We’re excited to share the best of the work submitted to our second annual Illustration Awards. We want to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to show us what they’ve got. Reviewing such outstanding work is always a privilege.
A big thank you as well to our guest judges for the effort they put into the selection process, and to our generous sponsors Format, TourBox, C47 Creative, True Grit Texture Supply, and Huion for helping make this year’s awards possible. This has become something really special for us. We’ll be doing it again next year, and you can sign up here to be notified first when submissions open.
Now, let’s celebrate the most memorable images from this year’s awards. Take some time to explore the work of our five winners, twenty shortlisted artists, and two hundred shortlisted images selected from thousands of entries worldwide.
When the dust settled, five illustrators emerged as the standout talents across our five award categories. Their work captivated us with masterful techniques and boundless imagination. Each winner receives a curated collection of tools from TourBox, True Grit Texture Supply, and Huion, as well as a $1,500 USD cash prize (a portion courtesy of C47 Creative) and inclusion in our printed Awards publication.
Andrea Cheung grew up in Hong Kong, a bustling tropical city. Moving to a snowy, relaxed French-Canadian city nurtured her curiosity, love of travel, and appreciation for cultural differences. Her clients include: Fortune Magazine, Condé Nast Traveller, and Harper Collins. Her award-winning illustration was created for Our State magazine. Art directors: Jason Chenier and Claudia Royston.
Cryssy is a Chinese American illustrator whose clients include Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, and Viacom. After eighteen years in New York City, she left the urban jungle to embrace a nomadic lifestyle—exploring new perspectives, finding fresh inspiration, and learning along the way. This piece is a film still study, created entirely in vector, from Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love.
Sebi White grew up in Ireland and Switzerland with a Swiss artist mother and an Irish musician father. His clients include Oasis, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Slipknot, and Olivia Rodrigo. For David Byrne’s latest album campaign, he created a poster in which a wonderfully bizarre humanoid cluster of zip-ties replaces the famous George Washington statue in Boston.
Sterling Hundley is an acclaimed American illustrator, painter, and educator. His clients include Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The New York Times, NASA, Marvel, and HarperCollins. His winning submission is a packaging design, illustration, and typography project for the 40th Anniversary release of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Ran, from STUDIOCANAL.
Bella Han is a freelance illustrator from China and a first year student in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts (Class of 2027). This work is part of a series illustrating one of the most famous Qing Dynasty stories in China, which depicts the opulent yet tragic life of Zhenhuan, a concubine of Emperor Yongzheng, who later became Empress Dowager after his death.
Here are the twenty illustrators shortlisted by our esteemed guest judges. The margins between the winners and these exceptional submissions were razor-thin. Everyone featured here should feel incredibly proud.
Keep in mind that the winners, shortlisted artists, and these 200 longlisted images were selected from thousands of entries. This is just a glimpse of the incredible diversity and quality of the submissions—this list could easily have been twice as long. Thank you all for sharing your creations, and congratulations!
We’re proud to have Format as the title sponsor of this year’s awards. Their support enables us to create meaningful opportunities for creatives and highlight outstanding talent. Curious about what they do? Check out their website here or start a 14-day free trial.
The 2025 Booooooom Illustration Awards were judged by a panel of some of the most brilliant people we know. These four have impeccable yet wildly different taste, and we were honoured to have them help select the winners.
