of design measured and verified.

All of the winning projects demonstrate the significant impact design makes across a broad section of industry. The judges found five particularly outstanding, awarding them Gold awards. The Gold winners are:

The High-Risk Pregnancy Referral Tool

Philips Foundation and Philips Experience Design (Grand Prix & Gold): The High-Risk Pregnancy Referral Tool is improving maternity care in low-resource settings in Africa by communicating technical medical knowledge as easy to digest information. The tool has touched the lives of over 280,000 women and their families and helped train more than 700 healthcare workers. As a result of its impact in Sub-Saharan Africa, there are now plans to adapt and scale the tool to reach remote, rural communities in China. 

Says DBA CEO, Deborah Dawton: “In using design to respond to a key priority within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the DBA Design Effectiveness Grand Prix Award winning, High-Risk Pregnancy Referral Tool is having a profound impact on the lives of women and their families. As the world increases its reliance on technology, there are many communities around the world which those advancements cannot reach. The design of the HRP tool is a fantastic example of how design can deliver powerful, appropriate solutions to reach communities across varying socio-demographics to create positive change for people and the planet.”

Find out more about the Grand Prix Award winning High-Risk Pregnancy Referral Tool >

Black Dog Scotch Whisky redesign

Diageo with Butterfly Cannon: Top of mind awareness reached an all-time high following Black Dog’s brand and packaging transformation. The redesign has made the Scotch Whisky more culturally relevant, more authentically Scotch and more recognisable on shelf; it’s attracting younger, affluent Indian consumers and having placed third previously, it now tops the category for brand equity. Read more >

Eichhof Beer redesign

Eichhof with Pearlfisher: Making a stunning come-back, Eichhof’s volume increased +4.7% within six months following a complete redesign. In a highly competitive category, and following seven years of continuous market share loss, Eichhof grew market share an impressive 1.2% in the year following the redesign. Read more >

Gordon & MacPhail redesign

Gordon & MacPhail with Contagious: Addressing the complexity of its product portfolio, Gordon & MacPhail’s redesign has enabled the business to maximise opportunities in a buoyant sector. A clear consumer pathway was created, and revenue has leapt 71% from selling 18% less whisky. Value sales of Gordon & MacPhail’s luxury products increased 61% within a year, while the global luxury whisky market grew only 4% in that time. Read more >

Guinness NitroSurge

Diageo with Dolmen Design & Innovation: The ground-breaking Guinness NitroSurge dispense system enables consumers to achieve beautiful Guinness pints at home and the innovation has changed consumer perceptions around the at-home experience. In just nine months, Net sales exceeded the Year-Five global target, and with a higher price point and lower production cost than the existing canned offering, Guinness NitroSurge has achieved an 8.5% uplift in beer sale profitability. Read more >

Congratulations to all the Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners

The variety and breadth of work the judges saw amongst the Gold award winners also played out across the Silver and Bronze winners too, with work spanning retail, not for profit, FMCG and charity sectors, amongst others. 

Among them were Sigtún Thróunarfélag and M Worldwide’s placemaking design strategy for Icelandic town Selfoss, the most sustainable branch fit-out in Lloyds Banking Group’s history by SpaceInvader, Else’s elevation of key pages of Avast’s website, and the immersive design and visitor experience of the Hockney’s Eye exhibition for Fitzwilliam Museum by Holmes Studio, which increased donations from the public 373%.

“It’s been a huge pleasure to chair the discussions with experts across design and business to identify and celebrate such inspiring examples of the power of design,” says Chairman of the Judges, Clive Grinyer, “my congratulations to all the DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners.”

Browse all the Gold, Silver and Bronze Award winners and take a look at their case studies >

2023 DBA Design Effectiveness Award Winners

More information on the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards and how to enter can be found here.