World-class judging for a world-class competition

The Pentawards is a world leading competition that recognises the best of the best in global packaging design. This is achieved with the help of a carefully crafted jury of experts, alongside a rigorous and in-depth judging process.

Explore what goes into evaluating your work below from scoring your work, to multiple rounds of judging in-person and online, to specific judging criteria and more! 

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Unrivalled process by design

Round one

Our International Jury goes through your submissions online and scores entries based on set criteria (see below).

Judges are allocated the entries they review based on expertise and experience. All entries are judged anonymously and jury members cannot score their own work.

This scoring then gives us a shortlist for Round Two.


Round two

A selection of jury members who reviewed each category are invited to review the shortlisted entries during two days of judging at the Pentawards offices in London.

Here judges have the chance to touch and see the shortlisted works to help make their decision on Golds, Silvers, Bronzes and Platinums.

Final round

The third and final round is hosted online, where Special Awards are selected and top winners from each category are put forward for the Diamond - Best of Show Award and the entire Jury Panel cast their vote.

Want to impress our Jury members? See how

Behind the scenes: hear from our jury


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Judging 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 its originality and creativity, considering also innovation in areas currently driving the industry, such as sustainability, inclusive design, smart technology, etc. For re-designs, judges will look at any changes in material use or innovation as well as branding compared to the previous design, and consider any challenges in doing so.

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.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CATEGORY CRITERIA

If entering this category, you will need to include information on why the pack is sustainable, including the materials used and their impact on the environment. Judges will be looking for evidence of optimisation in the environmental performance of the packs, as well as the branding and innovation in the pack design

DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS CRITERIA

Entries into this category must show evidence of commercial achievements and how the design led to the results achieved, whilst sharing details on the market, objectives, challenges, influencing factors and outcomes.

SUPPLIER INNOVATION OF THE YEAR CRITERIA

Entrants into this category will need to showcase how their business and product benefits their clients in their packaging designs. They will need to share information on their product and the benefits it brings compared to alternatives, demonstrate strong and positive relationships with clients and also highlight any other focuses the business has that helps support the industry.

FEEDBACK ON YOUR ENTRIES

When you submit your entry with Pentawards, we wanted to ensure you get more – even if you don’t win.

After such a brilliant response last year, we will continue with exclusive written feedback directly from the jury if your work is not shortlisted . This means you’ll get a deeper understanding around what the jury were impressed by, and where they felt improvements can be made to help propel your work in the future.


Thanks to the Pentawards Excellence Score, all entries submitted into the Pentawards competition receive feedback on their entry. The Pentawards Excellence Score includes:

- The entry’s score for each judging criteria

- The design’s overall score based on the judging criteria

- How that design compared to other entries in that subcategory (in each criteria)

- The score that the pack would have needed to be shortlisted

INTERNATIONAL JURY

Our international jury is made up of individuals of the highest calibre in packaging design and colourfully represents the global spectrum of packaging. It includes experts from Xiaomi, Jägermeister, LEGO, Pentagram, JKR and more.

Year after year, this eclectic group of over 50 individuals from countries all over the world are faced with the task of reaching a unanimous decision on which packaging designs will have truly universal appeal and should be recognised with the international Pentawards distinction.


MEET THE JURY

ANY QUESTIONS?

Take a look through our FAQs or get in touch with the Pentawards Team either via info@pentawards.org, contact at +44 7438022161, or by leaving us a message via the gold icon at the bottom right of your screen.