Junior Design Awards 2020: Launch and how to enter

RE-LAUNCHING TODAY! The Junior Design Awards 20/21

Welcome to 2020 – and this year’s highly respected Junior Design Awards programme. Even if it's a little later than planned. These past few months have brought strangeness and uncertainty to so many of us. Back in April (when we initially launched) it became clear that running the Junior Design Awards to the exceptional high standards was not going to be possible while we were in lockdown.

However, at the core of Junior, we’ve always been about championing brands large and small, and if there’s one thing we know, we need that now more than ever. With that in mind, and with continued interest in the Awards from so many of you, we are delighted to be re-opening the Junior Design Awards TODAY. We like to think of it as being fashionably late! You can go straight to the awards site here >>

The Junior Design Awards are often referred to as the #JDA’s and in our humble opinion, the most esteemed accolade in the UK children’s lifestyle awards arena recognised by brands, clients and consumers alike. And, that why we couldn't let the events of this year delay them any longer.

Winning a #JDA is a highly sought after achievement for a brand, shop or designer and, we also know it’s trusted and highly regarded by YOU – our readers and shoppers – as a fail-safe seal-of-style-approval. Winning a Junior Design Award is a sign it's truly loved our esteemed panel of independent judges (to be announced very soon…) and, our editorial team at Junior

Here’s what you need to know about the 20/21 Junior Design Awards...

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What’s new for 20/21?

Each year we give our Junior Design Awards a little refresh; Not only celebrate our rich history and legacy – but to celebrate all that is new and relevant to children for the year ahead. We’ve updated and reinvigorated existing awards that have stood the test of time to identify, reward and acknowledge the very best in design products on the market for parents, parents-to-be and children to reflect the varying nature of modern family life today.

New for 20/21! Editor’s Award to celebrate amazing initiatives plus NHS Charities donation

We’ve thought long and hard about how we can use the Awards to give back to our frontline heroes, as well as recognising and supporting what businesses have done during the pandemic. We are proud to announce that this year, 1% of total entry revenue from the Awards will be donated to NHS Charities Together.

We also know that many of you have been out there supporting your local communities and helping key workers during these tough times, and we want to reward these initiatives. So we’ve introduced an option for you to tell us about the special things you or your company have been doing to help others or to give back. An award judged by Bonita Turner, Editor of Junior, there’s no entry fee for this – you just add your story when you make an entry for your product as usual.

This year we have 75 awards up for grabs across various lifestyle categories - that we have broken down into smaller categories - to make entering the awards easier and clearer than ever before. It’s going to be exciting to see who comes out as the best-of-the-best this year. You can take a look at all of the awards categories here.

To Enter this year's Junior Design Awards go to our dedicated awards site. For tips, tricks and insider knowledge on how to best enter the awards read this article from our Editor.

Inspiration behind the Junior Design Awards 20/21…

It always starts with the logo. Although the design and branding hasn’t changed over the years – this is to keep it instantly recognisable – the colour does. With 2020 being an Olympic year* our marketing images came from the Junior archive once again, and this gorgeous fashion editorial from a 2006 issue felt fitting to celebrate.

* Although since initial planning meetings back in January 2020 (when we organise our marketing material) this year's Olympics have now been post-phoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

WE decided the show must go on - and, we truly feel these images and the message they send are a fitting tribute to our very own event and our continued support of our industry.