D&AD Blog

Q&A from Paula Scher's President's Lecture

2009-11-13T13:23:34+00:00

Clips from the Q&A after the wonderful and talented Paula Scher's lecture last night. The full lecture will be available online at the launch of the next series of President's Lectures.

Neville Brody will give the last President's Lecture of the season on 25 November which sold out earlier this week.

Awards 2010: Juries Announced

2009-11-12T17:11:29+00:00

We've got Juries - visit the Awards website for full details and further information.

Please note, the Product Design Jury will be announced next week.

Eligible entries will be accepted until 27 January 2010. Work entered before 18 November will receive a 10% discount. Judging takes place from 19-22 April in London. The winners will be announced in June.

Good luck with your entries everyone!

Art & Copy: 27 November UK Premiere

2009-11-12T14:01:31+00:00

We want to take you to movies this month - we’re hosting the UK premiere of ART & COPY with 2 shows at the Charlotte Street Hotel Screening Room in London on Friday, 27 November.

If you haven’t already heard about it, you should have: it's the first film in a long time (ever?) to really explore the period in which advertising crossed the threshold to popular culture, and some of the personalities responsible for getting it there.

ART & COPY was four years in the making and made its North American premiere as an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival 2009. So, no, this isn’t some navel-gazing industry film, but a beautifully made, entertaining and provocative piece of work.

Photo: A shot from the film with David Kennedy and Dan Wieden

Credit where credit’s due – this film wouldn’t have happened without some serious, blood, sweat and tears on the part of The One Show, and its CEO Mary Warlick in particular, who produced the film.

Watch the trailer at http://bit.ly/Dh1OE

27 November at 5.30 & 7.30pm.

Charlotte Street Hotel
15-17 Charlotte Street
London W1T 1RJ

Tickets £15.00; D&AD members £12.50

To book: emily.terry@dandad.co.uk; 0207 840 1124

How the Hell Did That Get In? comes to Singapore

2009-11-10T17:46:38+00:00

Past D&AD judges reveal why the winners won

Ever wondered how some work ended up in the D&AD Annual and why some didn’t make the cut? We're taking 'How the Hell Did that Get in?' to Singapore. On Tuesday, 17 November, 5 former judges will reveal why work won, what the arguments were, and what they want to see do well at next year's Awards.

Joining us on the night to share their views will be:

Eugene Cheong, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific - Press Advertising 2007

Calvin Soh, Publicis Asia Pacific – TV & Cinema Advertising 2008

Victor Ng, Euro RSCG Asia Pacific – Integrated 2006

Chris Lee, The Asylum – Environmental Design 2009

Danny Searle, BBDO Asia Pacific – Press Advertising 2008

Venue: The Yello Jello Retro Pub, Blk 3C The Cannery, River Valley Road, #01-06, Clarke Quay

Time: 6.00-9.00pm

This is an event with a guest list, so if you are interested in attending, please contact Jennifer Goh, jennifer@ias.org.sg

Event Organisers: Institute of Advertising Singapore

Main sponsor: SMRT Media

Poster and EDM created by Euro RSCG Singapore

Paula Scher

2009-11-10T08:58:49+00:00

One of the world’s leading graphic designers and an accomplished artist, Pentagram Partner Paula Scher gives a rare retrospective of her work at her first D&AD President's Lecture in London this Thursday, 12 November.

Scher has spent the best part of forty years designing award-winning graphics for leading blue chip companies and respected cultural institutions. Along the way she’s earned herself a reputation as a smart communicator who doesn’t mince her words. Here's a sneak preview of some of the work she'll be discussing on Thursday - there are a handful of tickets left.

Environmental graphics for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Lucent Technologies Center for Arts Education, 2001 (Photo Credit: Peter Mauss/Esto)

"The Best of Jazz" poster for CBS Records, 1979

1995-1996 season campaign for The Public Theater, 1995

Find out more about what we do.

