Join for Free! - Community Support

36+ Ways to Join for Free
There are 36+ ways to join the A' Design Award for free. We list each and every one of these as part of our transparency policy. Make sure to check all of them; you will most likely not eligible for most of them, however there will for sure at least several initiatives that you could make use of.

Everyone Matters
We created all these initiatives to ensure that everyone with a good design can join, everyone can get represented and everyone with great design could be recognized for their outstanding work, regardless of their backgrounds, nationalities, preferences, specialization, education, luck and wealth, that being said, please kindly note that these free to join opportunities are mostly created for, open to and aimed at helping individuals that do not have the means to nominate their work to the design award themselves.

If you are privileged to have the capacity to nominate your work without utilising these programs, please do kindly nominate your works regularly and instead refer these programs to people who may benefit more from them, especially considering the fact that each nomination, digital or pro incurs significant cost to us and the philanthropic design community who sponsors these initiatives.

Good to Know : To take part in any of the following programs, please register for free by filling the registration form first. You will be happy to know that registration is free. After registration you can upload your work for free. After uploading your work, you can get a free preliminary score. Nomination is not free, but you can make use of these initiatives to nominate for free. After nomination, if you win, there are no further fees, so you do not have to pay anything if you win. Learn about our Free / Free / Free / Fee / Free initiative.

Community Support Initiatives
It is our genuine aim that our free to join initiatives and sponsorship programs makes the A' Design Award & Competition more fair, more accessible, more ethical and more prestigious for all designers who wish to get involved with a design accolade that provides equal opportunities to all creative individuals regardless of their origin, nation, wealth and allows them to compete purely on merit. Please check each and every initiative, we created many initiatives because we want people who need support to be able to experience them, however not all initiatives will fit for you, yet some others may be just perfectly suited for you. If you need help and support for any of these initiatives, please reach us by contacting our support.

Design Ambassador Program
Open to design students only: earn up to 4 free entry tickets by completing simple tasks, limited to one design ambassador per university.

Award Scholarship
Are you a very talented designer without the required funds to join the A' Design Award and Competition? You can join for free if you have a great design.

Underrepresented Nations
If your nation is not yet fully represented in World Design Rankings as you would wish them to be, we are pleased to provide you with a complimentary nomination ticket to nominate your works and represent your nation better.

Get Involved with Cultural Events Organization
You may earn complimentary pro-edition nomination tickets by helping us organize an exhibition or you may earn digital edition tickets by becoming a volunteer in one of our design exhibitions.

Blog about A' Design Award Winners
Open to all: write an article about A' Design Award and Competitions' winners at your blog to earn a free entry ticket for you or your friends.

Underrepresented Categories
If the design award category relevant to your work does not have significant number of past laureates, you may be eligible to obtain a free nomination ticket if you fulfill our eligibility criteria.

Suggest a Talent
Open to all: have a 1 in 40 chance to win an entry ticket and a t-shirt by inviting talented designers to take part in the A' Design Award and Competition.

Take Part in a Creative Duel
Open to all: Invite friends or competitive designers to take part in the competition, if they win or lose after nominating their designs, you get a free digital edition nomination ticket.

Blog about A' Design Award
Open to all: mention or write a constructive article about A' Design Award and Competition at your blog to earn a free entry ticket for you or your friends.

Refer a Designer
Open to all: refer your designer friends and if any of them join to A' Design Award and Competition by making a paid nomination, you can join for free.

A' Design Challenge
Every year, between 15-21 January, Submit your creative ideas to advance and improve A' Design Awards by providing innovative ideas. The very best ideas will get a complimentary digital edition nomination ticket to join the A' Design Awards.

Talk about Design
Every year, you could submit your best design quotes, adages, sayings, proverbs and ideas to the Design Adage platform. Our team will select the very best quotes and if your idea is selected, you will get a complimentary digital edition nomination ticket to enter your works to the A' Design Awards.

Design Competition Survey
Have a 1 in 40 chance to win an entry ticket by filling our survey about design awards and competitions. You will be automatically enrolled in the program once you complete the survey while you are logged in.

