As the new year unfolds, it’s time to explore the latest updates from the World Design Rankings (WDR), an annual initiative that highlights the global achievements of the design community. WDR ranks countries based on the number of designers who have received the prestigious A’ Design Award, offering a unique perspective on the creative and competitive standing of nations worldwide.
What are the World Design Rankings?
The World Design Rankings serve as a comprehensive benchmark for creative excellence, shining a spotlight on countries that nurture and promote outstanding design talent. By aggregating data from the A’ Design Award—a globally recognized accolade that honors exceptional work in architecture, industrial design, graphic design, and more—WDR celebrates innovation and creativity across borders. This ranking not only acknowledges the brilliance of individual designers but also emphasizes the importance of fostering a thriving design ecosystem at a national level.
Key Highlights from the 2025 Rankings
The 2025 rankings continue to showcase a dynamic landscape of creativity, with countries from diverse regions excelling in various design disciplines. As expected, nations with strong design cultures such as Italy, China, and the United States maintain prominent positions. However, emerging design hubs are making impressive strides, signaling a shift towards greater global diversity in design leadership.
Among the highlights:
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China retains its crown as a global leader, reflecting its enduring influence in design and innovation.
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Turkey and Hong Kong show significant growth, underscoring the rise of new creative powerhouses.
To view the complete list of countries featured in the World Design Rankings and explore detailed design business insights for each, interested individuals can visit the World Design Rankings website at https://www.worlddesignrankings.com/
Outstanding Projects and Designers
A’ Design Awards & Competition is the world’s largest annual juried design competition that honors the best designers, architects, and design-oriented companies worldwide.
In today’s post, we’ve rounded up some of the Top 10 Designers winners Worldwide of the A’Design Competition to help kick-start your submission!
| #Ranking | Full Name / Institution | Platinum | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Iron | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R + #1 | Kris Lin of KLID(Kris Lin International Design) 489 Points, with 111 Awarded Designs. | 14 | 35 | 46 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| R + #2 | Katsumi Tamura of Good Morning Inc 253 Points, with 52 Awarded Designs. | 14 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| R + #3 | PepsiCo Design and Innovation 541 Points, with 128 Awarded Designs & 9 Runner-Up Works. | 13 | 44 | 36 | 20 | 15 | 9 |
| R + #4 | Florian Seidl of Lavazza 64 Points, with 13 Awarded Designs. | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| R + #5 | Fabrizio Crisà of Elica S.p.A. 41 Points, with 7 Awarded Designs. | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R + #6 | Aedas 165 Points, with 34 Awarded Designs. | 5 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R + #7 | Hakan Gürsu of Designnobis 287 Points, with 77 Awarded Designs & 8 Runner-Up Works. | 4 | 14 | 25 | 17 | 17 | 8 |
| R + #8 | Lenovo Design Group of Lenovo 74 Points, with 14 Awarded Designs. | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R + #9 | Li Xiang of X+Living Architectural Design Co., Ltd 85 Points, with 18 Awarded Designs. | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R + #10 | Johnson Li of Lenovo (Beijing) Ltd. 47 Points, with 9 Awarded Designs. | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 Winner Designs’
Red Fort Center by Siddharth Bathla
Located within the Red Fort, an iconic UNESCO Site, the Visitor Centre is a gateway for visitors to experience the fortress’s heritage-built fabric. Through adaptive reuse, these long-term defunct colonial barracks come back to life. The design strategy pursues conservation efforts to replicate the materiality deciphered from the fort. While celebrating the stories of life and culture of the fort, the contemporary interventions live up to the fortress’s multi-layered history.
Changi Terminal 2 New Airport Langage by Boiffils Architectures
Boiffils Architectures completely redesigned an existing terminal building, Terminal 2 of Singapore’s internationally renowned Changi Airport, comprising 120,000m² across three levels. Our agency’s focused on traveler experiences and connections to the earth’s elements, particularly in the Departure and Arrival halls, and has provided Singapore with a new 21st-century gateway to the ‘Garden City’.
Sheerin Pavilion Exhibition by PMT Partners Ltd.