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Behind the Idea: Xtranormal

2009-11-10T03:15:00+00:00

You’ll know Dave Dye’s work from the recent Smooth Radio album cover campaigns. He’s no stranger to the challenge of keeping kids entertained, with 5 of them to keep occupied. He’s chosen xtranormal.com, the text-to-movie service that aims to bring filmmaking to the masses and, he says, “the only site with an ‘x’ in the name I’d recommend for the kids.”
The company behind the site believes that anyone can make films, and they’ve made it possible with the simplest of equipment – a keyboard. It launched last year but is starting to get some serious mainstream attention these days and Dye’s convinced that it’s great for kids of any age.

“A mouse saying ‘I just did a poo’ made 4 year-old Louis’ eyes light up,’ says Dye. “Ten year-old Olivia giggled as one office worker told another her teacher was over 150 years old. Harry and Charlie roared as superhero-type characters said…well, not very appropriate 12/13 year old boys stuff.”

Visitors to the site get started by choosing from seven different worlds, including the cuddly creatures in Pawz, Superzeroz for action fans, and Robotz for the sci-fi inclined.

“And that is all there is to it, as Bruce Forsyth used to say in his pre-rug days,’ adds Dye. “Once you’ve got over the excitement of seeing characters say the gibberish you’ve typed in, you can make them move and gesture along to the dialogue, simply by dragging an icon into the text.”

Filling multiple roles from the comfort of your home, you are completely in control and set the scene, write the script, and direct the action. There are thousands of films up on the site with an opinionated web audience judging the quality – which can vary dramatically, of course.

Dye feels there are several ways to judge a good website. “You could assess its functionality, graphics, or whether its navigation feels intuitive,’ he says. “Or you could simply count the amount of people you’ve told about it. Cooliris was the last one to get me phoning around, xtranormal.com is the latest.”

With a career spanning back to the eighties, Dave Dye’s won 5 D&AD Pencils and his work has appeared in the Annuals every year since 1993. He’s commissioning editor at Dye Holloway Murray, the ad agency he co-founded in 2007.
Find out more about what we do.
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D&AD Student Awards workshops at the BBC

2009-11-09T14:40:58+00:00

We've got a couple of workshops and a round table event for tutors coming up at the BBC over the next few weeks.

You must RSVP to studentawards@dandad.co.uk for all events. The BBC cannot admit visitors who have not previously registered for this event.
Let us know which day you would like to attend as well as your name, college and phone number.

Thursday 19 November & Tuesday 24 November - London
Thursday 19: 1.30pm – 6pm
Location: Broadcast Centre, 201 Wood Lane, Media Village, London, W12 7TP
Nearest tube station: White City

D&AD, along with our invited speakers from both the sponsoring client and industry representative, will be looking at a range of advertising and craft briefs from this year’s Student Awards. This half-day session will focus on Advertising, Animation and Social Design.

The talk is designed to entice entrants to explore radical thinking and will elaborate on how design narratives can and should educate people.

Tuesday 24: 9.30am – 4pm

Location: BBC Broadcasting House - Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA

Nearest tube station: Oxford Circus

This full-day session will focus on the digital briefs. The theme of the discussions will be around Online Advertising, Viral and Integrated Communication. We will examine the issues of collaboration and how the traditional mediums are adapting to recent changes.

In the afternoon following the talks we are hosting a roundtable discussion on digital media for tutors and industry.

The workshops will be filmed and posted on our website so all students can benefit from them in developing their responses.

To RSVP for either workshop and the tutor session please email studentawards@dandad.co.uk

Click here to see the BBC brief:

http://studentawards.dandad.org/2010/html/bbc_27.html

Fergal’s BIG day out

2009-11-05T13:11:41+00:00

Ok, so we in the student awards team, as ever, dedicating ourselves to celebrating creative communication, rewarding outstanding talent and finding modern ways to reach industries, tutors, students, and various educational institutions – have decided to go on a university tour!

