Communication Arts
Prestigious international illustration competition open to any country, with winning work published in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual worldwide.
For 68 years, Communication Arts has celebrated the craft of illustrators from around the world through its annual Illustration Competition — one of the most prestigious awards in the field.
Any illustration first published or produced between January 2026 and January 2027 is eligible to enter. Work may originate from any country. Notably, AI text-to-image generated submissions are not accepted.
Categories include:
Winning entries are selected by an international jury of distinguished designers, art directors, and illustrators. Winners are published in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual in both print and digital editions, and featured on commarts.com — providing significant global exposure.
Each winning entrant receives a personalised Award of Excellence milled from solid aluminium, plus printed certificates for all creative contributors. There is no cash prize, but the recognition is considered among the highest honours in the illustration profession.
Entries are submitted online only, in JPG format (max 2MB) for images, or MOV/MP4/MPG/GIF (max 500MB) for motion entries. Series entries are limited to five illustrations from the same project.
Late entries are accepted until 22 January 2027 with a $10 USD late fee per entry. No entries are accepted after that date.
For fees and category details, download the Category PDF from the Communication Arts website.
