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Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration 2023

The ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration honor magazines and websites for visual excellence and celebrate the individual achievements of art and photography staff members as well as freelance contributors. Established in 2020, the awards are sponsored and administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Finalists receive certificates of recognition. Winners receive specially designed awards displaying the winning image or images.

Download the Call for Entries

Formerly known as the ASME Awards for Photography and Illustration, the ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration include two new categories, Best Print Design and Best Digital Design. The awards also recognize the use of photography and illustration in feature stories, editorial departments and packages, and social media.

The ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration are judged and presented in conjunction with the National Magazine Awards. Finalists and winners will be honored at the annual presentation of the National Magazine Awards on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at Terminal 5 in Manhattan.

Magazines and websites edited and published in the United States are eligible to enter the ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration. Other creators and publishers of magazine-like content, including newspapers and newsletters, are also eligible. Marketing and promotional magazines and websites are not eligible.

Any print or digital content published in 2022 by an eligible media organization may be entered. Entries may include content used in special-interest and newsstand-only publications. No entry may be submitted without the approval of the publication in which the work appeared. The administrators of the ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration reserve the right to determine if a media organization qualifies for entry.

ASME AWARDS FOR DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY AND ILLUSTRATION 2023 CATEGORIES
Five finalists, including a winner, will be chosen in each of the following 10 categories:

  • Best Print DesignHonors the design of a feature story, editorial department or package, or print issue, including special-interest and newsstand-only publications
  • Best Digital DesignHonors the design of a feature story, editorial department or package, website, app or newsletter
  • Best News and Entertainment PhotographHonors print or digital coverage of politics, business, sports and technology as well as society and culture
  • Best Service and Lifestyle PhotographHonors print or digital coverage of fashion, food, travel and design as well as health, parenting, personal finance and active sports
  • Best Profile PhotographHonors print or digital content
  • Best News and Entertainment Story Honors the use of photography, including photojournalism, in print or digital feature stories, editorial departments and packages, and social media
  • Best Service and Lifestyle StoryHonors the use of photography in print or digital feature stories, editorial departments and packages, and social media
  • Best Print IllustrationHonors work for magazines
  • Best Digital IllustrationHonors work for websites and apps
  • Best Illustrated StoryHonors print and digital visual narrative

Single-image entries in Best News and Entertainment Photograph, Best Service and Lifestyle Photograph and Best Profile Photograph may be submitted as print spreads.

Rules and Eligibility

1. Print content must be dated 2022 (entries dated December 2022/January 2023 or an equivalent, such as Fall 2022/Winter 2023, are eligible; entries dated December 2021/January 2022 are not).
2. Digital content must have been largely produced in 2022. Screenshots may be requested to verify publication dates.
3. An entry consists of one image, article, editorial department or package, print issue, website, app or newsletter.
4. Entries in Best News and Entertainment Photograph, Best Service and Lifestyle Photograph and Best Profile Photograph may consist of print or digital content; entries in Best News and Entertainment Story, Best Service and Lifestyle Story and Best Illustrated Story may include both print and digital content.
5. Magazine covers may be entered in photography and illustration categories but not in design categories except as part of an entry.
6. Publications can submit no more than four entries in any category.
7. The nomination of any publication more than once in any category is subject to the approval of the ASME Board of Directors.
8. Content may be entered in more than one category, but no entry can duplicate an entry in another category (a single image can, for example, be entered in Best News and Entertainment Photograph and as part of an entry in Best News and Entertainment Story but cannot also be entered in Best Profile Photograph).
9. Content entered in the ASME Awards for Design, Photography and Illustration can also be entered in the National Magazine Awards.
10. Each entry must include a statement explaining why the entry merits recognition (statements are strictly limited to 100 words).

How the Finalists and Winners Are Chosen Finalists and winners are chosen by panels of judges selected by the administrators of the awards in consultation with the ASME Board of Directors. Judges include the chief editors, art directors and photography editors of leading magazines and websites. Most are members of ASME. A list of the judges is published when the winners of the awards are announced. The results are subject to the approval of the ASME Board of Directors. Awards may be withheld in any category in which the entries fall below the standard of excellence set by the ASME Board of Directors or in which the number of entries is deemed insufficient by the administrators of the awards.

How to Submit an Entry All entries must be submitted online at asmeawards.org. Entrants are advised to visit the website for category-specific instructions before preparing submissions. Entries containing content originally published in print must be submitted as PDFs (the submission of print issues is not required or permitted). PDFs should be converted to a single file in correct page order before uploading. Advertisements should not be included. Pages in editorial spreads should be shown together. High-resolution files are preferred.

Entries consisting of stories and portfolios originally published online require the submission of web links or app-specific instructions, including usernames and passwords. Entries submitted by publications that fail to include usernames and passwords enabling judges to access digital content free of charge may be deemed ineligible. Screenshots or video files may be substituted for social-media content that is no longer available online.

Entry fee for ASME members: $175 per entry. Entry fee for nonmembers: $275 per entry
Entry Deadline: 9:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 8, 2022

Entries received after the deadline may be accepted at the discretion of the administrators of the awards but will be subject to a $95 late fee. Entries consisting of content published after the deadline will be accepted without penalty until Thursday, January 5, 2023.

For more information, email asme@asme.media or call 212.872.3737
To apply for ASME membership, visit asme.media/membership

ASME Awards 2022 Winners Announced: Read the Press Release