World Illustration Awards 2025 winners unveiled, celebrating the power of visual storytelling across the globe

From playful packaging to poignant explorations of identity, the World Illustration Awards 2025 showcase the breadth of contemporary illustration. With over 4,700 entries from 85 countries, this year’s winners reveal how artists are shaping how we see, think and connect.

The Association of Illustrators (AOI), in partnership with the Directory of Illustration, has announced the winners of the World Illustration Awards 2025. The global showcase, now in its 50th year, continues to spotlight outstanding talent from every corner of the industry.

Selected from more than 4,700 entries across 85 countries, the 20 Category Winners, four Cross-Category winners and two Overall Winners were revealed during an online ceremony on 16 September. Projects ranged from editorial commissions to site-specific installations, underlining the award’s role as one of the most wide-ranging celebrations of illustration in the world.

Rachel Hill, CEO of AOI, said: “This year’s entries highlight the power of illustration to help us explore and understand the world around us. Artists tackled themes like human connection, the celebration of diversity and inclusion, and the growing impact of AI on our daily lives.”

Overall Winners

The Professional Overall Winner was awarded to Chu-Chieh Lee for Minus Plus Multiply, a short film that explores the delicate balances shaping human experience. Drawing on her own perspective as an Asian woman living in the UK, Chu-Chieh employed a blend of 2D animation, stop-motion, 3D printing, pottery, and ceramics to bring the narrative to life. The work has already been screened at more than 50 film festivals worldwide, reflecting its universal resonance.

“The film tends to capture the difficulty and struggle of a female immigrant building a new life in the UK, away from her safe space where her family, lover and friends are,” Chu-Chieh explained.

Her background spans Taiwan and London, where she studied Narrative Animation at the Royal College of Art. Since relocating in 2018, she has worked with clients including Google, Nestlé, Pfizer and the BBC. Minus Plus Multiply is actually an uncommissioned personal project, proving that deeply personal stories often cut through most powerfully.

The New Talent Overall Winner was Léane Ruggli, a Swiss illustrator graduating this year from Arts University Bournemouth. Her project, Ready to Drink Cocktail Cans, is a playful and colourful exploration of cocktail history and culture, designed to animate packaging for social media. Each can design nods to the drink’s origins, from the Mojito’s roots in Havana to the Espresso Martini’s London nightclub beginnings.

“This personal project was created to further my style and add motion to my practice,” Léane said. “I wanted to portray the history, essence and flavours of specific cocktails.”

Vibrant, experimental and accessible, the work captures the sense of illustration as a medium that can elevate even the most everyday objects into something memorable.

Advertising

In New Talent, Cheuk Lam Siu won for The Sound of Cinema, celebrating the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s season of music inspired by film soundtracks. Her pencil line work, coloured digitally, conveys the atmosphere of animal documentaries through richly layered imagery.

The Professional category winner was Raafaye Ali Sheikh with Gaza Cola – The Taste of Freedom, a powerful campaign for Palestine House. Raafaye created posters and packaging that highlight Palestinian culture and resilience, drawing attention to injustice while celebrating heritage. “I wanted to honour the culture of Palestine as we see so much of their land erased,” he said.

Animation

Animation proved to be one of the most emotionally charged categories this year, showcasing the medium’s ability to transition seamlessly between intimacy and scale.

The New Talent award went to Ti Zu for Snow Bird, a tender short about the comfort of cuddling a bird. Rendered with Procreate Dreams, its gentle pacing and delicate colour palette evoke a quiet sense of warmth and safety, showing that even the simplest narratives can carry deep emotional weight.

In Professional, *Chu-Chieh Lee’s Minus Plus Multiply not only won the category but also the Overall prize.

Book Covers

Book cover design is often where illustration meets mass culture most directly, and this year’s winners showed how fresh imagery can reframe familiar stories.

In New Talent, Jae Kwak won for Puddle Jumpers, a project born from improvised tales told with his children while exploring Wimbledon Common. The cover brims with energy and curiosity, capturing the childlike sense of discovery that inspired the narrative. Hand-drawn textures and lively compositions give it an immediacy that feels personal, yet universally inviting.

The Professional award went to Jennifer Dionisio for her striking take on Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley. Commissioned by Vintage Classics, the cover strips back the complexity of the novel to a bold interplay of cut-outs and silhouettes. The stark contrasts echo Ripley’s dual nature, while the minimal palette makes the design feel timeless.

