Design that earns its place in the market.
An Italian design award, built for the international design industry — judged by the people who shape the market. 4 categories. 2 tracks.
No upfront payment. Submit your project first — you only pay after our team reviews and approves your submission. Full process explained below.
Students €49 · Professionals early bird €149 (Sep) · Full price €249 (Oct–Dec) · +€49 per extra project/category — fees apply only after approval
Home Furniture & Living
Furniture, objects and textiles for the home — from the living room to the bedroom, from the kitchen table to the garden.
Explore →Lighting (Residential & Contract)
Residential and contract lighting — pendants, floor lamps, architectural systems and everything in between.
Explore →Tech Devices & Appliances
Consumer electronics, smart home devices and domestic appliances — where technology and industrial design meet.
Explore →Office & Workspace
Furniture, tools and solutions for professional environments — from the corporate office to the home workstation.
Explore →
Matteo Battiston is Chief Design Officer at EssilorLuxottica, where he leads design and R&D through a diverse, global team, overseeing collections for brands including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Oliver Peoples and Persol, as well as licenses such as Chanel, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana.
A pioneer in smart glasses, he played a key role in developing Ray-Ban Meta, guided by the vision of making technology invisible and innovation deeply human.
His work has received international recognition, including the ADI Compasso d'Oro, and he serves on the advisory boards of leading design and communication institutions.
Chiara Gabriele is PR Leader at IKEA Italia, where she has worked since 2017, first leading Corporate Communication and later also taking on responsibility for Product PR.
She brings over 20 years of experience in media relations and institutional relations in Italy, gained across agencies, companies and consultancy, having held various roles in national and international organizations in Pharma, Automotive, Retail and Sustainability.
Stefano Giovannoni is an Italian industrial designer, interior designer and architect who has collaborated with international companies including Alessi, Magis, Samsung, Siemens, Lavazza, LG Electronics and Fiat, among many others.
As an industrial designer, he created some of the best-selling design objects of recent decades, such as the "Girotondo" and "Mami" series and "Il Bagno Alessi One" for Alessi, and the "Bombo" series for Magis — work that has earned him recognition for his ability to anticipate people's taste.
In 2016 he founded Qeeboo, a Milan-based design brand known for imaginative, narrative objects that blend everyday function with a strong sense of wonder and identity.
Nicola Girotti has led Product Design at Pininfarina since 2017, overseeing the entire product development process — from early research on requirements and user needs through to final development and market launch.
Before joining Pininfarina, he gained international experience at Lego Concept Lab in Italy, Decathlon–Artengo in France, and Cisco Consumer Business and Motorola Solutions in Denmark, working across a range of industries and design cultures.
At Pininfarina he leads a multicultural, multifunctional team with the goal of expanding the company's Product Design division, combining analytical rigor with a strong focus on user experience and human-centered value.
Raffaella Mangiarotti is an Italian architect, designer and creative director based in Milan, and a researcher at the Politecnico di Milano, where she teaches Industrial and Fashion Design.
She co-founded deepdesign with Matteo Bazzicalupo in 1999, then launched her own studio in 2010/11, focusing on furniture, art direction and exhibition design — serving as art director for Serralunga, Manerba and IOC.
Her most recent notable work is an ongoing lighting collaboration with IKEA, launched in 2025, including the Compasso d'Oro-nominated BÄCKNATE and the 2026 MOSSPLYM/TRÅDNATE lamps.
She holds over 40 international design awards, has work in MoMA's permanent collection, and was Ambassador of Italian Design in the World from 2017 to 2024.
VIEW ALL
21 jurors →
Submit your project — free
Fill in the submission form with your project details, images and descriptions. No payment required at this stage.
Project review
Our team checks completeness and category fit — not quality. You'll hear back within 5 working days. If approved, you receive a payment link. If not, we tell you why and you can resubmit.
Pay only if approved
Students €49 · Professionals early bird €149 (Deadline: 15 October, 2026 - 23:59 CET) · Full price €249 (Oct–Dec) · +€49 per additional category/product.
Shortlist, Jury & Winners · Feb 2027
DesignWanted selects the shortlisted projects in each category. A specialist Jury votes on the 5 criteria. Winners are announced in February 2027.
