Everything you need to know about entering, judging, and winning The Motion Awards — the only competition dedicated entirely to Motion Design.
To be considered an eligible submission your project(s) must have been created in 2025. This means all work must have been either completed and/or publicly showcased online, on air, or at a festival or event in 2025.
Be sure to read the full Terms & Conditions for eligibility requirements.
Motion Design is definitely the focus. But Motion Design is a fairly hazy term. As the offspring of animation, graphic design, and filmmaking, Motion Design is an expansive, inclusive field. The Motion Awards hope to reflect that.
If your work moves, and craft was involved in making it move, it belongs here.
Reach us at awards@motionographer.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Winning a Motion Award makes you an indelible part of Motion Design history. Other benefits include:
There are two rounds of judging: Nominees and Winners.
During the Nominee round, judges score each entry 1–10 across the three C's — Craftsmanship, Clarity of Messaging, and Creativeness. To become a Nominee, an entry must achieve an average score of 7.0 or higher and place among the top 5 scored entries in its category.
If only one entry clears 7.0 in a category, that entry is both the Nominee and the Winner — no second round needed.
If multiple entries become Nominees, the jury reconvenes on those pieces alone. The entry with the highest average score wins. If no entry reaches 7.0, the category produces no Nominee and no Winner. That is not a failure — it is the standard holding.
To ensure consistency across a large and diverse jury, here is a simple guide to what each score range means:
The 7.0 threshold is not arbitrary. It represents the point at which a piece of work is genuinely distinguished — not merely good.
Above all else, The Motion Awards is a celebration of craft. Is the project immaculately crafted? Does it have a distinctive point of view? Does it use novel techniques or push existing techniques in a new direction?
2. Clarity of Messaging / ImpactGood work leaves a mark on the viewer. Does the project achieve its intended goal and communicate its message clearly? Does it elicit a strong emotional or intellectual response?
3. Creativeness / OriginalityHow original is the piece? Does it stand apart? How inventive is it compared to the chosen category? If the project wins, what precedent will it set for future entries?
No. Judges must recuse themselves from voting on their own work. Any judge who does not recuse themselves will be banned from The Motion Awards, and their votes will be withdrawn.
Nominees will be announced in Fall 2026. Winners will be announced shortly after.
Any company or individual may enter The Motion Awards, provided they were the primary creators of the project being submitted.
For student categories, you must have been a student (full-time or part-time) at the time you created the project. All student entries must have been created as part of coursework. Online schools and educational courses count.
Clients and agencies can enter work that was primarily produced internally.
No. Two different companies or individuals cannot enter the same work in the same category. In the case of duplicate entries, we will accept the entry that paid first.
Note: For Sound categories, a company may enter a project that was entered into a non-Sound category by a different company. Sound categories are unique in that the sonic craft may be entirely separate from the visual work — allowing the studio behind the sound to be recognized independently.
Resolution: 1920×1080 or 1280×720 · Frame rate: 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, or 60 · File format: MOV or MP4 · Codec: H.264 · Bit rate: 6,000 to 20,000 kbit/s
Preferred Audio SpecificationsCodec: AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) · Data rate: 192 to 320 kbit/s
We can support other file formats, but note that we may need to transcode your file to ensure that all judges can view it across all devices.
Important: For campaigns and series, please edit all videos into a single video file before submitting. Multiple file uploads for a single entry will not be accepted.
Yes. You can enter the same project into as many categories as you wish. You will be charged the relevant entry fee for each additional category.
Please visit our Categories page for descriptions, examples, and fees. If you're unsure, send an email with a link to your work at awards@motionographer.com and we will assist you.
Please see the Categories page for fees. All fees are non-refundable.
You may pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express) during online checkout at the end of the submission process. We do not accept checks or payment by invoice.
All fees are listed in US dollars, but our payment system accepts worldwide transactions from major credit cards. Currency exchange rates are set by the credit card issuers and associated banks.
The Grand Award is the highest recognition in The Motion Awards. After all category Winners are determined, the full jury reconvenes on those winning pieces alone and selects the single work that represents the finest achievement in Motion Design of that year.
It is not a separate entry. It is not voted on by the public. It is the jury's collective answer to one question: of everything that won, what was truly exceptional?
Not every edition will produce a Grand Award. If the jury determines that no single piece rises above the rest with sufficient distinction, it will not be given. That restraint is part of what makes it meaningful when it is.
The Pulse is the first ever audience-voted award in The Motion Awards' ten-year history. Every entry across all fifteen disciplines that advances to the Nominee stage becomes eligible. The Motion Design community votes — one vote per person — and the piece with the most votes wins.
No entry fee. No separate submission. No jury. Just the community speaking with one voice about the work that moved them most. For TMA X, the tenth edition, it felt like the right moment to finally ask.
A tradition since the second edition in 2017. The Honorary Pick is selected personally by Carlos El Asmar, Founder of The Motion Awards, from every entry submitted — winners and non-winners alike. It honors one piece whose message is so powerful it transcends any notion of craft or category.
It cannot be submitted for. It cannot be purchased. It may not be given every year — if no piece earns it, it is withheld. When it is given, it carries the full weight of that restraint.
People may disagree with the choice. That is the point.
We see Motion Design as the offspring of animation, graphic design, and filmmaking. Since Motionographer's inception in 2006, we've exercised an expansive definition of Motion Design, feeling that it's better to err on the side of inclusivity.
Each judge brings their own unique definition and perspective to the competition. That's why they were chosen — to have a distinct viewpoint. Not all judges will agree on what constitutes a winning entry. That's a good thing. It ensures diversity of opinion and allows for a more level playing field.
The terms "Motion Design" and "animation" are not mutually exclusive. A project can be described as both animation and Motion Design without damaging the integrity of either term.
Just as a hand-painted work of graphic design might also be a work of illustration, Motion Design and animation can overlap to such a degree that distinctions between them become difficult. We celebrate this, and we hope that The Motion Awards continue to shine a light on possibilities that have never had a dedicated spotlight.
We read every message. Reach out and someone from the TMA team will get back to you.
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