With our 20 year anniversary in full swing, we take a look back at what we’ve seen change at Pentawards, from the jury and events to trends and winners, we’ve come a long way.

Take a trip down memory lane with us and enter the competition today to be part of the legacy year.

A Global Jury

Once upon a time, the Pentawards Jury consisted of just 10 people — predominantly male and white. All were exceptionally talented and deeply experienced in the world of design, but the group didn’t reflect the true diversity of the industry as we believed it should.

Fast forward to 2026, and the jury now includes more than 50 members. The majority are women, representing a broad range of ages, races and backgrounds. Our jury brings together voices from global brands and leading design agencies, including Pentagram, JKR, Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo and Tom Ford Beauty — spanning countries across the world including Singapore, Denmark, India, New Zealand, the US and more. See the full line-up here.

While there’s still work to be done, we’re proud of how far the jury has come. Led by the formidable Chloé Templeman and John Glasgow as co-presidents, we continue to find new ways to make both our jury — and the industry at large more inclusive than ever before.

Purposeful Categories

‘Packaging has shifted from looking good, to being seen, to actually doing good.’ Says Head of Pentawards, Adam Ryan.

And our categories have changed over times to reflect this. We’ve introduced Sustainable Design as full category, an accessible design category and a design with purpose category.

We’ve also seen a rise in creating brand experiences, especially when it comes to social media, with our new category for this year – Press and Influencer Gifting.

PLATINUM AWARD 2025 - SUSTAINABLE DESIGN - Vivomer Dropper by Shellworks

GOLD AWARD 2025 - BRAND IDENTITY & CONNECTED PACKAGING - ASPRONAUTAS by Estudio Pablo Guerrero

DIAMOND AWARD 2025 -  BODY, HEALTH & BEAUTY - Tilt by Established

Valuable feedback

We want to ensure all entrants get maximum value when entering the competition. In 2019 we launched our Excellence Score, which meant entrants can see their overall score for each criteria and how their design compared to other entries in that category.

In 2025, we then introduced written feedback for non-shortlisted entries, with all jury members taking the time to give tangible feedback for non-shortlisted entrants to get a deeper understanding of what the jury were impressed with, and where they felt improvements can be made to help propel your work in the future.

Revolving design trends

Over the years we’ve seen design trends ebb and flow. We’ve seen luxury design go though a bit of a transformation, from luxe, flashy and overpacked, to minimal and more purposeful. We’ve seen paired-down, neutral design turn to bold and stylish, we’ve seen innovation and sustainability take strides – with new and interesting materials being tested and used everyday (think seaweed and mushroom packaging).

Mostly, trends aren’t completely new, just a new, developed version. Our trend reports give a great insight into what we’ve seen come through in the industry so far and where we think it’s heading – you can download the reports from 2021 - 2026 here . And by entering the competition you’ve got the chance to feature in our next report and be a part of the biggest trends in the industry.

From events to community

Twenty years ago our only event focused on the Gala and the winners, in 2026 we think of ourself for more a community of design lovers and experts. Providing #dailyinspiration to our 300k+ followings, trend reports, the Packaging Design Book, article features, and taking winning packs to global exhibitions, such as Paris Packaging Week (that sees 14,000+ visitors each year), we’re dedicated to getting great design and designers into the spotlight. We’ve also provided more free content and events, such as the Pentawards Festival, online webinars and Pentawards Meets networking events across the globe.

Lastly, we’re dedicated to getting young people into the industry with our Pentawards Pipeline , which we’re continuously evolving to maximise opportunities to people starting out in the industry.

Now it’s your time to make design history, enter this week during our Early Bird rate and save €100.