The Digital Magazine Awards, the most coveted awards in the international magazine industry, have opened for entry. The awards celebrate the best magazines, individuals, and advertisers from the digital publishing industry and recognize the breathtaking achievement and innovation developed within the sector over the past year.

Award categories cover all areas of digital magazine publishing and include the prestigious Magazine of the Year award, won last year by Condé Nast’s WIRED (UK). The Digital Magazine Awards 2011 received entries from 31 countries, reflecting the unique reach and diversity of the digital publishing industry.

This year the Digital Magazine Awards have added four new categories: Entertainment Magazine of the Year, Customer Magazine of the Year, Science & Nature Magazine of the Year, and for the first time a category open to a public vote, the Digital Magazine Cover of the Year. For a list of all categories, please visit http://digitalmagazineawards.com/.  

Digital Magazine Awards 2012 will be judged by a panel of industry experts including:

• CNN International Digital, Vice President and General Manager, Peter Bale
• Ogilvy Group, Director Innovative Solutions, Nicole Yershon
• The Times, Digital Development Director, Hector Arthur
• Menzies Digital Marketing, Managing Director, Sarah Clegg
• Quark Software Inc., Director of Mobile Products, Paul Danter
• Deloitte MCS, Director Media and Technology Strategy, Howard Davies
• Getty Images, Vice President, Christian Toksvig
• AOL and Huffington Post Tech UK, Managing Editor, Grattan McCoach

The Digital Magazine Awards are delighted to announce Quark Software Inc. as the competition’s Platinum Sponsor for the third consecutive year and to announce that Menzies Digital Marketing will join as co-Platinum Sponsors.

Bruce Hudson, Chairman, Digital Magazine Awards 2012, said, “I am delighted by the international recognition our awards receive and how the winners are inspiring the fast-paced creativity and innovation in our burgeoning sector. I look forward to seeing how this year’s entries have pushed the possibilities of the digital magazine experience.”

Gavin Drake, Vice President of Marketing at Quark, said, "We are proud to be sponsoring the Digital Magazine Awards for the third year in a row and to see how the competition has grown every year to become one of the most influential international accolades in digital publishing. We are excited to see what the publishing industry will present for the 2012 contest. The past year has seen new digital publishing solutions enter the market such as App Studio and PressRun, which have made it easier than ever for publishers to create digital magazines. It promises to be an enthralling round of entries for the judges with new digital magazines pushing to compete with the established players."

Sarah Clegg, Managing Director of Menzies Digital Marketing, said, "We're delighted to be supporting an event which recognizes the grassroots of digital development, and rewards those who are pushing the boundaries of technology and publishing because that's something we really identify with.
"Creating a digital publication that truly engages an audience and demonstrates strong return on investment is not easy, but it is entirely possible. At MDM we are always keen to encourage individuals, agencies and publishing houses alike to make the most out of the sophisticated software that exists and we really hope that this year's DMAs attract a cross-section of entrants who all share our love of creativity."