The tour will commence from Monday 9^th November (next week) until 11^th December and will be hosted by one of our most bubbly, high energy, and experienced D&AD Students Awards Manager, Fergal Kilroy.

Fergal will be visiting a selection of colleges and universities and giving students hands on experience and a chance to talk to us directly.

He will be discussing the 2010 briefs, the entry and submission processes, explaining what judges look for, having a Q&A session and general feedback.

During the tour Fergal will be blogging and tweeting, inviting you along on his journey into the good, the bad and the whole nitty-gritty experience. (details will be posted up soon)

If you feel like you will like us to visit your university, college or school or will just like to learn more, then message me Ade Iheanacho (Student’s Awards Assistant) at: ade.iheanacho@dandad.co.uk and together we can see what possibilities are out there for you.

creativesear.ch team wins 30-day challenge

2009-11-03T09:00:00+00:00

Congratulations to Beckmans College of Design students, Petter Prinz & Kaspar Prinz, who have won the Student Awards 30-day challenge with their fantastic creativesear.ch. The challenge launched at the end of September with 15 teams and Petter & Kaspar are the last ones standing. The prize is a paid placement at AMV.BBDO.

The team, along with Philip Cristofor, developed Creativesear.ch, an aggregate search engine that provides results in the form of pictures, text, film and music. In its first month, the site became the single biggest referring site to www.dandad.org/studentawards.

Our President, Paul Brazier (not so coincidentally also ECD at AMV) said,“Petter & Kasper did what creative thinkers should - they saw a problem and solved it. The creativesear.ch positions D&AD where it belongs - as the first place to go for inspiration. Most importantly, they answered the brief. I was impressed by the fact that they understood the tone needed for D&AD and presented it in a clear and dynamic way. Well done to them, I’m looking forward to welcoming this team in to AMV for their work experience.”

Over half of Student Awards 2010 briefs include a placement as part of the prize. The winner of the Nokia interactive design brief will land a 3 to 6 months paid placement in their creative department; Which? is offering a 12-week paid placement to one of the winners of the Integrated Communication brief; De Facto will offer a paid placement to a Viral brief winner, along with £1000 if they decide to use the idea. Finally, New British Design will create a prototype and help market at least one of the winning furniture designs. Further additional benefits are available - have a look on the site to learn more.

Behind the Idea: ‘The last place you want to go’

2009-11-03T03:00:00+00:00

Jeremy Carr is a creative partner at ad agency MCBD and foreman of 2010 D&AD press jury. He’s well known at D&AD, having won 3 Yellow Pencils. He’s created ads for brands as diverse as Volkswagen, The Economist and the Metropolitan Police. Most recently, he launched the new Waitrose Essential range.
The first thing on Carr’s mind is ‘The last place you want to go’ – the new campaign for electrical e-tailer Dixons that appeared in tube stations last month in London. “This cheeky campaign ambushed me on the rush hour Tube, when my thoughts were naturally turning to items electrical, like cattle prods and tasers.”

The campaign, created by agency M&C Saatchi, is the first for the 70 year-old brand since it became ‘pure play’ – online only – in 2006.
Carr believes the look and feel of these ads is a big improvement on past efforts. “When I think back on the great ads of the last ten years, nothing from Dixons comes to mind,' he says. "It's hard for brands to stand out from a very crowded market when competing on low prices. It often results in some pretty awful advertising that makes you want to look away rather than stop and stare."

Using clever writing, the ads aim to reach a wider, younger audience and recognise the way many people like to shop these days. “Most customers compare prices before purchasing,” says Dixons UK Marketing Director, Niall O’Keeffe. “Before committing to a purchase, customers tend to do a lot of research both on and offline.”
Being central shopping districts in London, Oxford Circus, Bond Street and Knightsbridge stations were prime locations for the posters. The familiar typefaces and colours avoid naming the competition, but tap into some existing perceptions about different department stores. O’Keeffe wants Dixons.co.uk to be the savvy consumer’s last port of call. “It really is the (last) place to shop for consumer electricals,” he says.