CATEGORY WINNER
Prize
1 per category
· Physical Award certificate
· IFB Award Winner Kit (Logo, Jury Statement)
· n. 1 Editorial interview on DesignWanted
· n. 1 Editorial article on DesignWanted
· n. 1 Dedicated Instagram carousel
· PR, social and newsletter mentions
· n. 1-hour mentorship with DesignWanted's founder
BEST PLACED (TOP 2 PER CATEGORY)
Prize
2 per category
· Physical Award certificate
· IFB Award Best Placed Kit (Logo)
· n. 1 Editorial article on DesignWanted
· PR, social and newsletter mentions
Best Concept 2026
n. 1 Special prize for the best Vision track project across all Category Winners.
Best Market Ready 2026
n. 1 Special prize for the best Market ready project across all Category Winners.
The Italian design voice with a global audience – Born (2015) and based in Milan, DesignWanted is an international media platform dedicated to contemporary design and innovation.
In very short: IFB Award offers credibility with the industry, visibility with a global audience, and a process with no upfront risk.
It is built around a simple idea: design deserves to be seen by the people who can actually take it further.
- The jury brings together independent designers and executives from leading design-driven companies. Winning here means your work has been evaluated by the same people who decide what reaches the market.
- The recognition that comes with it is equally concrete. An IFB Award win is a verifiable credential — one you can reference in your portfolio, on your website, and in business conversations.
- Winners receive editorial coverage on DesignWanted, reaching an international audience of industry professionals, buyers and media. That visibility doesn't disappear after an announcement: it lives online, permanently attributed to you and your work.
- The process is also designed to be accessible. Submitting is free — no payment is required until your project has passed editorial review and been confirmed as eligible. Entry fees are kept deliberately accessible, because an international stage shouldn't be reserved for studios with large budgets.
Students, independent designers, design studios and design-driven brands of any nationality. Over 18 years old at the time of registration.
The submission date is what counts, not the approval date (both for Early bird and Call closure).
If you submit before 15 October 23:59 CET (Early bird deadline) or before 31 December (Call closure) and your project is approved after that dates:
- you will still pay the Early bird rate of €149 in the first case
- or still be eligible to join the Award in the second case
You will have 3 days from receiving the approval email to complete your registration via the payment link we send you.
In any case, we warmly suggest you to submit way in advance to be sure that everything works smoothly and you have time, if necessary, to resubmit your project if not approved.
Yes, always. Submitting to IFB Award does not transfer or affect your intellectual property rights in any way. Your project — including unreleased concepts and prototypes — remains 100% yours before, during and after the Award. See our Terms & Conditions for the full statement.
Both tracks use the same evaluation criteria, interpreted according to the project's development stage.
- Market Ready is for products already available for purchase — launched no more than three years ago.
- Vision is for concepts not yet in production: prototypes, thesis projects, or independently developed ideas.
Both are special prizes awarded across all category winners — one for the best Vision track project, one for the best Market Ready track project.
Each winner receives:
- A physical certificate
- A dedicated digital kit with logo and jury statement
- n. 1 editorial interview
- n. 1 full article on DesignWanted
- (1) one-hour mentorship session with DesignWanted's founder
- Mentions across PR, social and newsletter.
Both prizes are announced at the same time as the Category Winners in February 2027.
Media Exposure on DesignWanted > Commercial value: €9.980 (each)
Numbers first:
- Category Winners receive media exposure on DesignWanted valued at €11.990
- Best Placed recognition carries a media value of €7.490
Both figures cover editorial features, social posts and newsletter coverage — DesignWanted's core channels.
Beyond that, all shortlisted projects and winners are included in PR communications sent to the international design press. That reach is real, but impossible to quantify before it happens.
These figures don't account for the less tangible — but equally real — value of the award itself: the credibility of being recognised by an industry jury, and the weight that carries when positioning your work and products in the market.
The shortlist will be announced publicly in January 2027. All participants — shortlisted or not — will be notified by email.
Yes, as long as you haven't submitted your project for review.
Once submitted, the project enters our editorial review process and can no longer be edited unless it's rejected. If approved, you will receive a payment link to confirm your entry — at that point the submission is final.
We recommend reviewing all information and images carefully before submitting.
Your project deserves to be seen by the right people.
Submit for free. Pay only if approved. Call open until December 2026.
Submit your project