The Awards Show
Let’s Celebrate!
More than a prize ceremony, the German Design Awards Show is a vibrant stage, a buzzing network, and a key gathering spot for the international design scene. Hosted by the German Design Council, it takes place alongside Ambiente in Frankfurt am Main.
The Award Show is where the global design community comes together. Around 1,600 guests from design, business, culture, and media meet to celebrate creativity, innovation and impact.
At the centre of it all: the Gold Awards, presented on the big stage in a festive setting. Alongside the ceremony, guests can dive into an inspiring programme – from exhibitions of award-winning projects to panel talks that explore what’s shaping the future of design, from sustainable innovation to global transformation.
A special highlight: the presentation of the titles Newcomer of the Year and Personality of the Year – celebrating vision, influence and forward-thinking design.
Your Invitation to the Ceremony
All German Design Award winners will receive their personal invitation in December. Details on the programme and schedule will follow in good time.
At the beginning of February, Frankfurt became the centre of the international design scene. Around 1,300 guests from design, business, politics and culture accepted the invitation to celebrate outstanding projects in Product Design, Communication Design and Architecture. The award ceremony of the German Design Awards, attended by international guests, underscored the relevance of design as a driver of innovation and a factor of economic success.
With designers, agencies, companies and architecture studios from 57 countries, the Award Show demonstrated its global reach. The jury assessed not only the design quality of the submissions, but also construction, material use, longevity and logic of use. Service Design was introduced for the first time as a separate category, placing processes, interfaces and interactions at the centre of evaluation.
Highest standards across generations and borders
With Naoto Fukasawa as Personality of the Year and Marie Kurstjens as Newcomer of the Year, the German Design Awards honoured two generations of designers who stand for clarity of thought and consistency in execution.
Within the framework of the World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026, the Award Show gained additional international visibility. The third Confessions Talk and the exclusive networking atmosphere enabled direct exchange with leading figures from the industry and deepened discussions on material responsibility, system thinking and the entrepreneurial relevance of design.
All submissions can be explored online in the gallery of the German Design Awards. Highlights of the award ceremony can be found here.
