🎨 Telegram App Icon Competition

Prize fund: $10,000
Deadline: 23:59 on October 19th (Dubai time)
Who can participate: Everyone
Results: October 26th, 2023

Telegram is hosting a competition for artists to draw new icons for Telegram's Android and iOS apps. The best icons may be later offered to users in addition to the default sets currently presented in both apps.

The Task

Create at least 1 icon and adapt it for both Android and iOS. Submissions featuring more than 1 icon are accepted providing that each icon is thematically different.

Each of your app icons must be based on the core form of the Telegram logo. You are free to incorporate any scenes or characters, except copyrighted materials.

Using Telegram's official sticker and emoji packs is allowed for references (you can adapt characters to create icons based on them). The use of generative AI is strictly prohibited.

App Icon Guidelines

Android
• Follows the Android UI Guidelines
• Contains a PNG of 432x432px for each icon (you must also provide the following resolutions: 324x324px, 216x216px, 162x162px and 108x108px – each is used for different screen pixel densities). The icon must contain separate background and foreground layers
• Includes source files

P.S. For further references, clipping mask samples (for non-direct versions of the app we apply the masks from the archive), other icon resolutions and the suggested structure check the provided archive below this message.

iOS
• Follows the Apple Design Guidelines
• Contains a non-transparent PNG of 1024x1024px for each icon (make sure it looks correct when resized to 270x270px, 180x180px or 120x120px, otherwise provide separate images for each resolution)
• Includes source files

Submissions and Evaluation

@ContestBot will start accepting submissions closer to the deadline. The prize fund will be distributed among the best contributors. When evaluating submissions we will prioritize the quality of each artwork, its uniqueness, and its compliance with the “App Icon Guidelines” – your contribution must be submitted in a ”ready to use“ format requiring zero adaptions or tweaks on our side.

🏆 Android Design Contest: Results

We are pleased to announce the results of the Android Design Contest. The judges thoroughly reviewed each of the 89 submissions.

The contestants brought several solid concepts and intriguing ideas to life – though even the top entries can’t be utilized without further polishing and refinements. Despite that, we are happy to award Stout Pony, Eager Jackal, Bold Crab and Happy Squid with 🥇 1st PLACE. These entries carefully considered multiple aspects in their designs and the judges were unanimous in their selection.

Meet the winners!

1st PLACE – $2,500
🥇 Stout Pony
🥇 Eager Jackal
🥇 Bold Crab
🥇 Happy Squid

2nd PLACE – $1,500
🥈 Mighty Unicorn
🥈 Cute Lemur
🥈 Swift Shark
🥈 Keen Pony
🥈 Mad Spider

3rd PLACE – $750
🥉 Posh Hamster
🥉 Perfect Dodo
🥉 Busy Phoenix
🥉 Mellow Llama
🥉 Hardy Wolf
🥉 Huge Puffin
🥉 Neat Kangaroo
🥉 Nice Pony
🥉 Mighty Falcon
🥉 Holy Eagle
🥉 Fancy Unicorn
🥉 Cool Lion
🥉 Tanned Cat
🥉 Nimble Sheep
🥉 Humble Cockroach
🥉 Able Bear
🥉 Holy Gecko

Congratulations to the winners and a happy Friday to you all!

🏆 App Icon Competition: Results

We were delighted to see so many interesting concepts and new takes on the Telegram icon – with a total of 252 submissions.

For this competition, we will be distributing the prize fund among all contributors who submitted at least one icon that we accepted. The award per entry is based on its overall evaluation.

While many of the submissions still require aesthetic changes, we have decided to further increase the total prize fund by an additional $2,600. This ensures as many contestants as possible will receive recognition.

Meet the winners!

$1,000
Sharp Unicorn

$600
Funky Hedgehog
Agile Raven

$400
Rich Cockroach
Night Heron
Brave Hawk
Fancy Otter
Sunny Dragon
Calm Dolphin
Sweet Raccoon
Brave Mink
Perfect Hawk
Mad Spider

$200
Fluffy Cow
Cool Lion
Tactful Butterfly
Agile Goat
Caring Phoenix
Funny Python
Mellow Beaver
Noble Ant
Gifted Toad
Agile Quokka
Happy Moth
Strict Ant
Cute Otter
Gifted Cat
Funny Meerkat
Slim Bee
Cute Lemur
Mad Mink
Jolly Elk
Sturdy Cock
Daring Ladybird
Sunny Moth
Hardy Bear
Suave Spider
Funky Chicken
Dashing Duck
Stylish Turtle
Noble Toad

$100
Modest Gecko
Desert Crab
Magic Rabbit
Mindful Wasp
Shiny Puffin
Merry Phoenix
Suave Kangaroo
Stylish Kangaroo

🧠 A smart suggestion, which we instantly implemented. We sent 2000 euro to the creator of this submission to appreciate his great work 😌

(Pavel)

🏆 Design Competition 2024

Prize fund: Up to $30,000
Deadline: 23:59 Dubai time @ April 27th, 2024
Who can participate: Everyone

Telegram announces a competition for UI designers. The top prize is $5,000, and the winner may get a chance to join the Telegram Design team.

The Task is to create 3 short demo videos for 3 different features in the same manner as the demonstrations from the Telegram Blog.

Each video should offer a brief overview of a feature that currently does not exist in official Telegram apps.

You are welcome to use any ideas (e.g., in-app payments or a feed for channels). Be creative, but don't get carried away by things like a major app redesign.

It is mandatory to cover both iOS and Android – at least 1 video out of 3 must be made for a different platform. Entries featuring all videos for both platforms are likely to get higher chances in the final scoring, provided that they fulfill the evaluation criteria.

Evaluation Criteria:
While evaluating submissions, the judges may apply the following criteria to determine the winners:

Clarity – the general audience must have a clear understanding of how the feature you are displaying works.

Consistency – the video should be looped, with smooth transitions between screens and all elements should be consistent and balanced.

Completeness – you must present a finalized flow for your feature. Your video should show an entry point from existing Telegram interfaces, a brief overview of the feature's main components and a transition back to the entry point.

Submissions:
We will publish instructions how to submit your work closer to the deadline.

⚠️ We’ve noticed that many participants uploaded their videos as files to their contest channels.

This is not the right way – the channel should host your demos sent as VIDEOS. ✔️

Make sure to address this before the deadline. (For reference, see @TelegramTips.)