The Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Awards are the most nuanced craft recognition in the production design discipline. Unlike the Oscar’s single Best Production Design category, the ADG separately honours period, contemporary, and fantasy or science fiction design — a distinction that allows the genuine breadth of production design achievement to be recognised. The ADG also covers television drama, comedy, limited series, variety programming, and commercial design, creating the most comprehensive awards program for art direction and production design in the industry.
Why Three Film Categories Matter: The ADG’s decision to split film production design into Period or Fantasy, Contemporary, and (in some years) separate Animated categories is a correction to the Oscar’s single category, which inevitably gravitates toward elaborate period productions. Contemporary settings — the interiors of a New York apartment, the corridors of a tech campus, a modern hotel lobby — are production design achievements of equal difficulty that rarely receive Oscar recognition. The ADG’s structure acknowledges this imbalance.
The ADG’s flagship film category, covering historical and fantastical productions. Oscar alignment noted where applicable.
| Year | Production Designer | Film | Oscar? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Judy Becker | The Brutalist | ADG + Oscar |
| 2024 | Ruth De Jong | Oppenheimer | ADG + Oscar |
| 2023 | Christian M. Goldbeck | All Quiet on the Western Front | ADG + Oscar |
| 2022 | Patrice Vermette | Dune | ADG + Oscar |
| 2021 | Donald Graham Burt | Mank | ADG + Oscar |
| 2020 | Dennis Gassner | 1917 | Oscar: Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (Barbara Ling) |
| 2019 | Eugenio Caballero | Roma | Oscar: The Favourite (Fiona Crombie) |
| 2018 | Dennis Gassner | Blade Runner 2049 | ADG + Oscar |
| 2017 | Stuart Craig | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Oscar: La La Land (David Wasco) |
| 2016 | Colin Gibson | Mad Max: Fury Road | ADG + Oscar |
| 2015 | Adam Stockhausen | The Grand Budapest Hotel | ADG + Oscar |
| 2014 | Catherine Martin | The Great Gatsby | Oscar: Her (K.K. Barrett) |
The ADG’s distinct category for modern-set productions — a recognition that contemporary production design is as complex and artistic as period work.
| Year | Production Designer | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Various | Conclave |
| 2024 | Sarah Greenwood | Barbie |
| 2023 | Jason Kisvarday | Everything Everywhere All at Once |
| 2022 | Florencia Martin | Power of the Dog |
| 2021 | Mark Ricker | Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom |
| 2020 | Barbara Ling | Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood |
| 2019 | Various | A Star Is Born |
| Year | Production Designer | Series |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Various | Shōgun |
| 2024 | Various | House of the Dragon |
| 2023 | Various | The Crown |
| 2022 | Various | Squid Game |
| 2021 | Various | Bridgerton |
| 2020 | Various | Game of Thrones |
| Year | Production Designer | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Various | Ripley |
| 2024 | Various | Fargo Season 5 |
| 2023 | Various | The White Lotus (Season 2) |
| 2022 | Various | The Underground Railroad |
| 2021 | Various | The Queen’s Gambit |
| 2020 | Various | Chernobyl |