GOOD DESIGN®
The oldest and the most Prestigious Awards Program
The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd. present the Museum’s annual GOOD DESIGN® Awards Program for the most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around the world.
Each year, The Chicago Athenaeum presents the GOOD DESIGN® Awards Program for the most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around the world.
HISTORY 1950-2024
Celebrating 75 Years of Design History

Good Design Catalogue at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, January 1951. TCA Archives.
The GOOD DESIGN® exhibition program began as a sponsorship between The Merchandise Mart in Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and continues today by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
The program called for three shows a year: one during the Chicago winter furniture market in January, another coinciding with the June summer market, and a November show based on the previous two exhibitions. Each year, a different prestigious designer was selected to curate the installation. Charles and Ray designed the 5,300-square-foot space for the inaugural installation in 1950, followed by Finn Juhl, Paul Rudolph, and Alexander Girard.

Chairs included in the exhibition, “50 Ans d’Art aux États-Unis. TCA Archives.

Table Lamp, 1951, manufacturer, Kurt Versen Co. TCA Archives.

IBM Dictating Machine Stand, 1960. Eliot Noyes and Associates. TCA Archives.

Mort Goldsholl Designs the Good Design Logotype. 1950, TCA Archives.
The GOOD DESIGN® exhibition program began as a sponsorship between The Merchandise Mart in Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and continues today by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
The program called for three shows a year: one during the Chicago winter furniture market in January, another coinciding with the June summer market, and a November show based on the previous two exhibitions. Each year, a different prestigious designer was selected to curate the installation. Charles and Ray designed the 5,300-square-foot space for the inaugural installation in 1950, followed by Finn Juhl, Paul Rudolph, and Alexander Girard.
GOOD DESIGN® is the oldest and the most prestigious Awards Program organized worldwide.
Founded in Chicago in 1950 by the former MoMA curator Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., together with such pioneers in modern design as Charles and Ray Eames, Russel Wright, George Nelson, and Eero Saarinen, GOOD DESIGN® honors the yearly achievements of the best industrial and graphic designers and world manufacturers for their pursuit of extraordinary design excellence.
For more than seven decades since its inception, The Chicago Athenaeum continues the organization of the program to create a revived awareness about contemporary design and to honor both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.
Every year, designers and manufactures in about 50 nations are honored for their singular achievements in producing hallmarks of contemporary design. For more than 70 years, everything and anything produced in and for the environment from a paperclip to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner or NASA Space Ship have been honored.
The GOOD DESIGN logo was designed by Chicago designer, Mort Goldsholl, in 1950.
Legacy
Reason to be part of theGood Design Awards
It was the first time that an art museum and a wholesale merchandising center joined forces to present “the best new examplesin modern design in home furnishings.” By submiting your work and receiving a Good Design Award you actually prove your design excellency while becoming a member of a great community of professional designers, companies and talented people around the world who share the same ideas and dreams about design. Products awarded with Good Design can easily take an advance place on the market.
All awarded projects are listed every year at an online platform which receives at least 1 million visits per year. Dissemination of the Good Design word also involves the hosting of exhibitions and events presenting the awarded projects in different places all over the world. Finally all the award – winning projects are published in our official Good Design Yearbook.
– GOOD DESIGN™ is a Registered Trademark of The Chicago Athenaeum
– Copyright Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd.©1992-2024
CRITERIA
Submissions and Outcome
The emphasis of the GOOD DESIGN program is on quality design of the highest form, function, and aesthetics a standard beyond ordinary consumer products and graphics. The Chicago Athenaeum’s GOOD DESIGN program forwards the ideals of a design process that embodies product excellence and endurance and strong public identity.
SUBMISSIONS to the program are judged by a jury of distinguished design professionals and leading industry specialists and design press on criteria established in the original 1950 program for the highest aesthetic in terms of innovative design, new technologies, form, materials, construction, concept, function, utility, and energy efficiency, and sensitivity to the environment.
