You may have seen one or two of these Awards press ads about already. Now as the campaign draws to a close, we've gathered the complete set here for you to take a look.
Credits:
Paul Brazier, Creative Director, President of D&AD. Agency: AMV
Tim Riley, Writer
Nick Bell, Art Director
RKCR/Y&R ECD Damon Collins is in awe of the ‘biggest shortest film ever made’. The 1 Second Film consists of (surprise) 1 second of film made up of 24 frames of animation. About 90 minutes of credits will follow. Sounds like a raw deal? This is actually your chance to become part of the film industry and be credited side by side with some of the biggest names in showbiz. And the credits will include a feature-length ‘making of’ documentary.
Anyone can sign up as ‘crew’ for free online, but the more ambitious may want to contribute $1 (about 60p) to
earn an Associate Producer credit.
Ten dollars makes you a Producer alongside Spike Jonze and $100 or more
launches you in to the heady heights of Executive Producer status with Kiefer Sutherland.
Producer number 970 is Steve Coogan. “I met Steve in the press office at the Sundance Film Festival, which I somehow managed to sneak into,’ says the film’s director, Nirvan Mullick. “Minutes before Steve joined our crew, I sold Pierce Brosnan a $10 Producer credit.” That was all the motivation Coogan needed to bump up from an Associate Producer.
The film is being funded entirely by
donations and any profit will go to support
the Global Fund for Women.
Almost 12,000 people from 72 countries have
donated money towards the film so far. This is the first project for the
Collaboration Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to
bring people together to create collaborative art on a global scale.
“This is a brilliant idea – a platform for global
collaboration,’ says Collins. “The
Internet is arguably the most powerful entity on the planet. One reason is its potential to harness
the world’s population to come together to do incredible things.”
The 1 Second Film is
possible thanks to the kind of ‘collaborative philanthropic power’ that has
made a success of tools like BOINC, free software that enables users to make
their Internet-connected computers available for research projects during down
time.
Collins thinks the 1
Second Film draws people together in an imaginative way. “Not only does it
demonstrate our universal desire for creative expression, but also our desire
to be part of something big and special and global, that could actually make a
difference.”
An updated website
should be launching this month which, Mullik says “will simplify our crew's
ability to participate and take the design and concept much closer to our final
goal.”
The noughties are no more, but it was a decade of huge change in
advertising and design.
Since the turn of the century, D&AD Black Pencils have been awarded to everything from coins
and stamps to posters and TV commercials. The digital world was awarded its
first Black Pencil for ground-breaking creativity in 2006 and since then, the
industry ‘rules’ have been entirely rewritten. We've loaded up each year's winners onto reels for you to reminisce about the good old days.
2000
The decade got off to a roaring start with a double Black Pencil win going to AMV.BBDO with Surfers for Guinness. Apple's Cinema Display won in Product Design, and RSA/ Black Dog Films won a Black Pencil for 'All is Full of Love' for Björk.
2001
Four Black Pencils were taken home, two in environmental design. Casson Mann won for ...Comment, their huge visitor feedback installation in London's Science Museum. Marks Barfield Architects were awarded for the design of the London Eye. Apple won it's second Black Pencil of the decade with the Pro Mouse. Ground-breaking work by Mother won them a Black Pencil in Ambient for the controversial Britart.com campaign.
2002
Three Black Pencils were awarded. Two entries won in direction, Frank Budgen for Levi's Twist with BBH and Michel Gondry for Star Guitar for the Chemical Brothers. Apple also won for the very first iPod.
2003
No Black Pencils. None. Nada.
2004
It was design's year. Atelier Markgraph won for the Ship of Ideas, which floated down the Main in Frankfurt. johnson banks meanwhile injected ground-breaking innovation to a project much smaller in size (physically, of course). Their fruit and veg stamps changed the 'face' of mail.
2005
Another year of double wins. Wieden+Kennedy London was awarded not once, but twice for 'Grr'. 4Creative walked off with a Black Pencil for their revolutionary Channel 4 idents and Foster & Partners were recognised for the breathtaking Millau Viaduct.
