First established in 1972, the V&A's competition is defined by a focus on the British illustration industry, celebrating artwork made for the UK market by artists from across the globe as well as artwork made by illustrators living the UK.
The Awards are generously supported by The Linder Foundation and the Moira Gemmill Memorial fund.
2026 Award Winners
Over the last few months our judges reviewed over 1600 entries, covering artwork from the period 2024 – 2025. Our winners draw on many sources of inspiration and demonstrate the versatility of illustration within experimental picture books, exhibition posters, 3D installations, animation, photo-collages and cover designs. Discover the winners and runners up for our five categories: Adult Factual, Adult Fiction, Advertising and Commercial, Illustration for Children and Emerging Illustrator.
Visit the V&A Illustration Awards Display at V&A South Kensington to see original sketches and finished artworks from our winners and runners up from 2 July to 4 October 2026.
Copyright of artists and publishers reserved.
Annabel Wright – Winner of Advertising and Commercial and the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year
Annabel Wright’s poster advertised a community-led art exhibition at The Hunterian Art Gallery exploring Glasgow’s past and present identity. The design was intended to attract people who would not normally visit the gallery. The artist layered different drawing styles to depict the variety of exhibits against a familiar Glasgow backdrop. A time-travelling robin — one of her characters from a storybook — leads a children’s protest towards a yarn-bombed bench. The artist painted the various elements of the design separately then combined them using collage.
Julie Pereira – Winner of Adult Factual
Julie Pereira’s animation explains the work of the International Criminal Court. The court investigates and brings to trial individuals who commit or authorise acts of aggression against other countries and peoples, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. To convey this difficult subject matter, Pereira created simplified universal characters representing aggressor, judge and civilian. Our judges were impressed with how the animation communicated these concepts without being too literal or off putting and particularly praised the economical use of shape and symbolic forms to drive the narrative.
Stephen Smith – Winner of Adult Fiction
Stephen Smith conjured up the surreal and playful nature of French Argentine novelist Julio Cortázar’s writing on the covers of six of the author’s ground-breaking works (first published 1951 – 86). The artist was asked to avoid pure abstraction in his artwork and included subtle figurative details to allude to some of the subject matter. The judging panel was impressed by how Smith’s designs worked together to create a cohesive visual identity for the series. Smith first developed his ideas in a sketchbook, then completed the designs using digital collage.
Baljinder Kaur – Winner of Illustration for Children
The Sleeper Train follows the story of a little girl travelling overnight through India with her family. Wide awake in the carriage, she journeys in her mind’s eye to places she has slept before. Baljinder Kaur drew on her own memories and experiences for the story, as much of her work explores and celebrates her global Sikh Panjabi identity. She created her vibrant illustrations using a hybrid process of sketching by hand using pencil, then adding colour digitally.
Vannysha Chang – Winner of Emerging Illustrator
Process tells the story of an afternoon spent making music with friends, inspired by Vannysha Chang’s teenage years in Java, Indonesia. Her paintings depict each step in the process of making a song, utilising square canvases and thoughtful composition suggestive of vinyl record covers. The artist wove in personal motifs and memories unique to her childhood. The judges were particularly impressed by her intuitive brushstrokes and use of colour, remarking on the nostalgic feel of the pieces.
Mark Oliver – Advertising and Commercial Runner Up
Anna Burel – Adult Factual Runner Up
Sarah Lippett – Adult Fiction Runner Up
Grace Easton – Illustration for Children Runner Up
Kaori Tokunaga – Emerging Illustrator Runner Up
Judges
Lauren Child is an award-winning artist and writer. She is the creator of many much-loved characters, including Clarice Bean, Charlie and Lola and Ruby Redfort, along with several stand-alone picture books. She was awarded a CBE for Services to Literature in 2020; and was the 10th Waterstones’ Children’s Laureate from 2017 – 2019. 2026 marks the 25 year anniversary since the publication of the first Charlie and Lola picture book, I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato.
Sir Tristram Hunt is Director of the V&A – a family of museums dedicated to the power of creativity. He has championed design education in UK schools, encouraged debate around the history of the museum’s global collections and overseen the transition to a multi-site museum. Formerly MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, he is the author of several books, including The Radical Potter, a biography of Josiah Wedgwood.
Mick Peter is an artist and lecturer whose playful installations and sculptures draw on illustration, commercial art, and literature to explore shifting meaning. Often resembling enlarged drawings, his work creates absurd, witty worlds that satirise power, authority, and the art world. Recent highlights include solo exhibitions at BALTIC, Gateshead and the Holburne Museum, Bath, and his work is featured in Vitamin D3: Today’s Best in Contemporary Drawing (Phaidon).
Benjamin Phillips is an illustrator, artist and author based in Hastings, UK. His illustrations for the book Alte Zachen won the category of 'Illustration for Children' and the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year at the V&A Illustration Awards 2024. One Day written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Benjamin is nominated for The Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2026.
History of the awards
The V&A has been running an illustration competition since 1972 when the Francis Williams Awards were presented for the best illustrated books. In 2004 new categories were introduced for Book Cover Design and for Editorial Illustration, covering illustration in newspapers, magazines and comics. The student category was created in 2005, with a runner-up prize introduced in 2009.
For the 2024 Awards a new category Advertising & Commercial was introduced. We also realigned other categories to create Adult Fiction, Adult Non-Fiction and Illustration for Children. The student category was expanded to become Emerging Illustrator.
View a selection of winning works from 1972 – present
Blog
The V&A Illustration Awards blog brings you the latest updates throughout the year including the shortlist and winner announcements. You can also hear from our previous winners and receive words of advice from former judges.
Stay in touch
Contact: villa@vam.ac.uk
The Awards are generously supported by The Linder Foundation and the Moira Gemmill Memorial fund.