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2021 Material Design Awards looking for best dark theme, motion, & large screen apps [Update: Material You prize]

Google today opened submissions for the 2021 Material Design Awards. Now in its seventh year, the company is looking for apps with great dark theme, large screen, and motion implementations.

This year, we’re looking for products that use Material Design to deliver more dynamic, personal experiences through Motion, Large-screen design experiences, and expressive implementations of Dark Theme. 

Original 6/21: The MDAs first started in 2015 and are hosted by Google Design. There are three categories — down from four in previous years — and should again be available for apps on all platforms (Android, iOS, web). Submissions must leverage Material Design and have “launched or made an update between July 2020 and October 2021.” 

This is a self-nomination — though the form is currently unavailable — with the deadline being October 1, 2021. Winners of the 2021 Material Design Awards will be announced in December. They will receive a trophy — “with an approximate retail value of up to $4,000 each” — and be promoted across Google’s social channels.


Update 9/25: Ahead of the submission window closing next month (on October 1), Google is offering another prize. The three winners “will be invited to a call with our designers to explore our latest update, including the personalization capabilities of Material You.” This is somewhat significant as Google has not thoroughly detailed MY for third-party developers beyond one session at I/O 2021. It’s unclear when the Material Design team intends to publicly do that for everyone else.


Dark theme

For 2021, we’re looking for products that are both beautiful and legible, day and night, and that apply color and contrast thoughtfully to craft a harmonious and personal brand experience.

Large screen

How your design adapts is just as important as what’s adapting: we’re looking for products whose interfaces embody adaptability—from layouts to components— across device types and screen sizes, while staying true to their unique identity, personality, and functionality.

Motion

This year, we’re looking for products that come to life through elegant animations that make the complex feel simple and express style and brand effortlessly.

Previous winners are listed below:

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com