With the 2025 winners reveal coming up on 4 October, we’re taking a look back at last year’s inspiring Special Award winners

Beyond Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, Pentawards also celebrates exceptional achievements with Special Awards. These prestigious accolades recognise standout designs and companies that go above and beyond.

Take a look at last year's Special Award winners below.

Best Newcomer

Retbaa (Senegal) and Kids (Spain)

Senegal and Spain based companies Retbaa and Kids have won the Best Newcomer award, which celebrates those who excel in their first year of competing. Both companies saw incredible success, with all their entries winning in their debut year. Their award-winning designs include Designed in Paris, from Africa to the world (Gold) by Retbaa and Raras by Kids (2 Golds).

Born near Lake Retba, Senegal, during COVID-19, Retbaa blends African richness with Parisian savoir-faire to create a sensory journey. Committed to authenticity, sustainability, and quality, Retbaa supports local producers while celebrating the art of gifting with beautifully curated boxes that awaken emotions.

During wine production, bottles with defects or irregular shapes are usually discarded. Raras repurposes these unique bottles, turning them into a limited edition wine that raises awareness and funds for rare disease. With only 500 bottles, each features a distinctive shape, changing typography, and a pendant-style label, reinforcing the message of uniqueness. The minimalist black-and-white design keeps the focus on the bottle’s natural form, making Raras as rare as the cause it supports.

KURZ Best Use of Embellishment Award

YEW'S PATH by Estudio Pablo Guerrero, Spain

For the first time ever, last year we partnered with KURZ to create a brand new Special Award celebrating excellence in embellishment.

After careful review, the Gold was given to YEW'S PATH by Estudio Pablo Guerrero, with Silver to Symbiotic wine by BXL and Bronze to CASA MARRAZZO CANNED SERIES by Auge Design.

Inspired by antique maps, YEW'S PATH's label evokes an imaginary yet familiar territory, guiding us to a "lost vineyard" through embossed ravines, peaks, and meandering rivers. Printed on sustainable white felt paper, its layered textures and gold stamping—mirroring the wax seal—enhance the sense of discovery and luxury. The result is a design that not only maps a place but also tells a story, capturing the essence of singular vineyards and their wines.

Educator of the Year

ELISAVA, Spain

A Special Award which celebrates the exceptional educators who inspire and support their students to achieve remarkable success in academic and creative endeavours, last year's winner was once again ELISAVA from Spain, with 8 shortlisted works and 4 winning a Pentawards trophy. The winning works include PIKI and BAND-AID which both won silvers.

PIKI is a Peruvian brand that creates premium sauces made from ground pepper, essential for preparing local dishes. The brand’s identity features PIKI, a mysterious guardian who protects crops from evil gods. To emphasise the product’s high quality, a transparent glass structure was selected, with label colours seamlessly blending into the design for a striking and cohesive look.

Band-Aid reimagines the classic band-aid packaging to make it more accessible and practical during emergencies. Traditional boxes are frustrating to open and use, especially when you’re in a rush. Recognising that life is full of motion and accidents can happen at any time, the students designed a refillable package that lets you quickly find the right band-aid for every wound. With the new design, you can see the exact size and shape of each band-aid without opening the box. The refillable system reduces packaging waste and lets you customize your first aid kit to fit your lifestyle.

NXT-GEN Award

Chuxun Yu, Zhuowen Lin and Rongjin Zheng from Guangdong Industry Polytechnic, China

Every year, the Pentawards International Jury selects one of the best student works among all categories for the NXT-GEN Award, which in 2024 went to Chuxun Yu, Zhuowen Lin and Rongjin Zheng from Guangdong Industry Polytechnic, for their work XUN.

XUN is inspired by the blush after a glass of wine. The bottle features a playful Tang Dynasty lady whose cheeks blush when touched or heated, thanks to thermochromic paint, adding a fun, interactive ritual. The skeletonized packaging highlights the design and invites consumers to engage with the product.

People's Choice Award

Bananostafido by Loukas Chondros, Greece

In addition to professional expert opinions, we listen to the voice of the public.

As part of the 2024 competition, we gave you a chance to vote for a winning entry, the People's Choice Award. 12 designs were selected and put to the vote to our community, with Bananostafido by Loukas Chondros winning people's hearts.

This packaging design for a 100% natural vegan snack takes all of its design cues from its product. Inspired by the banana peel, the embossed brown spots imitate the markings that naturally appear on banana skin, and a designated perforated area on the packaging to open the pack mimics the act of peeling a banana. Additionally, the inner surface of the box features the same pale yellow colour as the inner side of a banana peel.

Design Agency of the Year

Design Bridge & Partners, United Kingdom

Design Bridge & Partners won the Design Agency of the Year award after having 10 entries shortlisted, with 8 of them winning a trophy. The awarded designs include Pastiglie Leone: La Dolce Vita (Food Platinum) and The Spirit of Heineken (Gold).

Capturing the wild imagination of Leone since 1857, the rebrand hints at simpler, happier times, masterfully uniting a complex portfolio steeped in heritage and nostalgia. With the same enticing character, Leone has become a global delight. An Italian sign writers craft brings the identity more stature and recognition. Each pack holds character and quirks inspired from a different style of street sign in Turin (home); iconically consistent yet full of variety across the portfolio.

As part of Heineken's 150th anniversary celebrations, Design Bridge & Partners produced a luxury gift embodying sustainability and circularity.  A one-of-a-kind spirit made with leftover alcohol generated during the Heineken 0.0 brewing process. 

Created in collaboration with Royal Delft Porcelain, the Spirit of Heineken embodies elegance and simplicity. Its design, featuring the iconic racetrack shape and embossed star, subtly elevates the world-renowned beer brand. The flask is made with recyclable materials only. Designed to be so iconic, it will be repeatedly reused. 

Who'll take home this year's Special Awards? Join us at our Gala Ceremony on 4 October to find out!