The Affiliation of Illustrators (AOI), in partnership with the Listing of Illustration, has introduced the winners of the World Illustration Awards 2025. The worldwide showcase, now in its fiftieth yr, continues to highlight excellent expertise from each nook of the trade.
Chosen from greater than 4,700 entries throughout 85 international locations, the 20 Class Winners, 4 Cross-Class winners and two Total Winners have been revealed throughout a web based ceremony on 16 September. Initiatives ranged from editorial commissions to site-specific installations, underlining the award’s function as one of the crucial wide-ranging celebrations of illustration on the earth.
Rachel Hill, CEO of AOI, stated: “This yr’s entries spotlight the facility of illustration to assist us discover and perceive the world round us. Artists tackled themes like human connection, the celebration of variety and inclusion, and the rising affect of AI on our every day lives.”
Total Winners
The Skilled Total Winner was awarded to Chu-Chieh Lee for Minus Plus Multiply, a brief movie that explores the fragile balances shaping human expertise. Drawing on her personal perspective as an Asian girl residing within the UK, Chu-Chieh employed a mix of 2D animation, stop-motion, 3D printing, pottery, and ceramics to carry the narrative to life. The work has already been screened at greater than 50 movie festivals worldwide, reflecting its common resonance.
“The movie tends to seize the problem and battle of a feminine immigrant constructing a brand new life within the UK, away from her secure area the place her household, lover and buddies are,” Chu-Chieh defined.
Her background spans Taiwan and London, the place she studied Narrative Animation on the Royal Faculty of Artwork. Since relocating in 2018, she has labored with purchasers together with Google, Nestlé, Pfizer and the BBC. Minus Plus Multiply is definitely an uncommissioned private undertaking, proving that deeply private tales usually reduce via most powerfully.
Chu-Chieh Lee – Minus Plus Multiply
The New Expertise Total Winner was Léane Ruggli, a Swiss illustrator graduating this yr from Arts College Bournemouth. Her undertaking, Able to Drink Cocktail Cans, is a playful and vibrant exploration of cocktail historical past and tradition, designed to animate packaging for social media. Every can design nods to the drink’s origins, from the Mojito’s roots in Havana to the Espresso Martini’s London nightclub beginnings.
“This private undertaking was created to additional my type and add movement to my observe,” Léane stated. “I wished to painting the historical past, essence and flavours of particular cocktails.”
Vibrant, experimental and accessible, the work captures the sense of illustration as a medium that may elevate even probably the most on a regular basis objects into one thing memorable.
Léane Ruggli – RTD Cocktail Cans
Promoting
In New Expertise, Cheuk Lam Siu gained for The Sound of Cinema, celebrating the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s season of music impressed by movie soundtracks. Her pencil line work, colored digitally, conveys the ambiance of animal documentaries via richly layered imagery.
The Skilled class winner was Raafaye Ali Sheikh with Gaza Cola – The Style of Freedom, a robust marketing campaign for Palestine Home. Raafaye created posters and packaging that spotlight Palestinian tradition and resilience, drawing consideration to injustice whereas celebrating heritage. “I wished to honour the tradition of Palestine as we see a lot of their land erased,” he stated.
Cheuk Lam Siu – The Sound of Cinema
Raafaye Ali Sheikh – Gaza Cola
Animation
Animation proved to be one of the crucial emotionally charged classes this yr, showcasing the medium’s potential to transition seamlessly between intimacy and scale.
The New Expertise award went to Ti Zu for Snow Chicken, a young brief concerning the consolation of cuddling a hen. Rendered with Procreate Goals, its mild pacing and delicate color palette evoke a quiet sense of heat and security, displaying that even the only narratives can carry deep emotional weight.
In Skilled, *Chu-Chieh Lee’s Minus Plus Multiply not solely gained the class but additionally the Total prize.
Ti Zu – Snow Chicken
E book Covers
E book cowl design is commonly the place illustration meets mass tradition most straight, and this yr’s winners confirmed how recent imagery can reframe acquainted tales.
In New Expertise, Jae Kwak gained for Puddle Jumpers, a undertaking born from improvised tales advised along with his kids whereas exploring Wimbledon Widespread. The quilt brims with vitality and curiosity, capturing the childlike sense of discovery that impressed the narrative. Hand-drawn textures and vigorous compositions give it an immediacy that feels private, but universally inviting.
The Skilled award went to Jennifer Dionisio for her putting tackle Patricia Highsmith’s The Proficient Mr Ripley. Commissioned by Classic Classics, the quilt strips again the complexity of the novel to a daring interaction of cut-outs and silhouettes. The stark contrasts echo Ripley’s twin nature, whereas the minimal palette makes the design really feel timeless.
Collectively, Jae’s playful storytelling and Jennifer’s sharp minimalism show the flexibility of illustration within the publishing world.
Jae Kwak – Puddle Jumpers
Jennifer Dionisio – The Proficient Mr Ripley
Youngsters’s Publishing
Taiwanese illustrator Ping-An Shih gained the New Expertise award with ‘Tai Chi’, a 32-page image guide that reimagines the martial artwork as a metaphor for steadiness and pleasure in every day life.