The SHEERIN Pavilion for 2023 Guangzhou Design Week provides an exhibition space for sintered stones. Artificial stones are employed to simulate the natural ones, aiming to present a spatial ambiance of a mined artificial stone canyon. This simulation and representation create a captivating juxtaposition. The systematic design of space, scene, and structure not only presents the unity of form and force, and the connection between behavior and space, but also provides the possibility of recyclability of the exhibition venue. It is a exploration of sustainable exhibition construction.
Lhov Hob, Hood and Oven by Fabrizio Crisa
Lhov is a hob, hood and oven in one appliance. This product was born from this desire and establishes a new category of household appliances. A true revolution that makes the best use of space in the home, a product that will reshape the cooking experience. Its name Lhov evokes three essential kitchen elements (Hob, Oven, Ventilation), but also the love that went into combining them into a single product, never seen before, beyond the dreams of the most demanding customer.
Dotline Corporate Identity by Tomohiro Kaji
An identity system design with a logo formed as a hero combined with D and L, the initial letters of its company name. The overall image may be unclear, but when people find a face, body, and a cloak, they will see a hero flipping a cloak and moving forward. As a system, an original typeface was designed as a complementary element. The symbol and the original typeface inspire all communication graphics.
Royal One Private Club House by Kris Lin
This case involves a private club designed for an owner who enjoys collecting wine and hosting friends and family to share fine wines and meals. The aim is to meet the needs for personal and social balance, enhancing interpersonal communication. 2. Functionality: The property spans four floors above ground and one below, featuring a wine cellar, restaurant, underground barbecue room, billiards room, audio-visual entertainment room, and bedrooms, among other functional spaces.
Cascading Canyon Art Installation by Aditi Anuj
Walking through the Grand Canyon unveils a spectacle of textures, expansive vistas, and the mesmerizing dance of light on the Origami Sonobe walls. It’s an immersive artistic installation where one can intimately engage with nature’s breathtaking wonders, feeling them come alive at their fingertips. The interplay of light within the canyon’s layers amplifies the experience, making it even more enriching.
Anji Creative Design Center Urban and Rural Area by Atelier Deshaus
This project aims to create a new type of shared space that serves the local community and attracts urban groups to swamp rural areas, forming a public space that links urban and rural areas. The design of the ACDC adopts a more flexible approach, with spaces of different sizes distributed across the undulating site and connected with corridors. Thus, the two groups of collective space for public service, co-working, innovation lab, library, and cafe accommodate diverse programs and activities.
Wheat Field Moonlight Sonata Mooncake Packaging by Gao Gongxuan and Liu Qidong
The moon, since ancient times, has been the inspiration for poets, a sanctuary for emotions. Music is the expression of the soul, a flow of emotions. This Wheat Field Moonlight Sonata Mooncake Gift Box, featuring the core elements of “moon” and “music,” ingeniously combines the fluidity of music with the serenity of the moon. Simultaneously, it incorporates the vitality and hope of the wheat field, allowing taste, vision, and hearing to share in the feast.
CC House Residential Single Dwelling by Muhammed Naseem M
A minimal design approach is more justified for the site. In both ways, the building should respect the site as much as the ambiance of the site should be exploited in the interiors. The form is simple yet gives a signature element. Two “C” shapes mirror each other, with a tree as a focal point. This focal point is positioned where the walkway to the site meets the building. The building texture is generally dark, which matches the totality of the entire setting.
The Lighthouse Of Wishes Art Installation by Qirui Ma, Zhiyu Long, and Pengxiang Lin
On the picturesque coastline of Aranya Community, Beidaihe, you’ll find the Lighthouse of Wishes in adjacence to Vector Architect’s Seashore Library. This special project was made possible after its selection as the “best New Year’s Eve architectural proposal” by the community’s residents in an open poll. After two months of design refinement and construction, it was officially completed and inaugurated on December 31, 2022, in preparation for the arrival of 2023.
Chuxin Pavilion Community Service Center by Jian Wu
The project is located in the central Minhang District, Shanghai, within a public green space boasting beautiful natural scenery. The surrounding area has convenient transportation and a developed commercial and residential system. This project combines multiple attributes such as urban, natural, commercial, and community, making it an important public activity node in the area.
Registration to A’ Design Award & Competition 2024-2025 is open now.
Results will be announced on the 1st of May, 2025.
