2020 V&A Illustration Awards
The V&A Illustration Awards were established in 1972 and have since become the UK’s most prestigious annual illustration competition. The Awards celebrate excellence in student illustration and three categories of contemporary practice: book cover design, book illustration and illustrated journalism.
Each winner receives £3,000 and the overall winner of the competition is awarded the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year Prize of an additional £5,000. The student runner-up receives £2,000. Award winners and the student shortlist feature in a display at the museum each year.
The Awards are generously supported by the Enid Linder Foundation and the Moira Gemmill Memorial fund.
ENTER THE AWARDS
The awards are open to entries until Monday 16 December at 14:00 (GMT). All eligible entries will be included in our online gallery.
Please be aware that the entry system will be offline at 10am GMT on Friday 6 December for a maximum of 30 minutes for essential maintenance.
The 2020 judges:
Published categories
Bonnie Greer, playwright, novelist, critic and broadcaster
Ren Renick, CEO of Association of Illustrators (AOI)
Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A
Student category
Sheri Gee, Art Director at The Folio Society
Yehrin Tong, Illustrator and past V&A Illustration Awards winner
Contact: villa@vam.ac.uk
HISTORY OF THE AWARDS
The V&A has been running an illustration competition since 1972 when the Francis Williams Awards were presented for the best illustrated books. In 2004 new categories were introduced for Book Cover Design and for Editorial Illustration, covering illustration in newspapers, magazines and comics. Editorial Illustration has recently been renamed Illustrated Journalism. The student category was created in 2005, with a runner-up prize introduced in 2009.
