Concealed Nominations
Concealed award categories are different from the regular design competition categories by having their results hidden from public access: Results will not be published online, and the concealed award winners will not receive the PR Campaign that is intended for other categories due to the secret, private or hidden nature of the products and designs submitted. Concealed award winners will also not be published in the yearbooks. However, concealed design award winners will still be able to use a special award winner logo in their communications and marketing.

Like other categories, concealed design award winners will be marked platinum, gold, silver, bronze or A’ based on the merits and achievements. The concealed design award category badge is designed slightly different to indicate the secret nature of the submissions, however regular logos could be obtained after category changes.  There are two types of concealed award categories; categories that are concealed due to product nature, or categories that are concealed due to secrecy.

Please kindly note that concealed design award categories could have further terms and conditions that participants should agree before joining as explained in the concaled category participation notes below this page. Addendum to the participation terms and conditions for such categories are explained in their pages. Concealed Design Award categories are as follows, please click on a category to learn more about these categories.

Concealed Categories are mostly participated by large enterprises who wish to get a design award for their new products but also wish to hide their award status from the public until they release the products to market to have an advantage of surprise, furthermore Concealed Categories are also ordered by designers and design agencies who have made agreements with their clients not to publicise the works, or in some cases if the works must be kept confidential.

Good to Know: If you joined concealed category by mistake, you can apply to have it converted to a non-concealed category, but in most cases award level could be effected since the design shall be voted again and the non-concealed categories are slightly more competitive. Concealed to Regular Conversion service can be ordered at Account Services section and is subject to a fee since the entry shall be voted again.

In certain cases we could move your design to a Concealed Category, such as if you fail to provide us with licenses to publish your work, when and if your design is moved to a Concealed Category, you do not lose your award status; you can still use the award status and logo, and if you are pro-edition entrant you would be still eligible to obtain your award trophy, still eligible to join gala (but we would not publish your design). Indeed many enterprises move their design to Concealed Category on a regular casis, as this has many benefits including but not limited to cases when companies are applying for patents and publishing their designs would void such patent applications, as well as cases where companies present trade secrets in their submissions to better explain their designs but not wish these secrets to be known. Concealed Categories are as prestigious as main categories and apart from non-publishing results, the laurates retain access to almost all other award benefits such as the eligibility to obtain trophy, to obtain and use award winner logo, to use award winner certificate, to obtain yearbook (but of course without your design included as it is concealed), to join gala (for pro-editon entrants), and other events including but not limited to exhibitions, and works in Concealed Categories count equally towards World Design Rankings, Designer Rankings and Design Classification Rankings systems.

If you wish to check open - published design award categories, please refer to the full list of design competition categories, unlike the concealed categories, the open - published categories have their results made available online and are indeed the preferred way to participate in order to create the maximum dissemination and reach for awarded entries.

101.	ADULT TOYS AND PRODUCTS DESIGN Marital Aid Products, Adult Toys, Adult Furniture and Disposable Pleasure Items and More.		117.	CHEMICAL PRODUCTS AND CONSUMABLES DESIGN Detergents, Soaps, Fuel Additives, Dishwashing Liquids and More.
102.	METHODS, TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES DESIGN New Technologies, Techniques, Methods and Strategy Designs and More..		118.	SALES, CONTACT CENTER AND CUSTOMER SERVICE DESIGN Sales Centers, Customer Support Centers, Contact Centers and More.
103.	LEGWEAR, PANTYHOSE AND HOSIERY DESIGN Socks, Stockings, Leggings, Knee Highs, Legwarmers, Tights, Pantyhose, Foot-wraps and More.		119.	DILIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE IN DESIGN Companies, Enterprises, Governments, Businesses, Organizations, Associations and More.
104.	INDUSTRIAL DESIGN Industrial Design, Product Design, Consumer Goods and Products		120.	SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES DESIGN Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Political Science, Anthropology and More.
105.	SPATIAL DESIGN Interior Design, Architecture, Landscape Design and Urban Design		121.	NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DESIGN Biology, Astronomy, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, Life Sciences, Mathematics, and More.
106.	GRAPHICS DESIGN Graphics Design, Communication Design, Advertising Design		122.	UNEXPECTED DESIGN New Product Categories, Breakthroughs, Trendsetters and Unique Creations and More.
107.	STRATEGIC DESIGN Design Strategy, Strategic Design, Design of Systems and Ideas		123.	YOUNG DESIGN Young Designers, Students, Freelance Designers, Upcoming Artists, Fresh Graduates and More
108.	INTERACTION DESIGN Interaction, Dynamic Mechanisms, Interactive Products, Environments and Services		124.	WRITING, LITERATURE AND CONTENT DESIGN Writings, Journal Articles, Literature, Creative Content, One-liners, Headlines, Texts and More.
109.	STRUCTURED PRODUCT DESIGN Linked Notes and Deposits, Constant Proportion Portfolios, Derivative and Financial Products and More.		125.	EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN Professional Designers, Design Studios, Design Agencies, Design Offices, Design Companies and More.
110.	ADVANCED DESIGN AND DESIGN RESEARCH Design Research, Research Papers, Research Posters, Research Findings and More		126.	BANKING AND FINANCE INSTRUMENTS DESIGN Financial Products, Financial Services, Banking Instruments and More.
111.	ACTOR, TALENT AND MODEL DESIGN Model Agencies, Talent Houses, Talent Managers, Talent Agencies, Actor Managers and More.		127.	INFORMATION PROCESSING TOOLS DESIGN Computer Software, Biological Processors, Information Processing Hardware and More.
112.	CORE RESOURCES MANUFACTURING AND EXTRACTION DESIGN Core Resources Manufacturing and Extraction Design Projects and More.		128.	AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE AND FISHERIES DESIGN Design for Agriculture, Design For Horticulture and More.
113.	DESIGN FOR X Design for Manufacture, Design for Delivery, Design for Evolution, Design for Operation and More		129.	MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Design Projects and More.
114.	BUSINESS PLAN AND CORPORATE OPERATIONAL PLANS DESIGN Business Plans, Business Strategies, Corporate Plans, Operational Plans and More.		130.	GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC SERVICES DESIGN E-Governance Platforms, Public Services, Subsidizing Culture and Design.
115.	CREATIVE INDUSTRY AND LIFELONG DESIGN Managers, Innovators, Pioneers, Executive Officers, Architects, Product Developers and More.		131.	CREATIVE LEGACY, RETRO AND EVERGREEN DESIGN Designs that were made more than 10 years ago and still looking attractive and modern.
116.	HUMAN RESOURCES AND HR PROGRAMS DESIGN Human Resources Programs, HR Schemes and More.		132.	RADICAL INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES DESIGN Effective Products, Processes, Services, Technologies, Ideas and Solutions that Exceed Market Needs.
999.	CONCEALED, HIDDEN AND SECRET DESIGN Concealed Projects, Projects under development, Non-Public, Exclusive Designs, Services and More.		133.	EASE OF USE AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN Easy to Use Products, Inherently Accessible Projects, User Friendly Products, Services and More.
134.	PUBLIC UTILITY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES DESIGN Innovative Energy Services, Sustainable, Innovative, Renewable Water, Gas and Energy Services, Innovative Internet Access Products and More		135.	RECYCLE, REUSE, REPURPOSE, RESTORE, REPAIR AND UPCYCLE DESIGN Processes, Technologies, Mechanisms and Policies for Repairing, Reusing, Restoring, Recycling, Renewing and Repurposing Products and Reducing Waste.