Awarded design firms and manufacturers have the right to enter into a limited legal licensing agreement to use of the Museum’s GOOD DESIGN logo to mark and identify the selected product or graphic in their marketing, publications, promotions, and communication campaigns as a public symbol of product and service quality. This public seal of approval immediately informs consumers to understand that the selected product and graphic meets the most rigorous test and criteria for absolute design excellence.
GOOD DESIGN is an international symbol of a company’s firm commitment to innovation and superior design embodiment. Materials and products are accessed into the Museum’s Permanent Design Collection and frequently exhibited in the United States and abroad.
OUTCOME
In this year’s edition, selected products and graphics for GOOD DESIGN are announced to the international press in December. The Awarded products and graphics are accessioned into the Museum’s Permanent Design Collection. Selected designers and manufacturers are allowed use of the Museum’s GOOD DESIGN logo in publications, promotions, and marketing as specified in the joint legal agreement with The Chicago Athenaeum.
HOW TO APPLY
Filling out theElectronic Form
In order to apply you need to visit awardapplication.com Organization Page. You need to create an account applying all your company information. If you already have created an account please log in with your username and password. All required fields must be filled in. If a required field is left blank the form will be rejected. After a successful application you will receive an email with a unique ID number for your submission, a pre-invoice for your submission and a pdf document with all information in case you choose to pay with bank transfer. All final invoices are sending to all clients periodically after we check all transactions passed through correctly. You can always log in to your account to see passed submissions or download your passed invoices.
PROJECT DETAILS & MATERIAL
Credits
All information submitted will be included in all online presentation, exhibition and Award publication catalogue. Please ensure that possible changes or mistakes according to credits, images and project description may incur costs. During your submission please advise all examples given in every section to ensure all credit details filled in correctly.
Project Description
All project descriptions should be edited in English, should be ready to use in any type of online presentation or publication and should not be more than 500 words. There is a specific text tab to include it when submitting so please do not forward it with email or any other way to us.
Project Images
1. ASPECT RATIO 16:9 (1920px Χ 1080px Landscape or Portrait).
2. ASPECT RATIO 1:1 (1080px X 1080px Square format).
You can upload images in mixed formats.
3. RESOLUTION: 300dpi/image, max 6MB per file.
The file names should use explicitly Latin characters. (Please upload 4-6 images)
4. FILE TYPE: JPG, PNG.
Notes
• All images file names should use only Latin characters
• If you want to forward Plans/Sections/Elevations pdfs or more images for the jury procedure or blueprints please use the dropbox link to upload. Make sure your dropbox folder is public so we can have access.
Please contact Jennifer Nyholm If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact us on +1 815 777 4444
Product Categories
Anything produced and/or designed from January 2023 to the present is eligible including: Bath and Accessories, Building Materials, Children’s Products , Electronics, Environments, Floor and Wall, Covering, Furniture, Hardware, Household, Industrial, Installation, Kitchen and Appliances, Lighting, Medical, Office Products, Personal, Personal Experience, Pet Products, Recycling, Retail Fittings, Robotics
Safety and Security, Sports and Recreation, Tabletop, Textiles, Tools, Transportation
Graphic Design Categories
Anything produced and/or designed from January 2023 to the present is eligible including: Books, Magazines, Websites, Advertisements, Catalogues, Corporate Identity, Visual Identity, Annual Reports, Handbooks, Posters, Signage, Labels, Packaging, Product Communication, Typography, Atmosphere, Sales Promotion, Digital and Media Interfaces.
• For questions about the Award application contact us + 1 815 777 4444
• For questions about the Award application e-mail us at curatorial@chicagoathenaeum.org
• All photographs must be labeled with project, designer, manufacturer and photographer credits.
• All winning entries become property of the Permanent Design Collection at The Chicago Athenaeum.
• Projects selected for exhibition will require the physical use of the product or model for exhibition purposes.
• Late submissions add $100.00 USD per entry.
Submission Fee / Application
Paying Online
The fee is $399.00 USD per entry. You can proceed your payment at the last step of our application forms from awardapplication.com . Checks are made payable to Metropolitan Arts Press or payment by American Express, Master Card, or VISA.
Bank Transfers
Bank Transfer must include a $50.00 USD additional payment for bank processing fees. For any other information about bank wire payments for submissions please contact The Museum at jennifer@chicagoathenaeum.org