2006
The first digital Black Pencil was awarded to Leo Burnett Canada for the redesign of the global network's corporate website. Another redesign was recognised for breaking the mould, with a Black Pencil going to the UK's Guardian newspaper.
2007
Illustration crafts and cutting edge technology were recognised this year. Kolle Rebbe won in Illustration for 'War Orphans'. R/GA were awarded for Nike+ - the site that made running a social activity.
2008
An unprecedented 6 Black Pencils were awarded this year. Apple won for the iPhone and fourth generation iMac. Fallon's Phil Collins loving, drumming gorilla snatched up another. Japan's first Black Pencil went to Projector Inc for Uniqlock. The first Black Pencil for digital crafts was awarded to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for Get the Glass. Last, but definitely not least, The Partners were awarded a Black Pencil for the National Gallery Grand Tour.
2009
Four Black Pencils were awarded across multiple categories. Droga5 set a new standard by winning 2 Black Pencils for separate entries; Million - the mobile technology driven solution the the problem of student apathy in New York; and The Great Schlep - mobilising young Jewish voters to engage with their grandparents in Florida. Graphic Designer Matt Dent became our youngest Black Pencil winner with his redesign of the reverse side of UK coins. Art+Com were awarded for the Kinetic Sculpture, installed in the BMW Museum.
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We came back from Christmas Holidays and were delighted to learn that D&AD Chairman Anthony Simonds-Gooding has been
made CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours.
“This
honour is a testament to Anthony's long and distinguished career in the
creative industries where he has proven an exceptional leader with ability to
gain the trust and respect of highly creative people,’ said D&AD President
Paul Brazier.
“We are
very proud that Anthony has been recognised for his enduring hard work, energy,
wisdom and wit across his many commitments. As D&AD Chairman for the
past 19 years, Anthony has strategically refocused the organisation globally to
inspire creative excellence and to attract and nurture the best in creative
talent whilst delivering an effective business operation.”
Anthony
has had an extensive career on the agency and client side. The famous “Heineken Refreshes the Parts” and Stella
Artois “Reassuringly Expensive” campaigns were born under his management at
Whitbread. He’s also
well known for his time at Saatchi and Saatchi, British Sky Broadcasting,
Lintas, and his work with The Macmillian Trust. Anthony currently also serves
as Chairman of The DBA, The Rose Theatre, and OMG PLC.
“I’m
absolutely delighted by the news,’ says Simonds-Gooding. “Apart from the
personal sense of honour, it’s wonderful to see D&AD’s tireless work for
the creative industries formally recognised. This is valuable endorsement
of the role of the creative industries generally – a significant contributor to
the UK’s economic well-being.”
To start the new year, we are very pleased to thank Cathy Olmedillas, Founder of Anorak Magazine for her insight into setting up a magazine. Anorak - the happy mag for kids - has gone from strength to strength and is a great publication which celebrates great illustration for children.
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Nowadays, we are increasingly being asked to talk about Anorak and its beginnings. It’s lovely and flattering but it’s also odd because we are not the kind who think about it too much. As a matter of fact, going through presentations or having conversations with people, we realized something: Anorak only exists because we didn’t think about it too much. It was not (and still isn’t) a project we’ve masterminded in every detail. We just got on with it and created it.
Without thinking about it too much.
To start with, we made a 8-page dummy and we showed it to a few distributors, but they all laughed at us. Not a great start. We knew from having worked at other (now defunct) publications that we had to be financially sound and efficient with our resources. So we decided not to give up on the day job but instead use the day job’s wage to pay for what we really loved doing. And let’s be honest, after the results we’d had from distributors, it seemed unlikely advertisers would just throw piles of cash at it. But then again, as soon as the word got out that a new kids magazine was being launched, things just started to happen.
When Tate Modern rang to place an order, we almost had a heart attack. And when Borders said they would carry it nationwide, we knew then that there was no point thinking about it too much. To top it all up, within that month we got a call from the lovely people at H&M’s press office who asked us to come up with a proposal for an Anorak-specific campaign. And that was it.
