Our Flagship Competition
The American Graphic Design Awards™ is our flagship contest open to everyone in the community: design firms and studios, ad and creative agencies, inhouse departments, freelancers, students and more. It honors outstanding work of all kinds — end-of-year, best-of-year — in two dozen categories across all print, digital and interactive media. 2026 marks our 63rd Anniversary.
Message From The Sponsor
BILLERUD is exclusive sponsor of the annual GDUSA Graphic Design Awards. Billerud is a global leader in paper and packaging materials made from cellulose fibers, and we are passionately committed to sustainability, quality and customer value. We serve customers in more than 100 countries through nine production units in Sweden, USA and Finland, and around 5,200 employees in 16 countries. Billerud is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm. In the United States, Billerud operates out of a regional head office in Miamisburg OH, two mills in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a converting facility in Wisconsin. We are a leading supplier of high-quality graphic and label papers, packaging materials, and market pulp. At Billerud, we build brands and business results for our customers. Our history in the forestry and paper industry spans more than 150 years. Today, our materials are used in packaging and paper products relied on by millions of people across the world every day. To learn more, please contact your Billerud sales professional or visit billerud.com.
Entry Categories
1. Annual + Corporate Reports
2. Announcements + Invitations
3. Advertising + Ad Campaigns
4. Books
5. Branding + Identity
6. Brochures + Collateral
7. Catalogs
8. Data Visualization + Infographics
9. Direct Mail
10. Email Marketing
11. Integrated Marketing Campaigns
12. Logos + Symbols
13. Motion (TV, Film, Video, Animation)
14. Packaging
15. P-O-P + Displays + Exhibits
16. Posters
17. Presentations
18. Publications + Newsletters
19. Sales Promotion + Self Promotion
20. Signs + Environmental Graphics
21. Social Media
22. Student Work
23. Surface + Vehicle Graphics
24. Website + UX/UI Design
25. Other
How To Enter
Entries may be submitted by any company, agency or individual involved in the creation or production or distribution or placement of the work. Entries must have been created or produced or published in the past two years, e.g., anytime between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026. Work entered or recognized earlier this year in a focused GDUSA competition, e.g., Package, Digital, Sports, or Inhouse Design, are also eligible for this comprehensive end-of-year competition.
SPECIAL NOTE TO ENTRANTS
Now in our 63rd year, GDUSA competitions have grown so large that we have engaged a specialized awards firm respected and renowned — OPENWATER — that greatly simplifies the entry process and makes the flow easier and more intuitive for you. Among the upgrades: you can start an entry, save it in draft, and finish it later; and we have created a CART system that lets you collect all the entries and pay once at the end of the process with all major credit cards. GDUSA, of course, continues to control all design, content, and review activities.
1. CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT OR LOG IN
In most cases you will need to open a new account. This is quick and easy; just a few lines of basic information. If you happen to already have an OpenWater account, you can simply log in.
2. SELECT THE CATEGORY
Select the category that best describes each entry or entries.
3. SUBMIT ENTRY DETAILS
For each entry, design firm or creative agency or inhouse department plus client, title of entry, creative credits.
4. UPLOAD DIGITAL FILES/ELECTRONIC ARTWORK
Specifications are provided for all types of categories. In most cases, you will be asked to upload 1-4 images that display your entry or 1 composite image that includes the highlights. When relevant, such as for websites and videos, we ask for the URL as well as the 1-4 supporting still images. For the images, we much prefer JPGs but will accept other formats.
5. PAYMENT FOR ENTRIES (AND PAST WINNER DISCOUNT)
Each entry automatically appears in a CART and you can pay once for any or all entries at the end. We accept payment by major Credit Cards or via Paypal. There are deep volume discounts built automatically into the entry fee schedule. And for past winners of any GDUSA competition or program, there is an additional 20% discount; just email awards@gdusa.com for the code which is used at CART checkout.
6. ENTRY FEES
$120 … 1 Entry
$200 … 2 Entries
$260 … 3 Entries
$280 … 4 Entries
$300 … 5 Entries
$320 … 6 Entries
$340 … 7 Entries
$360 … 8 Entries
$380 … 9 Entries
$400 … 10-20 Entries
Over 20 entries add $20 per entry.
QUESTIONS OR NEED DISCOUNT CODE
Email: awards@gdusa.com
