Eligibility

Please note: There is no eligibility criteria for creating a cover design using our briefs and templates this year, as there will be no judging or awards given.

The Cover Design Award will return in 2023

Look out for full details of the title briefs, prizes and eligibility criteria which will be available to view on this website from October 2023, or sign up to the newsletter to keep updated.

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Am I eligible to enter the Penguin Cover Design Award?

Our awards have changed in eligibility, and are now open to more designers and illustrators. Take a look below to check that you’re eligible.

UK or Ireland residency

To enter the Penguin Cover Design Award, you must be a resident of the UK or Ireland, or have permission to be living in the UK or Ireland during the award timeline (October – July).

Education status

You do not need to be in education to be able to enter, but we continue to welcome students.

Employment status

Entrants must not have had significant experience in a paid creative role.

By significant experience, we mean that entrants must not:

have cumulatively worked for one year or more in a paid creative role*
be currently employed in a one-year or permanent contract, in a paid creative role**

*The one year’s experience counts as either continuous or accumulated over a longer period of time. For example, four paid placements of three months each, over the course of two years would make you unable to enter, as that would be one year’s worth of paid experience in total.

If you have worked as a freelancer, this means you must not have made the majority of your income from a creative role for the equivalent of one year or more.

** A creative role is defined as a position where the entrant is employed in any type of creative role such as: illustrator, art director, graphic designer, etc. This includes paid placements. Entrants may still enter if they work (or have worked) for a creative company in a non-creative role.

Minimum age

Entrants must be aged 18 or over by 1 July in the award timeline.

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