To agonise over Anorak’s raison d’etre became irrelevant. It was about having a go and seeing what would happen; if we passionately believed in it, it just had to be done. It felt like that the moment we decided on a launch date, everything just fell into place. And by becoming a reality it also became a catalyst.
Without thinking about it too much.
Cathy Olmedillas
Sophie
Thomas is co-founder of design studio thomas.matthews and not-for-profit social
enterprise, Three Trees Don’t Make A Forest.
Thomas’
mission is to create a zero carbon design industry and thinks fashion brand
Worn Again deserves praise for their unique, sustainable approach in an
industry that usually gets a bad rap on these matters. “An estimated 1
million tonnes of textiles are thrown away each year in the UK,’ says
Thomas. “So what a relief it is to
find a company that uses creativity to tackle these problems head on.”
Worn Again is an ‘upcycling’ company – converting
waste or redundant materials into something new. They started out on projects
with ethical footwear brand Terra Plana in 2005 and moved on to outerwear and
accessories just 3 years later.
Not only does Worn Again take a new approach to fashion, it’s also
a new approach to business. Profit
is partly used to fund Anti-Apathy, a sustainability transformation charity. “At some point sustainability and
resource efficiency will be the norm,’ says Worn Again’s James Burdett.
“We realised that to make a real impact we needed to work with
more waste,’ says Burdett. They identified big corporations who they felt were making
substantial sustainable inroads.
Their first project was with Virgin Atlantic – a range of bags and
accessories using old airplane seat covers. Next Eurostar got in touch to work together to find a new use for
their decommissioned uniforms.
At
this point, says Burdett, the company realized that design lay at the core of
the business. “All our future products need to move upcycling design
forwards,’ he says. “The products
have to look good as well as having green credentials.”
He points out that making it happen is hard work in a
recession. “Being an entrepreneur
is like being punched in the face everyday,’ he adds. “Being a social entrepreneur means you get kicked a lot
too.” Burdett insists though, that
for all the struggles, “we still get up every morning and march on.”
The latest collection includes accessories created from the
Eurostar uniforms and outerwear created from retired Virgin hot air
balloons. The collection was
designed by Christopher Raeburn, who is ‘one of Britain’s most exciting new
designers,’ says Thomas.
“They’ve pulled ethical fashion out of the ‘hairy jumper’ arena,’ she adds. “When you walk down the road with a Hackney Haversack slung over your shoulder you deserve to feel smug.” Thomas feels this is not only a useful piece of design, it’s a bag with a story. Most important, purchasing it prevents the materials from joining that 1 million tonnes of textile waste.
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Last year Droga5 won a Black Pencil for Million – the movement to make school a place students want to be. In New York, a city with 1 million students, 37% of whom would never graduate, this was no mean feat.
The agency was approached by the city’s Department of Education and asked to rebrand scholastic achievement for students. They wanted students to make a direct
connection between academic performance and success. So, Droga5 created the world’s first mobile phone designed
just for students.
Another Pencil-winner from 2009 with 'heart' (sorry) is Meet Wally's Heart, the Integrated campaign for Flora margarine by Lowe Bull Gauteng in South Africa.
Wally hadn’t made the best health choices in life
and now had a heart condition. The public were brought closer to Wally through a popular TV
talk show, then history was made by broadcasting his open-heart surgery.
In 2006, Leo Burnett London won 3 Yellow Pencils for their approach to tackling the biggest single killer of teenagers in the UK - traffic. Cameraphone was shot entirely on a mobile phone and dramatised the distracted behaviour that causes many of accidents. The ad was sent directly to teenager's mobile phones, before launching as a TV commercial and being let loose on the Internet.
This post is being bookended by Droga5. Last year they won a second Black Pencil (and a Nomination in Integrated) for their work on The Great Schlep. Created for The Jewish Council of Education & Research, the film was aimed at persuading a crucial block of voters in the 2008 US Presidential election - elderly Jewish voters in Florida who at the time were starting to lean towards Republican John McCain.
