Any packaging that has been created and released to market anywhere in the world after 1st July 2023 to June 2025 is eligible for entry. All works that have been submitted previously in our competition should not be submitted again. For the Student category, individuals currently in education, recent graduates and design interns are eligible to enter.

Freelance designers, design agencies, brands, branding agencies, brand owners, manufacturers, suppliers and students all within the packaging industry. You are eligible if you are involved in the design, production or marketing of the packaging.

Yes. Conceptual designs are accepted, as long as the concept is original and has not been previously marketed or created, or previously submitted into the competition. Conceptual entries will not need to submit a physical sample of their design at any stage.

Only if you make it through to the second round of judging. The first round of jury deliberations only requires entrants to upload images (JPEG – RGB) and to complete the online entry form. If your entry is shortlisted for the second round of jury deliberations, then you will be asked to send the physical sample(s).

You will be able to edit some details of your entry after you have completed your payment, allowing you to make the most of the current rate and to make your final edits later. Please note, once payment is complete, you cannot change the category you submit your entries in to or your personal details, so please make sure these are correct. You will be able to edit the name of the pack, project descriptions, images and credits.

Please fill out all the information for our jury in English.

The 2025 competition will close on 28 March.

Please check the category names and descriptions to help guide you, then use your judgement and expertise to establish which one the packaging should be entered into. Your work may be eligible for more than one category, in which case, it’s up to you to decide which you would like to enter it into or you may enter into multiple categories. If you are really struggling, you can always reach out to us at info@pentawards.org and consult our team.

Yes, you can submit one piece of work into as many relevant categories as you like. Please note that there will still be a cost per each individual entry even if the same design is entered multiple times.

For the conceptual sub-category, you can design anything you wish, for any brand you’d like. This can be a packaging concept that has yet to be produced or marketed.

All payments should be done online and via your Pentawards Account. We have two payment options - Paypal and CMPayments. You can choose the provider according to the credit/debit card type you have.

There is a compulsory fee for the Winner's Package of €499 for professional winners that win a Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond award (excluding student entries). This includes being featured in The Package Design Book 8, a directory listing on the:portal, social media coverage, an official certificate, winners’ labels and being part of our online exhibition.

Additional benefits are available to professionals with the Winner’s Package Plus (€999) and Winner’s Package Premium (€1,499).

For more details on the benefits and packages, see here .

All the receipts for your payment will be sent from our system directly once you complete the payment online.

The entries will be judged by our international jury , based on the following criteria:

Quality of Design - Judges are looking for excellent graphic and structural design, considering aspects such as typography, artwork, the logo or brand name, use of colour, as well as structural aspects such as shape, form and silhouette.

Brand Expression - Judges score how effectively the graphic and (if appropriate) structural design of the pack or range expresses the personality, characteristics or story of the brand.

Creativity & Innovation - Judges score the pack or range for the quality of innovation, originality and creativity of the design. Where entries are a revamp or a limited edition of an existing brand, judges are asked to score on the effectiveness of the new design compared to the previous design.

Emotional Connection - Judges score whether they like the pack overall, how they responded to it emotionally and whether they believe that it will elicit a positive response in its target market.

Judges will be required to give a score out of five for each section of the criteria. The scores will then be combined to provide an overall score out of twenty.

The Pentawards Excellence Score allows entrants to get feedback on every piece of work submitted into the competition, whether or not the designs go through to the second round of judging.

The Excellence Score is taken from the jury’s verdict of the entry, based on the four aspects of the judging criteria. Participants will get to know what the judges thought of their packaging – what they loved and the areas where they felt improvements could be made.

In total there are five main award distinctions; 

• Diamond – Best of show
• Platinum – Best of category 
• Gold – 1st place in subcategory 
• Silver – 2nd place in subcategory 
• Bronze – 3rd place in subcategory

Each of the 8 main categories will have one overall platinum winner. One Diamond award will be given to the best entry of the awards edition. The best of the student entries will be awarded the NXT-GEN award. We also have special awards including Best Newcomer, Designer of the Year, Design Agency of the Year, and People's Choice. 

The winners and award levels will be announced at the Official Pentawards Gala Ceremony. All notified winners must keep their success confidential until officially announced by Pentawards.

If you are interested or know someone that may be, please email info@pentawards.org with a CV and letter explaining why you/they are interested in becoming a jury member and why you/they should be considered. We review our jury every year and will keep this on file and take it into consideration.

With regards to images, there are no specific requirements for dimension or orientation this year. We want to encourage you, the entrant, to display your designs in the way you feel shows the designs in their best light. The original guidance was to supply images square (2000x2000), you can use this as a loose reference, however, please ensure the width and height of the pictures are both above 2000 px to ensure the best quality for display. If you have campaign images or digital renders that are rectangular or artistic in some way, then we’d like to encourage you to submit them as they are.

You will need to upload it to Vimeo or YouTube and copy and paste the link to the entry form. Please note that all the work should stay anonymous. You shouldn’t reveal your agency/designer’s name or logo in the video. You should also upload the video from your personal or other accounts that don't show your company name and logo on it, otherwise, the organiser has the right to remove the video to ensure the credibility of the judging process.