Together, Jae’s playful storytelling and Jennifer’s sharp minimalism demonstrate the versatility of illustration in the publishing world.

Children’s Publishing

Taiwanese illustrator Ping-An Shih won the New Talent award with ‘Tai Chi’, a 32-page picture book that reimagines the martial art as a metaphor for balance and joy in daily life.

The Professional award went to Brazilian illustrator Camila Carrossine for The Girl, the Ghost and the Beetroot Forest. Created in memory of her mother, the story uses watercolour and even beetroot pigments to explore grief and courage in a child-friendly way.

Design, Product & Packaging

Alongside Léane Ruggli’s Overall-winning cocktail cans, the Professional award went to Finnish illustrator Eija Vehviläinen for her packaging illustrations for Valio Grandi Juices. Character-driven and colourful, the designs refresh a national staple while staying true to its approachable feel.

Editorial

Owolawi Kehinde won New Talent for These Were Nigeria’s Brightest Teenagers, an illustration for Archivi.ng that transforms an exam hall into a metaphor for Nigeria’s brain drain.

In Professional, Lisa Sheehan took the award for The Ozempic Effect, as featured in Which? Magazine cover using Russian dolls to convey the impact of weight-loss drugs.

Exploration

This category rewards personal projects and boundary-pushing experiments. Guess Who Studio, the twin-led practice based in New York, won New Talent with Cinema Escape, a playful blending of film worlds and everyday life. Their work embodies the joy of slipping between realities, giving ordinary moments a cinematic twist.

The Professional award went to Genre Sun for ‘Bridging Two Worlds’, a project that explores the subtleties of personality differences and the importance of empathy. Rich in colour and symbolism, the illustrations emphasise the unseen emotional bridges we build to connect with others, offering a powerful reminder of illustration’s ability to visualise human psychology.

Publishing

Israeli illustrator Aya Niv won the New Talent award with ‘How To Stop Hating Men’, a graphic novel illustrated in watercolour that unpacks everyday misogyny and unconscious bias. Its diary-like intimacy makes the book as accessible as it is challenging.

Professional honours went to Büro Wünsch & Stömer for Schwellenangst, a thoughtful illustrated book on dying, death and grieving. Using a delicate visual language, the work makes a difficult subject approachable, inviting readers to reflect on mortality without fear.

Site Specific

Ren Kyles was recognised in New Talent for a Pride mural in Wilsonville, Oregon. Incorporating vibrant folk art motifs, the mural brings visibility to LGBTQIA+ communities and acts as a joyful landmark for the town.

In Professional, Priscilla Tey won with It Takes a Village, an ambitious public project in Singapore. Combining batik patterns, augmented reality and community workshops, the installation exemplifies illustration’s ability to bring people together – both physically and digitally – while celebrating local craft traditions.

Science and Technology

Taiwanese illustrator Zen2001 claimed the New Talent prize with Shimmering Lake, a digital artwork inspired by the paradoxical beauty and danger of the ocean. Its glowing textures capture the tension between allure and threat, mirroring how science often reveals dualities in nature.

In Professional, Lynn Hatzius was honoured for her collages in a Swedish psychology textbook. Layering photography, drawing and found textures, her illustrations open up complex topics with a visual warmth that invites readers in, demonstrating how science communication doesn’t have to feel clinical or intimidating.

Cross-Category Winners

The AOI Members Award went to El Boum for The Undocumented Archive of Queer Craftsmanship, while the Directory of Illustration Award recognised Margherita Caspani for Veniceland. The XPPen Digital Innovation Award was presented to Truly Design Crew for their bold graphics at the World Skate Games Italia, and the SAA Agents Award for New Talent was given to Rosalyn Burroughs for ‘Women at the Wheel’, a project celebrating 80 years of female bus drivers in Bristol.

A global showcase

This year’s awards underline how illustration continues to thrive as a medium of both beauty and urgency. From packaging that delights to books that challenge taboos, the winning works reveal the versatility of illustrators working today.

Rachel Hill adds: “Illustration is everywhere, in books, journalism, packaging, murals, it shapes how we see and understand each other. I’m proud to recognise the outstanding talent on display this year, and to celebrate artists who help us see things in new ways.”

All winning projects are featured in the WIA 2025 Online Showcase, which includes artist interviews and insights into their creative process.