Skip to content

Category

Design Student Competitions

Design competitions span product design, UX, graphic communication, service design and interaction design. They ask students to tackle briefs from real brands and social organisations, producing work that can go directly into production or public display. Prizes range from mentorship with senior designers and studio internships to publication in international design annuals. These competitions are ideal for building a portfolio that stands out to employers, graduate schools and clients who want proof of your ability to deliver under a creative brief.

Submit yours Stay updated
Trusted by 640,000+ students worldwide

Design stats

Listed competitions
20
Active (open deadline)
12
Featured this week
1
Regions covered
8
Spotlight Boosted until Oct 27

Tech & Engineering, Design

Join IVY League startup's founding engineering team (BREEZE Engineering Challenge by ThermaLabs)

by ThermaLabs

Apply to be on our founding engineer team. ThermaLabs is a startup founded by an IVY league entrepreneur. We're building clothing that keeps people cool while they work in extreme heat. We're looking for the engineers...

Global, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, Middle East · Bachelor, Master, PhD, Open to everyone

Deadline

Dec 6, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Mixed/Other

$5000 design prize. A job on our founding engineering team: $40 an hour + Equity for students, from $90,000 a year + Equity for graduates.

Design, Architecture

Call For Ideas: Tiny House 2026 Architecture Competition

by Volume Zero Competitions

A Home is a space that is intimate to all of us. It goes beyond an everyday function of being a physical shelter for people and their activities; a home connects with its users at a personal and emotional level. Our h...

Global · Open to everyone

Deadline

Oct 23, 2026

in 1 day

Prize · Other award

Prizes of total USD 5000, broken down as follows: 1st Prize: USD 2500;;2nd Prize: USD 1500;;3rd Prize: USD 1000

Design, Business

Phygital HORECA Experience Design

by Desall

A leading international coffee producer, together with Desall, invites you to research the most innovative phygital interaction models currently available on the market, including through fieldwork in HORECA venues. The...

Global · Open to everyone

Deadline

Oct 29, 2026

in 1 week

Prize · Cash

Total Award: €5000

Arts/Photography, Design, Architecture, Natural sciences, Health, Social sciences

Call for ideas Radicepura Garden Festival VI Edition | Gardens of hope Cultivating Coexistence

by Radicepura Garden Festival

The Radicepura Garden Festival, since it started in 2017, it is the first major international event intended to promote the culture of Mediterranean gardens, involving the main players of landscaping, art & architecture,...

Global, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, Middle East · Open to everyone

Deadline

Oct 30, 2026

in 1 week

Prize · Other award

The 8 winning projects will be realized in the Radicepura Horticultural Park

Arts/Photography, Tech & Engineering, Design, Business, Architecture, Fashion, Natural sciences, Education, Health, Law, Mathematics, Social sciences

Global Sustainability Challenge

by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Technical University of Munich, IIT Bombay, Zhejiang University, Hong Kong UST, UNESP Brazil, YGA

The Global Sustainability Challenge, brought to you by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and leading institutions worldwide, invites university students to develop bold solutions in Sustainable Energy and Adapt...

Global, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, Middle East · Bachelor, Master, PhD

Deadline

Nov 22, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Cash Prize

Cash Prizes, Global visibility and recognition, Invitation to Stanford EcoGlobal program

Tech & Engineering, Design

The BREEZE Engineering Challenge

by ThermaLabs

The BREEZE Engineering Challenge is an engineering competition run by ThermaLabs. Design and build the best cooling jacket for people who work in 45 degree heat. Anyone 18 or over can apply, on their own or in a team...

Global · Open to everyone

Deadline

Nov 23, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Mixed/Other

Parts money of up to 10,000 dollars for up to 3 designs, a 3 percent royalty pool for 10 years, and a hiring shortlist

Tech & Engineering, Design, Fashion, Health

Perfume Refill Cap Design

by https://www.desall.com/

Perfume Refill Cap Design A leading multinational company in the packaging industry and Desall invite you to design an innovative and reusable dispensing cap for refilling perfume bottles at home. The proposed solution...

Global · Open to everyone

Deadline

Nov 26, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Cash

5000

Arts/Photography, Design, Natural sciences

Anthology Creative Competitions - Writing, Art & Photography

by Anthology Magazine

Offering a variety of competitions established to encourage and promote visual artists and writers, the Anthology Creative Awards provide a platform for emerging creatives to publish their work. There are eight categorie...

Global, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, Middle East · Open to everyone

Deadline

Nov 30, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Cash

Up to €1000 per competition, and publication

Tech & Engineering, Design, Business, Architecture, Natural sciences, Education, Health, Social sciences

Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge 2026-2027 “Human-Centered Robotics for Longevity"

by Stanford Center on Longevity

People are living longer than ever before, and throughout these longer lives they encounter periods of transition, changing abilities, new responsibilities, and evolving needs. The 2026-2027 Stanford Center on Longev...

Global · Bachelor, Master, PhD

Deadline

Dec 1, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Cash

Finalists will receive $1,000 USD and Winners of the Finals Competition will receive: 1st place: $10,000 USD, 2nd place: $5,000 USD, 3rd place: $2,000 USD

Tech & Engineering, Design, Business, Natural sciences, Education, Health

AI Builders Challenge – North America | Sponsored by IBM SkillsBuild

by BeMyApp

The AI Builders Challenge – North America, sponsored by IBM SkillsBuild and organized by BeMyApp, is a free virtual hackathon inviting college and university students across the U.S. and Canada to build AI-powered soluti...

North America · Bachelor, Master, PhD

Deadline

Dec 2, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Cash Prize

$15,000 USD Total Prize Pool Grand Prize: $10,000 Second Place: $3,000 Best AI for Good Project: $1,000 Best Wildcard Solution: $1,000

Design, Architecture

Call For Ideas: Unbox 2026 Architecture Competition

by Volume Zero Competitions

As Volume Zero celebrates a decade of shaping global architectural discourse, we are proud to introduce our 30th international architecture competition THE UNBOX 2026: a call to rethink the "DNA" of our shared environmen...

Global · Open to everyone

Deadline

Dec 3, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Other award

Prizes of total USD 10000, broken down as follows: 1st Prize: USD 5000;;2nd Prize: USD 2500;;3rd Prize: USD 1500;;Gold Mention: USD 1000

Design, Architecture

Call For Ideas: Micro Living 2026 Architecture Competition

by Volume Zero Competitions

Marking a decade of pioneering global design discourse, Volume Zero is proud to announce the launch of its 29th international architecture competition: Micro Living 2026. This landmark edition marks a significant milesto...

Global · Open to everyone

Deadline

Dec 3, 2026

in 1 month

Prize · Other award

Prizes of total USD 10000, broken down as follows: 1st Prize: USD 5000;;2nd Prize: USD 2500;;3rd Prize: USD 1500;;Gold Mention: USD 1000

Browse Design competitions by Region

Filter Design opportunities by geographic area.

Global 125 Europe 49 Asia 55 North America 50 South America 42 Africa 41 Oceania 40 Middle East 42

Related Articles

Guides and insights from the Student Competitions Magazine.

All articles →

Get weekly Design competition alerts

Pick regions and categories so we only send what's relevant.

You can unsubscribe anytime. We email weekly.