Hannover. The Carpet Design Awards are gearing up for another great celebration of flooring excellence. Designers and makers of modern hand-made carpets have until 1 November to submit their entries for the highly coveted award. The Carpet Design Awards are an international badge of distinction, given in recognition of quality and design excellence in hand-made carpets and rugs. Presented annually at DOMOTEX, they will be in their 13th year in 2018. Next year’s awards will be conferred in eight categories, with the winners receiving their prizes at a special ceremony held at DOMOTEX on Saturday, 13 January, at the Carpet Design Awards display in Hall 9.

Applications for the awards are submitted online, and each entrant can submit up to three designs per category. Entry is restricted to designers and manufacturers who are exhibiting their exclusive carpet creations at DOMOTEX 2018. The only exception to this is the "Best Studio Artist Design" category, which is also open to designers who are not exhibiting at DOMOTEX. There is no entry fee for submissions for the awards.

The Carpet Design Awards help to give expression to cutting-edge innovations and emerging trends in the carpet industry. Since the inception of the awards, the categories have therefore been refined and updated to reflect industry trends. Thus, the 2018 awards have two new categories: Best Interior (high-end customization project or rug installation demonstrated with high quality images) and Best Communication (successful marketing or branding campaign demonstrated with high-quality images).

An international jury headed by Michael Mandapati, carpet expert and president of Warp & Weft, New York, will assess all of the entries and shortlist for each of the eight categories three carpets that are characterized by exceptional design, quality and craftsmanship. The carpets submitted will be judged in terms of design and design concept, material, execution, structure and quality, and sustainability and branding. The 24 shortlisted carpets will be displayed in Hall 9 during DOMOTEX. In January 2018, the jury will then select one winner in each category.

The conditions for participation and full jury bios are available online at www.domotex.de/en/cda .

The Jury

The categories:

• Category 1 Best Studio Artist Design
Original small scale production design from an artist or designer
Note: Entry is open to both exhibitors and non-exhibitors.

• Category 2 Best Modern Design Superior
Superior contemporary designs showing optimum use of materials

• Category 3 Best Modern Design Deluxe
Original contemporary designs showing optimum use of materials

• Category 4 Best Transitional Design
A new rug that interprets traditional designs for a contemporary audience

• Category 5 Best Flatweave Design
Original rug design demonstrating the flatweave technique

• Category 6 Best Collection
Contemporary traditional or transitional design collections demonstrating a common theme

• Category 7 Best Interior
A high-end customization project or rug installation demonstrated with high-quality images

• Category 8 Best Communication
A successful marketing or branding campaign demonstrated with high quality images