Statutes of the Czech Grand Design Awards
1. Basic Provisions
Since 2006, the Czech Grand Design Awards have been presented annually with the aim of supporting and promoting high-quality projects in the fields of design, photography, and illustration (excluding works of fine art) in the Czech Republic.
The awards are not a competition, but rather a form of professional recognition – projects must be nominated, not submitted. The awards are granted by the Czech Design Academy for outstanding projects created during the evaluated period, in a total of nine categories:
Designer of the Year
Spatial Designer of the Year
Fashion Designer of the Year
Jewellery Designer of the Year
Graphic Designer of the Year
Photographer of the Year
Illustrator of the Year
Manufacturer of the Year
Discovery of the Year
Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame is a special category that honors individuals for their long-term and significant work in design or education, their contribution to design theory, and their lifetime achievement in the field. In addition, the Preparatory Committee awards the title Grand Designer of the Year.
The organizer of the Czech Grand Design Awards is Profil Media, s.r.o.
2. Preparatory Committee
The composition of the Preparatory Committee of the Czech Grand Design Awards and its connection to the institutions represented by its members confirm the importance and prestige of this award. The Committee invites individual experts to become members of the Czech Design Academy and of the specialized juries, oversees the procedural correctness of the voting process, and selects the Grand Designer of the Year. Through its activities, the Committee supports the development of design in the Czech Republic and secures both intellectual and financial support for the Czech Grand Design Awards from state institutions and private entities.
Members of the Preparatory Committee:
PhDr. Helena Koenigsmarková, Emeritus Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
Jiří Macek, Creative Director of Designblok, Czech Grand Design, and the brand Křehký
Mgr. Jan Press, Director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno
doc. PhDr. Filip Suchomel, Ph.D., art historian, Japanologist, and Director of the Regional Gallery in Liberec
Mgr. Jana Zielinski, dr. h. c., Director of Designblok, Czech Grand Design, and the brand Křehký
3. Czech Design Academy
Members of the Czech Design Academy include curators, theorists, journalists, and other professionals working in the fields of design, fashion, jewellery, graphic design, photography, and illustration. If a member of the Academy is both a theorist and an active designer, their theoretical work should prevail over their design practice. Starting in 2025, holders of the Grand Designer of the Year title also become members of the Academy. By casting their votes, members confirm that they are not voting in a conflict of interest. Grand Designers may not nominate or vote for their own projects.
Individuals are invited to join the Academy by the Preparatory Committee through a nomination form that is part of the first voting round. By completing the form, the nominees accept membership. If a member does not submit nominations or fails to participate in at least one of the three voting rounds, their name will not be listed among the Academy members for that year.
Members vote only in those categories they have been professionally following over the long term. Membership is valid only for the given calendar year and serves solely for participation in the voting process of the Czech Grand Design Awards. The work of the members is honorary and voluntary, and does not establish any legal relationship with the organizer.
4. Expert Juries
In the second voting round, projects nominated in each category are evaluated by expert juries, appointed annually by the Preparatory Committee from among the members of the Czech Design Academy. Each expert jury consists of at least four members – curators, theorists, journalists, and other professionals in the respective fields of design, fashion, jewellery, graphic design, photography, and illustration. All jury members are required to demonstrate expertise, impartiality, and a broad understanding of current international developments in their discipline. Expert juries are responsible for the factual and professional accuracy of the nominations and have the right to amend or narrow them if a nominated project proves to be inconsistent with the facts or does not meet the criteria of the Czech Grand Design Awards. The juries also select the Discovery of the Year in their respective categories.
Members of the expert juries prepare written justifications for their selection of the final three nominees in each category. These texts are published in the annual yearbook of the Czech Grand Design Awards and also serve as the basis for the third round of voting.
5. Voting Procedure
First Round
In the first voting round, all members of the Czech Academy of Design nominate outstanding projects created or first presented to the public during the evaluated period. The period always runs from 1st December of the previous year to 30th November of the current year (for 2025: 1 December 2024 – 30 November 2025). Each nomination must include the author’s name and a specific project or projects. Nominations may not include works of fine art. If a nomination includes only the author’s name without a project, or a project outside the eligible scope, it is invalid and excluded from voting. Members may nominate up to three projects per category. In the Hall of Fame category, nominations honor individuals for their long-term and significant design or educational work, their contribution to design theory, and lifetime achievement in the field.
Second Round
The Preparatory Committee compiles all nominations and submits them to the expert juries for the second voting round. Their deliberations yield a final list of broad nominations and three finalists per category. Nominations receiving five or more votes must be included in the broad nomination list. The recommended number of broad nominations is ten, but each jury determines the final count independently. Each nomination should contain no more than three projects. The Preparatory Committee then submits the final three nominees in each category to the third voting round, in which the entire Academy votes again.
Second Round – Discovery of the Year
The Preparatory Committee submits the overall nominations for the second round to the expert juries. Each jury then also selects one Discovery of the Year for its respective category. This concludes the voting in this category. Each category selects one Discovery of the Year, and no single overall winner across all disciplines is selected.
There are no age limits for nominations in this category. If a nominee has already appeared in the Discovery of the Year category in previous years, their nomination is automatically moved to the appropriate professional category corresponding to their project (design, fashion, jewellery, graphic design, photography, illustration).
Second Round – Hall of Fame
Nominations receiving three or more votes are submitted by the Preparatory Committee to the second voting round in which the entire Czech Design Academy votes. Each member may select only one individual. The person with the highest number of votes becomes the laureate.
Third Round
The Preparatory Committee submits the final three nominees in each category to the third voting round, in which the entire Czech Design Academy votes. Members cast one vote per category for their preferred finalist. The finalist with the highest number of votes becomes the winner of the category. To ensure transparency, the results of the third round are publicly disclosed with names of the voters.
Grand Designer of the Year
The title Grand Designer of the Year is awarded by the Preparatory Committee to one of the winners of the creative categories: Designer of the Year, Spatial Designer of the Year, Fashion Designer of the Year, Jewellery Designer of the Year, Graphic Designer of the Year, Illustrator of the Year and Photographer of the Year.
This title is granted to a designer whose project transcends the boundaries of their specific category. When making its decision, the Preparatory Committee considers the broader context of the year’s events, the author’s additional works, and the number of votes received in the third voting round.
These statutes are valid as of 29 October 2025.