The Skilled award went to Brazilian illustrator Camila Carrossine for The Woman, the Ghost and the Beetroot Forest. Created in reminiscence of her mom, the story makes use of watercolour and even beetroot pigments to discover grief and braveness in a child-friendly means.
Ping-An Shih – Tai Chi
Camila Carrossine – The Woman, the Ghost and the Beetroot Forest
Design, Product & Packaging
Alongside Léane Ruggli’s Total-winning cocktail cans, the Skilled award went to Finnish illustrator Eija Vehviläinen for her packaging illustrations for Valio Grandi Juices. Character-driven and vibrant, the designs refresh a nationwide staple whereas staying true to its approachable really feel.
Eija Vehviläinen – Valio Grandi Juices
Editorial
Owolawi Kehinde gained New Expertise for These Had been Nigeria’s Brightest Youngsters, an illustration for Archivi.ng that transforms an examination corridor right into a metaphor for Nigeria’s mind drain.
In Skilled, Lisa Sheehan took the award for The Ozempic Impact, as featured in Which? Journal cowl utilizing Russian dolls to convey the affect of weight-loss medication.
Lisa Sheehan – The Ozempic Impact
Owolawi Keh – These Had been Nigeria’s Brightest Youngsters
Exploration
This class rewards private tasks and boundary-pushing experiments. Guess Who Studio, the twin-led observe based mostly in New York, gained New Expertise with Cinema Escape, a playful mixing of movie worlds and on a regular basis life. Their work embodies the enjoyment of slipping between realities, giving odd moments a cinematic twist.
The Skilled award went to Style Solar for ‘Bridging Two Worlds’, a undertaking that explores the subtleties of persona variations and the significance of empathy. Wealthy in color and symbolism, the illustrations emphasise the unseen emotional bridges we construct to attach with others, providing a robust reminder of illustration’s potential to visualise human psychology.
Style Solar for Bridging Two Worlds
Publishing
Israeli illustrator Aya Niv gained the New Expertise award with ‘How To Cease Hating Males’, a graphic novel illustrated in watercolour that unpacks on a regular basis misogyny and unconscious bias. Its diary-like intimacy makes the guide as accessible as it’s difficult.
Skilled honours went to Büro Wünsch & Stömer for Schwellenangst, a considerate illustrated guide on dying, demise and grieving. Utilizing a fragile visible language, the work makes a troublesome topic approachable, inviting readers to replicate on mortality with out worry.
Aya Niv – How To Cease Hating Males
Büro Wünsch & Stömer – Schwellenangst
Website Particular
Ren Kyles was recognised in New Expertise for a Pleasure mural in Wilsonville, Oregon. Incorporating vibrant folks artwork motifs, the mural brings visibility to LGBTQIA+ communities and acts as a joyful landmark for the city.
In Skilled, Priscilla Tey gained with It Takes a Village, an formidable public undertaking in Singapore. Combining batik patterns, augmented actuality and neighborhood workshops, the set up exemplifies illustration’s potential to carry folks collectively – each bodily and digitally – whereas celebrating native craft traditions.
Ren Kyles – Pleasure mural in Wilsonville, Oregon
Priscilla Tey – It Takes a Village
Science and Expertise
Taiwanese illustrator Zen2001 claimed the New Expertise prize with Shimmering Lake, a digital paintings impressed by the paradoxical magnificence and hazard of the ocean. Its glowing textures seize the stress between attract and menace, mirroring how science usually reveals dualities in nature.
In Skilled, Lynn Hatzius was honoured for her collages in a Swedish psychology textbook. Layering images, drawing and located textures, her illustrations open up complicated matters with a visible heat that invitations readers in, demonstrating how science communication does not must really feel medical or intimidating.
Zen2001 – Shimmering Lake
Lynn Hatzius
Cross-Class Winners
The AOI Members Award went to El Boum for The Undocumented Archive of Queer Craftsmanship, whereas the Listing of Illustration Award recognised Margherita Caspani for Veniceland. The XPPen Digital Innovation Award was offered to Actually Design Crew for his or her daring graphics on the World Skate Video games Italia, and the SAA Brokers Award for New Expertise was given to Rosalyn Burroughs for ‘Girls on the Wheel’, a undertaking celebrating 80 years of feminine bus drivers in Bristol.
A world showcase
This yr’s awards underline how illustration continues to thrive as a medium of each magnificence and urgency. From packaging that delights to books that problem taboos, the profitable works reveal the flexibility of illustrators working immediately.
Rachel Hill provides: “Illustration is in all places, in books, journalism, packaging, murals, it shapes how we see and perceive one another. I am proud to recognise the excellent expertise on show this yr, and to rejoice artists who assist us see issues in new methods.”
All profitable tasks are featured within the WIA 2025 On-line Showcase, which incorporates artist interviews and insights into their inventive course of.
