Notable Interactive Awards – A Short List
It’s important to stay in the know about work that is being recognized in your industry. We compiled this resource list to show what interactive awards are out there and what works are being honored for excellence.
ACM SIGGRAPH
The ACM SIGGRAPH Awards program recognizes contributions to the computer graphics community. There are currently five awards that are offered: The Steven A. Coons Award (to honor lifetime contributions to computer graphics and interactive techniques), The Computer Graphics Achievement Award, The Significant New Researcher Award, The Outstanding Service Award, and The Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art.
Adobe MAX
The Adobe MAX awards are given out at MAX, an Adobe sponsored conference. They “recognize the best uses of Adobe software for creating digital experiences.”
Adobe Site of the Day
Adobe’s Site of the Day is a more casual award for showing off creative and functional site design and integration of Adobe products.
Cannes Lions
The Cannes Lions awards are marketing awards given for creative excellence in a variety of categories including interactive, film, press, radio, and design (among others). The awards are given out to entrants based on the strategy of a campaign, the idea behind the campaign, and the business results of the campaign.
CLIO Awards
The CLIO awards are awards given for excellence in advertising execution across a wide variety of media, including both traditional and digital. Entries are judged on the creativity of the idea and its realization in its respective media.
Communication Arts
The Communication Arts awards recognize the best work in online and print visual communications. The categories that entries may apply for are Interactive, Illustration, Photography, Design, Advertising, and Typography.
Communicator Awards
The Communicator Awards are about “recognizing big ideas in marketing and communications.” Submissions may be entered into a variety of categories and subcategories spanning across digital and transitional media.
D&AD Awards
The D&AD awards have “celebrat[ed] creative excellence in design and advertising… for over 30 years.” Entries can be entered into 25 different categories and can be entered by either professionals or amateurs for judgment.
FWA
Standing for “Favourite Website Awards,” FWA recognizes submissions in the following categories: websites, online games, mobile sites and applications, or online movies and animations. FWA also accepts submissions which do not fall into any of these categories due to the changing nature of the digital landscape.
HOW
HOW Magazine’s Interactive Design Awards recognize excellent work in the interactive space across a number of categories, including B2B and B2C websites, newsletters, games, kiosks, and others. Entries can be standalone works or smaller parts of a larger multimedia campaign.
Interactive Media Awards
The Interactive Media Awards recognize excellent work in website design and development. The Interactive Media Awards have a wide variety of categories that vary by the quarter they may be submitted in. Winning an IMA allows a website to display a badge of their achievement on their website.
Key Art Awards
Celebrating its 40th year in 2011, the Key Art Awards recognize excellence in advertising and communications across a large number of categories. These include both digital and traditional media categories such as innovative media and interactive media as well as print, public relations, and radio.
MITX Awards
Hosted by the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology exchange, MITX awards fall into two categories: Innovation Awards recognize innovative techniques and revolutionary marketing. Interactive Awards recognize creative excellence in interactive and web settings.
MIXX Awards
Hosted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the MIXX awards recognize excellence in interactive advertising. Entries are judged on the strategy, idea, and impact of their interactive advertising efforts.
OMMA Awards
The OMMA Awards are awards that cover a variety of disciplines. Three main categories house a wide variety of subcategories across the online advertising industry. The three main categories for the OMMA awards are Online Advertising Creativity, Integrated Online Campaign, and Web Site Excellence.
One Show Interactive
The One Show Awards are for excellence in advertising. There are 5 categories: One Show, One Show Design, One Show Interactive, One Show Entertainment, and One Show College Competition. The main categories have several subcategories that span different types of traditional and online media.
Pixel Awards
The Pixel Awards are awards for websites that show excellence in design and development. There are 24 categories and only one award is given per category.
SXSW
The South by Southwest Conferences and Festivals offer awards in Film and Interactive. The Interactive Awards are for recognizing the best in new digital work across media. The competition accepts projects that fall into multiple categories are judged on visual design, creativity, content, and user experience.
W3 Awards
The W3 awards recognize excellence in websites, web advertising, web video, and mobile/app categories. Entries may be submitted under a variety of subcategories which fall under the four umbrella categories of Websites, Marketing, Video, and Mobile.
Web Awards
The Web Marketing Association’s WebAward is a 15 year old award that “names the best Web sites in 96 industries” in an attempt to set a standard of excellence for all web development. Included industries range from familiar websites such as Education or Search Engine Websites to Construction, Military, Pharmaceuticals, and Investor Relations, among many others.
Webby Awards
Created in 1996, the Webby Awards offers both The Webby Award and the People’s Voice Award. Each award is offered in four categories: Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film and Video, and Mobile and Apps. The Webby Award is determined by selected judges whereas the People’s Voice Award is determined by the online community at large.
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