The entries for the Best Design Awards, a celebration of Aotearoa’s design and creative craft, are now open.
Run by Toi Manahau Designers Institute of New Zealand, the Best Awards is built on Whakamana Te Toi, empowering the arts.
It looks at creative excellence across disciplines, including film and animation work.
Craft, clarity and creative ambition
From TV and online commercials to long-form storytelling, video campaigns, motion design and 3D animation, the categories are designed to reward craft, clarity and creative ambition in equal measure.
For 2026, the Film and Animation categories have been reworked specifically for creative agencies and production companies.
Last year, The Māori Roll Call and Diary of a Head Injury each secured the coveted Purple Pin, awarded not just for excellence in category, but as the single most outstanding piece of work in a discipline.
Entirely analogue
The Best Awards is also one of the few major awards programmes to remain entirely analogue in its judging from start to finish. No remote scoring. Over 60 judges and conveners, eight disciplines, across seven days, all in-person.
For more information, visit the Best Awards website.