“These posters are perfectly in tune with our need to save money and our desire to have the biggest plasma,” says Carr. And from a professional point of view, he says, “These ads are that rare mix of hard working brand ads. Deceptively simple art direction, witty writing, and what a brave strap line. The agency and client should be pleased with themselves.”
Find out more about what we do.
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Explosive Ideas: Music Videos

2009-11-03T02:45:00+00:00

It’s Bonfire Night on Thursday. To celebrate, we’re showcasing explosive ideas that have resulted in music videos that dared to be different.
"Sentimental Journey" by Yuki was directed by the late great Nagi Noda. The music video was nominated for an Award in 2005.

"Walk Talkie Man" by Steriogram was also nominated in 2005 The video was directed by Michel Gondry and only used wool and yarn for the sets, taking a month to complete.

Radiohead's 'House of Cards' was conceived and directed by Zoo Film Productions director James Frost. It is the first video to be shot without the use of cameras, using only lasers and scanners.

"We are Your Friends" by Justice vs Simian was filmed in an office building in Paris, taking only a day to shoot. Directed by Rozan Schmeltz, the video was nominated for a Pencil in 2007.

'Who's Going to Save My Soul' by Gnarls Barkley is a story of a girl breaking up with a boy who literally rips his heart. Directed by Chris Milk, the video won a Yellow Pencil in 2009.

Find out more about what we do.
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Things I've Learnt

2009-11-02T15:35:26+00:00

This is the first in a series where creatives share their experiences, talk about what path they took into the industry and what things they wished someone had told them when they were starting out. Shaun Bowen, Creative Partner from B&B Studio is first up:

Your first job is your next college.

See your first role as your apprenticeship and your opportunity to soak up as much knowledge from those around you as you can. Keep your head up and take an interest in what the other designers are doing around you. Too many graduates leave college and think they know it all.

It’s incredibly important to understand who you will be learning from. I was lucky to learn from Mary Lewis at Lewis Moberly and a fantastic team of designers that were working with her at the time. It made me the type of designer I am now. It made me understand the importance of a great idea but also how important it is to make it look good. It was a time when computers were still a novelty and crafting of type and image was given so much more emphasis. I feel fortunate that I caught the end of such a wonderful era but this is your era, and you should apply the same principle and learn all you can.

Designers all think differently.

One of the great things about my first job was the difference in the design team. We were all from different backgrounds and many from different parts of the world, each with their own approaches to finding a solution to the design problem. Presentations are far more successful if several designers have had an opportunity to think about the brief and then work collaboratively to solve it.

Design agencies are not all the same.

Before I got a permanent job I gained experience from design placements. As well as the obvious benefit of seeing what it’s really like after college, I was amazed how different culturally the agencies were. You can only truly understand an agency once you’ve worked there, but finding somewhere you fit is an important factor in how long you will stay. Building a team of talented people that all work well together is what makes an exciting studio and the outcome is great design.

Clients don’t always know what they are talking about.

Understanding what a client really wants comes with experience. Sometimes clients say one thing but actually mean something else. Making sure you ask the right questions helps. As a designer you can bring an objective view to solving their problem, but you need to understand the problem first.

Sometimes clients do know what they are talking about.
Being able to listen is a big part of being a designer. Remember that the client is immersed in their brand and its category. This insight can be a very helpful and often an essential part of you understanding their brief.

Work hard.

You won’t succeed unless you work hard. But if you love your work it makes it so much easier. If you don’t love it, it means you’re doing something wrong.

Be nice.

A design studio can at times be a stressful place, but there really is no excuse for not treating all those around you with respect.

Simplicity is a powerful thing.

First 2010 Awards entry received!

2009-10-28T12:31:10+00:00

The first entry into the D&AD Awards 2010 landed on our doorstep today, and for the second year running it was a German company who was first off the mark!
Philipp von Rohden entered the 'The Collection Book' into the Typography category.
Good luck Philipp!

