22 amazing works of art to inspire you from the World Illustration Awards 2023

Looking for visual inspiration? Or are you just wondering what sort of commercial art can win awards these days? In both cases, we've got 22 pieces of illustration that you simply have to check out. They are the 22 winners of this year's World Illustration Awards, which have just been announced by the AOI (Association of Illustrators), in partnership with the Directory of Illustration.

Now running for 45 years, the World Illustration Awards is a year-long celebration and showcase of illustration, bringing together creatives, industry, commissioners, and art directors to celebrate the art of great illustration.

These winners were selected by an independent jury from a shortlist of 200 projects, drawn from over 5,000 entries from 84 countries, and announced at an online ceremony presented by renowned illustrator Lauren Child and a host of special guest presenters.

"This year's entrants demonstrated a remarkable level of creativity and skill, making shortlisting a challenging task," says Rachel Hill, CEO of AOI. "Our 2023 winners have truly mastered their crafts, skilfully utilising illustration to explore narratives, evoke emotions, and express complex ideas. We're proud to recognise and reward these winners for their important contributions to the illustration industry, made from all corners of the globe."

About the Awards

The World Illustration Awards 2023 are supported by Huion, Procreate, Rebelle (Escape Motions), Society of Artists Agents (SAA) and the London Book Fair. There are ten award categories, including Advertising, Animation, Book Covers, Children's Publishing and Design, Product & Packaging, Editorial, Exploration, Publishing, Science and Technology and Site Specific.

Want to enter for next year? The call for entries runs from December to February in each award year. A longlist of 500 projects and a shortlist of 200 projects are announced online, selected from over 5000 entries from 84 countries.

All shortlisted projects are featured in an Online Showcase and an online catalogue that is distributed to commissioners worldwide. Each category has a New Talent and a Professional award, with 20 highly commended Projects, 20 category winners, and two Overall Winners to be announced at the online Awards Ceremony in September 2023.

In addition, there are four cross-category awards, including the SAA Award for an unrepresented Student, The Directory of Illustration (DI) Award for a professional artist, the AOI Award for the best member entry, and an Innovation Award for the most cutting-edge project.

Below, we share more winners from this year's competition. And if that's not enough visual inspiration for you, also check out work from the shortlist.