FEES & DEADLINES:

The 2025 Vertex Awards Opens for Entries 11.20.24

Early Bird: $249 USD – Closes December 15, 2024

Standard: $299 USD – Closes January 12, 2025

Late: $349 USD – Closes January 31, 2025

ELIGIBILITY:

• The Vertex Awards is exclusively for private brands/private label/own brands owned by retailers. Work that is not a private brands/private label/own brand will be declared ineligible. Entries declared ineligible will not be refunded.
• All works presented must have been available for sale to the public for the first time from November 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024.

Winners in each category will be awarded a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Award, and the highest-scoring project in the entire competition will receive the “Best of Show” award.

RETAILER OF THE YEAR
Regional Retailer of the Year awards will be given to retailers that receive the most overall points for wins across all categories. Best of Show = 10 points. Publisher’s Choice = 7 points, Gold = 5 points, Silver = 3 points, Bronze = 1 points

AGENCY of the YEAR
Regional Agency of the Year awards will be given to the studio, agency, or in-house team that receives the most overall points for wins across all categories. Best of Show = 10 points. Publisher’s Choice = 7 points, Gold = 5 points, Silver = 3 points, Bronze = 1 points

PUBLISHER’S CHOICE

The Publisher’s Choice  Awards are selected by Vertex Awards co-founders Christopher Durham, President of the Velocity Institute and Phil Russo, Publisher of  Global Retail Brands magazine.  The award is selected from the Gold winners for the entry’s originality and innovation. 

JUDGING
All entries will be judged and assigned a standardized numeric score based on the following key criteria:
Categories are subject to change!

1. Design
2. Information Architecture
3. Originality
4. Structure
5. X-factor

Scoring is based on individual points. Each entry is scored on its own merits, not against the other entries in that category. Thus, it is possible for multiple entrants to be recognized at the same award level in any category. It is also possible for no entrant to win at an award level if no entry earns the requisite score at a given level.

• Concepts, prototypes, and speculative or unpublished designs are not eligible for entry.
• Entrants grant Velocity Institute, Global Retail Brands, Folio28 LLC, the right to reproduce the winning pieces in print, television, video and online, as well as any and all materials and media.
• Entrants assume responsibility for any claims made against the Vertex Awards – and/or its affiliated companies – in the event of disputes or litigation with possible claimants or others.
• Only private brands/private label/own brands owned by retailers are eligible to win a Vertex Award.
• The Vertex Awards are not responsible for any problem of reproduction and/or designation of the works.
• Entry fees are not refundable after the application has been accepted.
• Entrants who submit ineligible entries will not be refunded.
• The Vertex Awards reserves the right to request evidence of the actual existence and/or sale of the works presented. Candidates will have 15 days to comply. If the Vertex Awards does not receive the evidence requested, the entrant will be disqualified.
• The decisions of the jury will be final.
• All communication between the Vertex Awards and entrants will be in English.
• Payment of entry fees can only be carried out in U.S. dollars ($).