Publications Survey
Have a 1 in 40 chance to win an entry ticket by filling our survey about publications you keep track of or that you wish to be featured at. You will be automatically enrolled in the program once you complete the survey while you are logged in.

Tradeshow Survey
Have a 1 in 40 chance to win an entry ticket by filling our survey about tradeshows you join as exhibitor or check as a visitor. You will be automatically enrolled in the program once you complete the survey while you are logged in.

Free Entrance
Participating institutions (patrons) and their members could join for free. Make sure to check these programs as well as contact your institution to partner with A' Design Award so that they too could get free entry.

Let your Client Pay
Many professional designers, architects as well as creative agencies make use of this method. Learn about how to make your clients pay for your award entry for commissioned work. This method is especially good if you worked for a company.

Crowdfund Your Entry
Crowdfund your way to fame, prestige and international publicity by running your very own crowdfunding campaign for your participation to A' Design Award and competition.

Join Now, Pay Later
This is not a free to join method, however it is an interesting option for PR Agents, Small Businesses and Independent Designers who are risk averse.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rejoin, Rage Join
We have a savage campaign that allows you to join for free to our digital edition if you had already joined and won other awards of any kind and willing to trade their trophy for A' Digital Nomination tickets, to have a chance at A' Design Prize.

Barter Opportunities
You could perhaps barter something in return, designed for press members to barter publication or advertising options as well as suited for companies who wish to exchange products or services for entry.

Design Internship
Did you know that we provide a design internship programme and we give free nomination tickets to the interns that successfully complete it?

Last and Omega Promos
During last entry period, we have several special promotions available that may potentially provide you with a free digital edition nomination ticket if you fulfill the eligibility conditions.

Karma Against All Odds
If you have had negative experiences with other design awards, contests, competitions or paid design recognition programs, we have an amazing programme to even the odds, and bring positive karma to you and us both.

Second Chance Policy
If there is too much deviation from your Preliminary Score and final outcome after grand jury voting, you may be happy to learn about our Second Chance Policy that provides you with a complimentary digital nomination ticket.

Join Completely for Free
Read about some insights on joining completely free of charge without doing anything particular at all. Please kindly note that this program does not apply for some account types as they could make use of Award Scholarship programs.

Global Design Patronage
If you are living in a less privileged country, as understood by GDP per Capita statistics, then we will help you with full or partial financial sponsorship for sponsorship of your entry to A' Design Awards.

Support During Tough Times
A' Design Award & Competition supports its past laureates during tough times by sponsoring their entries fully or partially, or by means of providing additional publicity for their already awarded projects.

Low Income Sponsorship
If you have a low or very low household income and if you are unable to afford nomination fees then we will help you by sponsoring your participation fully or partially.

Subsidized Entry
Not every year, but some years, there could be possibilities for you to join the A' Design Award with a Subsidized Digital Nomination Ticket, if you met eligibility conditions.

Digital First Ticket Initiative
Not a free to join method but still provides a reasonable discount for taking part in the A' Design Award with a highly discounted Digital Nomination Ticket that could only be obtained once.

Get Paid to Join?!
This is not a free to join method, however it is an interesting option for all; take part in our A'ffiliate program to earn a percentage for your referrals, potentially earn more than what you would pay for nomination.

Unboxing Video (Laureates Only)
Record, edit and publish a video of unboxing the A' Design Award winner kit video to be eligible to obtain pro-edition or digital edition nomination tickets.

Testimonial Video
Make a video testimonial regarding your positive experience with the A' Design Award to be eligible to obtain pro-edition or digital edition nomination tickets.

Design Showcase Video
Make and publish a video featuring award-winning good designs selected among the A' Design Award laureates to be eligible to obtain pro-edition or digital edition nomination tickets.

Expand Design Encyclopedia
Earn account credits that could be used to obtain up to 100% discounted digital nomination tickets to enter and nominate your works to the A' Design Awards free of charge using digital edition entry method.

Women in Design Week
Obtain highly discounted or fully sponsored digital nomination tickets for entering your works to the A' Design Awards free of charge during International Woman's Day.

Purchasing Power Parity Adjustment
Obtain discounted pro-edition tickets, highly discounted digital nomination tickets or fully sponsored digital nomination when taking part from a country facing major economic challenges.