Behind the Idea: "Your Eyes Will Give You Away"

2009-10-27T03:00:00+00:00

The Department for Transport launched their first national multi-media campaign to raise awareness about the effects of drug driving with ad agency Leo Burnett in August. The eye-popping posters are this week’s pick from It'sNiceThat.

Illustrator: Craig Ward
“It's rare to see any piece of large-scale advertising that's been really exquisitely crafted,‘ says Alex Bec. “Often the focus of big budget jobs for big clients can be on getting a clear message across at the expense of creative freedom. Sometimes this is for good reason, however Think!'s campaign ticks both the clear and creative boxes.”
Research amongst 18-32 year old drug-takers showed attitudes very similar to those of drink drivers in the 1960s. They denied that drugs impaired their driving, and that police could spot or test them. The challenge was to explode these misconceptions.

Drug use often results in an uncontrollable effect on the eyes. Presented with this fact, drug drivers acknowledged checking their eyes for outward signs of use, and understood that police can see the same signs.

Illustrator: Sean Freeman

“The challenge for my team was to bring ‘Your eyes will give you away’ to life in posters. We wanted to do this in a visually arresting and unusual way,’ says Leo Burnett’s Jonathan Burley.

The creative team came across a set of ‘eyescapes’ by the photographer Rankin, complete with intricate sinews and flaws. This provided inspiration for the next step. “Different drugs have different effects on the eyes, so we decided to manipulate the images to get across the individual effects,’ says Burley.

The team drafted in illustrators to complete the set of eye-popping images, including Sean Freeman worked on ‘Cannabis‘. Each vein in the poster had to be placed individually and be big enough to stand out on the back of a bus, which resulted in many sleepless nights. "In the end I think my eyes were a pretty accurate replica of the cannabis execution,' says Freeman.
Two of the guys behind the work, Sean Freeman and Craig Ward, are among the best illustrators we've come across over the last couple of years. The Think! campaign conveys a pretty serious message in a way that leaves the viewer intrigued rather than detached - which is something only a draftsman (or men in this case!) of real quality could pull off,’ says Will Hudson

TV Commercial - Directed by Ringan Ledwidge.

House of Digital Horrors

2009-10-27T02:50:00+00:00

In honour of Hallowe’en we’ve created a little shop of digital horrors – some of the spookiest, strangest bits from the web that have haunted the pages of the D&AD Annuals…

In 2009, Doritos launched its new campaign Hotel 626 to market its new flavored crisps. You can visit Hotel626.com but there’s no leaving until you complete a series of ghoulish tasks. The catch? You have to play in the dark – the Pencil-winning Hotel is only open from 6pm to 6am.

Do you dare to see what others do while they believe no one is watching?
HBO Voyeur is a virtual world of eight different apartments - developed to help audiences engage with the station's shows, it won 2 Yellow Pencils and 2 Nominations.
Find out more about the production and behind the scene by clicking on the image below.

Respect your games. How do you create a film that demonstrates how amBX could enhance your PC gaming experience? This went In-Book in 2007.

Designer and graffiti artist Marc Ecko founder of Ecko Unltd wanted to reinforce Ecko's graffiti heritage to enhance both the Ecko brand and street credibility. In-Book in 2007.

Over 65 albums duke it out until one is left standing. This entry pummelled it's way into a spot in the 2007 Annual.

At freakyourmind.com, users can create and send a video email that is sure to freak their friends’ minds. Just moments after watching the video in which illusionist Criss Angel seemingly knows the viewer’s name and phone number, the they get a phone call - spooky. This won a nomination in 2008.
Click on the image below and see how the video email works.

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We are - ShellsuitZombie - your friends.

