V&A Illustration Awards

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.

Entry to the 2026 V&A Illustration Awards is now closed. Judging has begun and the shortlist will be announced here in early Spring 2026. Best of luck!

For the 2026 V&A Illustration Awards we are welcomed entries for four published categories and one for emerging unpublished illustrators:

See our Terms and conditions for detail on the types of illustration included in each category

There is no set brief for any of our Awards. They are open to illustrators aged 18 or above on 31 August 2025 and working in any media. The 2026 Awards judge work created (by emerging illustrators), or published in the period between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025.

Our four published categories are open to illustrators resident in the UK, and international illustrators working for UK clients.

The Emerging Illustrator category is open to students attending courses at UK universities in 2024 or 2025 and emerging illustrators resident in the UK who are yet to be commercially published or commissioned.

Prizes

There are a winner and runner-up in each category. The five category winners each receive £3,500 and five runners-up receive £1000.

An overall winner is named the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year and receives an additional £5,500, with their artwork entering the V&A's collection.

Selected artwork from each of the winners and runners-up will feature in a display held at V&A South Kensington.

The 2026 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.

These are the terms and conditions covering entry to all categories of the 2026 V&A Illustration Awards.

If you have more questions about the V&A Illustration Awards, please consult our frequently asked questions.

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.

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.

Contact: villa@vam.ac.uk

The Awards are generously supported by The Linder Foundation and the Moira Gemmill Memorial fund.