The Design Magazine Awards ("the Awards") are organised and administered by Design Magazine (designmagazine.com.au), an editorial platform published by Tokyo Design Studio Pty Ltd (ABN 94 710 735 406, ACN 655 780 224), trading as TDS Australia ("the Organiser").

The Awards are open to individuals, studios, agencies, in-house teams, and students worldwide. Work must have been completed, published, or launched within the 24 months preceding the submission deadline. Full eligibility criteria are published at designmagazine.com.au/design-magazine-awards/eligibility-criteria.

The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify entries that do not meet the eligibility criteria or that are deemed to violate these terms.

There are no entry fees for the Design Magazine Awards. Submission is free at all stages. There are no hidden costs, processing charges, or post-award fees of any kind.

Ownership. Entrants retain full ownership of all intellectual property rights in their submitted work. Submission does not transfer any ownership rights to the Organiser.

Licence. By submitting an entry, the entrant grants the Organiser a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to reproduce, display, and publish the submitted materials for the purposes of judging, promotion of the Awards, editorial coverage on Design Magazine, and inclusion in the annual Awards publication. This licence is perpetual for winning entries and expires 12 months after the results announcement for non-winning entries.

Attribution. The Organiser will credit all work to the entrant and listed contributors whenever the submitted materials are published or displayed.

The entrant warrants that the submitted work is original, that they have the right to submit it, and that submission does not infringe on any third-party intellectual property rights. For client work, the entrant confirms they have obtained any necessary permissions for public display.

Work generated primarily by artificial intelligence tools without substantial human creative direction is not eligible. The Organiser reserves the right to request evidence of the creative process.

Entries are evaluated by an independent judging panel selected by the Organiser. Judging is conducted through blind review in initial rounds. The decisions of the judging panel are final and not subject to appeal.

The Organiser reserves the right to withhold awards in any category or tier if the judging panel determines that no entry meets the required standard of excellence.

The Design Magazine Awards do not include cash prizes or physical trophies. Recognition consists of editorial features, digital certificates, digital badges, inclusion in the annual publication, and the right to use the DMA Winner mark as detailed on the Prize Tiers page.

The DMA Winner mark may be used by winners in professional materials (portfolios, websites, social media, pitch decks) for the lifetime of the winning entity. Misuse or misrepresentation of the mark may result in revocation of usage rights.

Personal information collected during the submission process will be used solely for the administration of the Awards, communication with entrants, and editorial publication of winning entries. The Organiser will not sell or share personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

The Organiser's privacy practices are governed by the Design Magazine Privacy Policy and applicable Australian privacy legislation.

Entries must be submitted through the official submission form by the published deadline. Late entries will not be accepted. The Organiser is not responsible for technical failures, transmission errors, or incomplete submissions.

Entrants are responsible for the accuracy of all information provided. The Organiser may contact entrants to request clarification or additional materials.

The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify entries at any stage — including after the announcement of results — if an entry is found to violate these terms, misrepresent the work or its authorship, or infringe on third-party rights.

The Organiser's liability in connection with the Awards is limited to the extent permitted by law. The Organiser is not liable for any indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising from participation in the Awards.

The Organiser reserves the right to amend these terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated to entrants who have already submitted entries. Continued participation constitutes acceptance of amended terms.

These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. Any disputes arising from or related to the Awards will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.