HiQ’s Great Apes wins gold at the European Design Awards – Finnish design rises to the top in Europe

Helsinki, Finland – 10.7.2026 – European Design Awards is one of Europe’s most prestigious visual communication and graphic design competitions, and has been rewarding European designers since 2007. The competition is a joint initiative of European design magazines, which aims to celebrate and highlight excellence in the field. The 2026 awards were presented in Sofia on 13 June. Great Apes won gold in the Emerging Tech & AI-Driven Experiences -category.

The competition annually brings together the top European design figures from dozens of countries, so a win places Great Apes and Finnish design expertise among the top European designers. The weight of the recognition is increased by the composition of the jury: the creations are evaluated by design journalists and critics, not the designers themselves.

“Design-driven thinking guides everything we do, and its goal is an excellent service and customer experience. Our design philosophy lives on throughout the organization, and it is not limited to service design or individual design actions. This victory is a testament to that culture. A winning design speaks to us, touches us, evokes emotions and is memorable,” says Minna Lindholm, CEO of HiQ Finland.

Artificial intelligence opened a 140-year archive in a new way

Arkivgalaxen was created for the 140th anniversary of SLS. The work opens the society’s archive – approximately 40,000 photographs and written artifacts – as a three-dimensional, real-time browseable entity directly in the browser. Artificial intelligence analyzes the content, mood and themes of each artifact and places them in relation to each other. This reveals connections and story threads in the archive that traditional search cannot reach.

The work premiered at the SLS gala at Finlandiatalo, where it was experienced as an immersive projection of almost 500 square meters and surround sound built from archive materials.

Great Apes is HiQ’s Helsinki-based creative studio and one of the most internationally awarded Finnish design agencies. In addition to Finnish competitions, the studio’s work has been awarded at European Design Awards, Webby Awards, Red Dot Design Award and D&AD competition, among others.

About HiQ

HiQ is a creative technology consultancy that solves complex challenges with intelligent and creative digital solutions. Great Apes is HiQ’s creative studio, specializing in experimental and innovative digital design and development.