2009-10-26T13:24:24+00:00

Give a design grad a job and he'll be employed for two years. Give him the means to get one himself and he'll be moderately wealthy with a detached home in SE18 by the time he's forty - Ancient Proverb

Hi readers, we're ShellsuitZombie, a small graduate organisation whose aim is to cut through the crap and help you get yourself into the creative industry. Since we graduated just over a year ago we've collectively been hired eight times, lost two jobs, worked in London and Paris, freelanced for some great and awful people and for some and no money, lived in A LOT of different houses, bought six bicycles and baked a cake. Using this experience (mainly the baking) we set up SSZ to encourage both graduates and the creative industry to fall in love again.

We try to do this in three ways.

1. Forget 'Mother', think brothers.

Through our website we put graduates and their work on a level playing field with the work that inspires them. After all, what x Art-Director did with £12 million shoot is of limited relevance to a poor student whose budget is second hand baked beans tins. At our stage you can't just throw money at stuff, the idea has to be good, and a lot of yours beat the pros hands down.

2. Let's get boozed

Don't take that title too literally, but booze (and socials in general) work wonders for smashing some of the employer-employee (or industry-graduate) barriers that might taint more formal events (dare I say, such as New Blood). When the whiff of desperation has passed, we can all have a larf. Our events try to make that happen. In addition graduates sharing advice and stories with each other is invaluable - A room full of them can only be a good thing.

3. REVOLUTION

We proudly (and angrily at times) act as a voice against those who would have everyone believe there isn't a hope for graduates, the nay-sayers who sit on their thrones and spout condescending and patronising garble about the number of grads per job, the state of education and the inevitability of our collective fate in Broken Britain. We really hate those guys.

So there you have it. We are all working graduate creatives from backgrounds in design and advertising who have a passion for making this whole process easier, less stressful and most importantly more fun for you guys. No-one chooses a creative career as a fallback, it's a way of life. We've had tough times over the last 18 months but there isn't one of us who would swap them for a management recruitment salary and an easy time. Sod that, we make shit look good.

ShellSuitZombie at D&AD New Blood 2009
Please come and visit us at www.shellsuitzombie.co.uk where you can sign up to our mailing list to find out about future events/competitions, submit your work, subscribe to our RSS feed and have a closer look at what we do. We also like twitter (@shellsuitzombie) very much, so hit us up on that bad boy.

Peace, Love and Cakes Galore

Jonny Burch

ShellsuitZombie

What's it like inside an agency?

2009-10-20T14:28:09+01:00

We were really interested to read that the theme of the November issue of Creative Review is based on creative workplaces - what they look like and what people do there. http://creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/october/cr-november-issue.
This is something we have also been developing as part of the online resource available for tutors in our University Network and more will be available from a range of creative practitioners in the coming months. This information is great because it brings together a diverse set of experiences which can help graduates - and those more mature professionals - to decide what kind of organisation suits their individual skill set.

D&AD and Metro: Behind the Idea

2009-10-20T04:00:00+01:00

Grant Parker has been the Head of Art at DDB London since 2006. A unique project to support Nike’s LIVESTRONG campaign has caught his eye. The project used tthe web to bring the roads of France to everyone and spread messages of hope in the fight against cancer.
Click on the picture to read the full story.

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Alan Parker

2009-10-20T04:00:00+01:00

Sir Alan Parker – the man behind the original version of ‘Fame’ – originally hails from North London. He got his start in advertising in the 1960s and didn’t take long to start winning D&AD Pencils.
He won his first Black Pencil in 1971....

...and then another one in 1972 for 'Ging Gang Goolie'.

Parker won another Yellow Pencil in 1978 for an Olympus ad that featured a youthful David Bailey (apologies for picture quality).

If you'd like to see an example of Parker's earliest work, visit Everyone Starts Somewhere.
Find out more about what we do.

Have a look at the best advertising and design in the world.

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Awards 2010 well and truly open for entries

2009-10-19T16:27:41+01:00

If you haven't spotted it already, visit the brand spanking new Awards website. Almost all Foremen are up and Juries will follow in about a month.