world design rankings 2017

the world design rankings (WDR) unveils the latest design rankings of countries based on the number of participating creatives that have won the A’ design award and competition each year. the aim of the WDR is to highlight key data and insights to economists and journalists with regards to the design industry. this ultimately aims to contribute to the global design culture by supporting and showcasing good design. once again, the united states of america summits the table; second, and once more progressing higher up the list, was china; up five places was japan; italy leapfrogged hong kong to fourth; and the latter concludes the top five. the remaining countries in the top 10 for 2016 are: great britain in sixth; turkey in seventh, down four places from 2016; australia who jumped from 21st to eighth; portugal in ninth, up from 17th in 2016; and taiwan in tenth spot, down from sixth last year.

this year, changing the top 10 dramatically, the rankings list positions according to the medals won by countries from 2010 to 2017, with platinum regarded as the highest honor. the table has seen nine new countries joining the rankings: bosnia and herzegovina, kosovo, nicaragua, ecuador, luxembourg, kenya, tanzania, liechtenstein, armenia, cameroon and swaziland.

to be in with a chance of receiving international recognition, as well as national pride, register and submit your work to the 2018 A’ design award and competition.

the world design rankings map for 2017
(main image: xinhua bookstore group mixed-use project by aedas
A’ design award winner in architecture, building and structure design category, 2016 – 2017
photo by aedas)

below you will find the world design rankings for 2017:

score points legend:

 platinum award counts as six (6)

 a golden award counts as five (5)

 silver award counts as (4)

 bronze award counts as three (3)

 A’ award (marked as iron) counts as two (2)

the WDR strives to provide a sample of the state-of-art and design potentials of countries across the globe by highlighting their creative strengths, design weaknesses and available opportunities. marked as the ‘design business insights’ section, it offers a ranking of nations based on their success in diverse design fields and creative categories, leading to the discovery of which countries are the leaders for specific sectors. ‘design strengths’ compiles the most dominant design fields in which a country is highly competitive and successful. for example, one could learn whether italy is better in fashion, furniture or graphic design. the ‘design weaknesses’ table presents design fields that are below average in comparison to other nations. lastly, the ‘design opportunities’ column displays dormant design categories that could be further expanded by countries. with this insight, media members and design enthusiasts alike could discover more about nations, and understand the relevance of diverse design sectors within them. additionally, this data could be used to determine policy changes, as specific design fields could be identified as requiring government subsidies.

hotel pino nature hotel by studio ZEC
A’ design award winner in architecture, building and structure design category, 2016 – 2017
photo by damir dautbegović, 2016

K table lamp by andy vernall by V2 studios
A’ design award winner in lighting products and lighting projects design category, 2016 – 2017
photo by andy vernall, 2016

skynet display space by kris lin
A’ design award winner in interior space and exhibition design category, 2016 – 2017

nothing is something – cloudy tea by lin shaobin
A’ design award winner in packaging design category, 2016 – 2017
photo by yanpeng chen.2016

MA770 wireless speaker by jonathan levine – master & dynamic
A’ design award winner in digital and electronic devices design category, 2016 – 2017
read more about the project on designboom here

filoferru outdoor chair by robby cantarutti and partners
A’ design award winner in furniture, decorative items and homeware design category, 2016 – 2017
photo by nudesignstudio

‘design classifications‘ ranks architects, artists and designers within hundreds of different fields — from architecture, fashion and furniture design, graphic design, interior design, packaging, transportation etc. the platform accumulates data and offers responses to questions such as: ‘what is the best advertising design agency in the world?’; ‘which country is home to the best architects?’; ‘who are the best graphic designers in japan?’ etc. this bracket is ideal for press to locate specific designers, artists and architects to feature, as well as standing as a good resource for business who are seeking talent to collaborate with. you can discover ‘design classifications’ and find out more about the category based designer rankings at: http://www.designclassifications.com

those only interested in discovering the top architects, artists and designers, without any interest in a particular discipline, are able to check the individual and overall rankings of all architects, artists and designers on the ‘designer rankings’ website. the system provides scores and overall standings of designers based on the number of A’ design awards won globally, drawing from more than a hundred creative disciplines that include: architecture, fashion design, graphic design, interior design, production design and service design. the ‘designer rankings’ can be viewed online at: http://www.designerrankings.com

the A’ design award and competition aims to highlight the excellent qualifications of best designs, design concepts and design oriented products worldwide. the primary aim of the award is to create publicity, PR push and advertisement opportunities for award winners while supporting the global design culture, creating incentives for entrants to come up with superior designs for a better future. learn more or submit your projects at: http://www.designaward.com