Introducing the Render Weekly Awards

Industrial design has its awards. Graphic design has its awards. But product visualization has always been the discipline that makes the other disciplines look good, and almost never gets formally recognized for it.

That changes now.

The Render Weekly Awards are an open call to the product visualization community, and everyone adjacent to it, to submit your best work from the past year and be recognized for it on its own terms. Not as a support for another discipline. As a craft worth celebrating in its own right.

The Open Call

The Render Weekly Awards is the first dedicated awards program for product visualization case studies. The RWAs recognize complete works, not just single images, and the designers pushing the discipline forward.

This is the inaugural campaign. Entries are open across three tiers: student, independent, and studio, spanning industrial design, packaging, transportation, concept hardware, soft goods, and any discipline where the final deliverable is a render.

What makes it different

Most design awards recognize finished products or brand campaigns. The RWA is the first built specifically for product visualization, honoring the render, the case study, and the craft of communicating a product visually. It is a category that has never had its own stage.

There is no fixed winner count. The strongest work will be recognized. Awards are merit-based and discretionary, with trophies produced in-house by Sample Studio, CNC-milled from aluminum with a bead-blasted exterior and a polished face. A new design every year, so for those who keep coming back and keep winning, the goal is a suite worth building.

Who it's for

If you work in industrial design, packaging, transportation, concept hardware, soft goods, or anywhere else where the final deliverable is a render, this is for you. Submit your best product visualization work from the past year. Because this is our first year, we're keeping eligibility broad and focusing on the quality of the work. If it's product visualization, we want to see it.

Awards structure

Entries are accepted across three tiers, reflecting the entrant's situation rather than their talent:

• Student ($10) — Currently enrolled. Valid .edu or equivalent required.
• Independent ($20) — Solo professionals, freelancers, and hobbyists.
• Studio ($100) — Teams, agencies, and studios entering collaborative work.

Dozens of open-category awards are available across all tiers with no fixed winner count. Two sponsored awards offer additional category-specific recognition with prizes provided by program sponsors.

Sponsor Award Categories

This year we have two sponsor-presented award categories with their own prizes on top of the Render Weekly trophy.

The Autodesk Fusion Award recognizes the best visualization of design and engineering. Exploded views, section cuts, technically demanding models rendered with real clarity. The winner receives a complimentary one-year Autodesk Fusion Pro license.

The Future of Work Award, presented by Logitech recognizes the best visualization of tools, peripherals, and hardware that enable creative work. Input devices, professional hardware, anything that helps someone do their job better. The winner receives the Logitech MX Master 4, MX Keys S, and MX Brio prize pack.

You don't have to enter a specific category. Submit your work and if it fits, we'll consider it for a sponsor award alongside the main Render Weekly recognition.

A Note on KeyShot

KeyShot has been a core part of our workflow for a decade and a genuine partner to this community for just as long. Their sponsorship is what made the physical trophies possible. They're also offering a free trial for anyone who wants to get hands-on with the software, and you can download the trophy model and render it yourself.

Your Work Deserves to Be Seen

Product visualization is its own discipline. The renders that make products feel real, that make people want to pick something up before it exists, that communicate design intent better than any spec sheet ever could. That work deserves a stage. The Render Weekly Awards are that stage. Submit your best work from the past year and let us recognize it.

Submit at https://renderweekly.com/rwa

Submissions close April 13. Categories: Student, Independent Professional, Studio. Terms and Conditions Apply.