Important information on Concealed Category Participation
Even though the design category is concealed entry due to trade secrets, the entries could potentially be visible online. Especially the following could potentially be visible to public: “Project name, category name, primary function, designer name, and small thumbnail image”. Since the category is “Concealed” Award winners in this category will not receive some of the services that would make the designs publicly visible. The following are the services that are excluded for this category:  Yearbook participation, exhibition participation, pr-campaign, premium pr distribution, press releases etc. Some of the services and limited distribution could be provided. Winners keep right to receive trophy and logo usage permissions. Even though your entry is labeled secret and hidden, in cases where publishing your design details is required, such as by law they might get published.

Requesting Change from Concealed Category to Regular Categories
If you submitted your design to a Concealed Category, you might request a change from Concealed Category to Regular Category. There is a fine for this change which is explained in Account Services section and furthermore, there are additional rules and conditions that apply; for example even if you request your entry category to be changed from Concealed Category to Regular Categories, your work cannot be included in the yearbook or in the exhibition or any other mediums that require us to prepare materials in advance, unless the concealed to regular change is completed (not requested but completed) before results announcement. Furthermore not all concealed to regular requests will be considered, we reserve right to refuse change from concealed category to regular category for any reason.

How to Request a Concealed to Regular Change Before Voting Begins
This is Free but Requires Clear Request: If you nominated your entry for the one of the concealed categories which is a special category to hide your results; i.e. submitting to concealed category means your results will not be announced. We cannot change this category for you unless you ask us in a very clean manner to change the category of your work from concealed category to regular category by indicating us clearly the design ID Number and the number of the new (regular) category or to “appropriate category” that we could choose. We cannot change the category of your entry from concealed to regular without a very clear request, as you might understand that there are many people who submit to concealed categories for actually concealing their work, and any ambiguous request will therefore be discarded. We cannot change from concealed category to regular category without participants making a very clear request that the category shall be changed. You need to send an email to our support and clearly state your intention to change your entry from concealed category to another category if you wish to change your entry participation category. Any request must be done 3 days prior to voting, we reserve right to refuse requests that are made after this time.

How to Request a Concealed to Regular Change After Results Announcement
This Change is Not Free, Furthermore it is not always possible. Before requesting this change, you must get a confirmation that we would do the change by contacting us first and indicating design ID, new category request and reason for change. Upon careful consideration we will reply, our reply will be final. If approved you can pay the Concealed to Regular Change Fee from the Account Services page and your category will be updated. However to remind you even if your category is updated from concealed to regular, we reserve right to exclude you from some services that might require advance planning or design, for example we will most definitely exclude your work from yearbook, and it is also possible we will exclude it from exhibition as well.

• If you are having difficulties in choosing the right category, simply register and upload your design and wait for the preliminary checking service which is provided free of charge. Alternatively, you could submit your design for the category 24 for hard to classify projects. If you are wondering why there are 100+ categories, we invite you to read more about it here: networking effects. For an unabridged list of categories, click here.