Droga targeted this group in a way they couldn't refuse: by encouraging their pro-Obama grandchildren to visit and talk to them about Obama. Word was spread with an online video featuring comedienne Sarah Silverman and a website that united, educated and inspired a younger generation to do their part. Millions viewed the video, 26,000 members united online and thousands of media outlets covered The Great Schlep. It was the first time in twelve years a democratic nominee won Florida.
Simon
Sankaraya, aka Sanky, is a founding partner of interactive agency AllofUs and D&AD
Deputy President.
Sanky sees brands getting very excited about an emerging technological toy recently. “Augmented Reality (AR) combines real-world images with computer-generated content on screen,’ he says. “It enhances what we see, hear, feel and smell.”
A
basic form of it has been in use in broadcast for a while – like when weather
reporters stand in front of changing weather maps (lately full of rain clouds).
“As always brands want to take advantage of
new developments in technology but it’s a question of using things
appropriately,’
says Sanky. “There’s a way to go until AR is being used
most effectively.”
Sanky
feels that AR at its best results from a magic mix - “a great concept, annoyingly deft execution and a ‘real
world’ benefit”. He’s found 3 projects that are each
getting an element of this mix right.
“I’m looking forward to seeing projects in
the future that fuse them all together, then we’d have a benchmark,’ he says.
The best project that Sanky’s seen is in terms of concept is
www.weareautobots.com. The site launched this summer to
promote the opening of Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen. Fans get to see what they
look like with the original 3D CGI head of ‘legendary’ Autobot
leader Optimus Prime. “This
is a great idea for content,’ says Sanky.
“If I was a kid, I’d be giddy.”
The Picture Production Group created the Autobot site for Paramount Pictures international. The PPC’s Dan Light wants to take Augmented Reality forward in future projects. “The key is to enable people to capture and share personalised, augmented video,’ he says. Now that it’s technically possible, Light says his team is looking at how they might use it with upcoming movie projects.
Two more projects represent the other crucial ingredients of Sanky’s magic mix. Toppstown.com, a US site created by Wondergroup, has taken the US childhood tradition of trading sports cards to the virtual world.
“I really like the way this extends something that already exists,’ says
Sanky. “It’s also a social thing,
which is great for kids.”
For execution, nothing beats the projects by Swiss designer Camille Scherrer. Le Monde des Montagnes, is an interactive project that reveals the secrets hidden inside a book. “It’s a beautifully crafted narrative with the tech hidden away. I’m a little bit jealous’, says Sanky.
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Two
D&AD Student
of the Year winners are bringing Christmas cheer to east London.
Harri Leppälä and Petra Muda won the prize just this summer and we are really
happy to report, they are now gainfully employed by Wieden+Kennedy.
They're part of the creative team behind W+K’s interactive Advent Calendar this year.
You
can check out the real world version at the agency's office on Hanbury Street
in London. Each day a new door opens revealing street objects
sourced from the local neighbourhood – but the everyday mundane objects inside
have been given a Christmas twist.
We
caught up with Harri last week to find out how things have been going since
they picked up their Pencil in London.
It’s been over 3 months since we
started. It still feels like it was yesterday but at the same time it feels
like we have been here a lot longer. We have mostly been working on Nokia,
among other things we are working on some stuff for their latest phone N900
where we involve users of the device. It’s been great so far, everyone is
really nice and helpful. And now we are just trying to learn as much as
possible."
We love to hear how our 'alumni' are
getting on. Let us know if you have an update.
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coming student work looks like.
Co-founder of internationally renowned product design consultancy
SeymourPowell, Dick Powell was awarded a D&AD President’s Award for his
outstanding contribution to design in 1995. Pick your way through an Argos catalogue, and it’s fair to
say that his consultancy has created most of the products you’ll find in there.
SeymourPowell will soon be taking us to the stars, having designed
the interiors of Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft that was unveiled last week.
Powell wants to see one of the new Apple iMacs under his Christmas tree this year, which he describes as just the latest in a long evolutionary line of design excellence. “It started with the ground-breaking translucent multi-coloured computers launched on an unsuspecting world in 1998,’ he says.
“They turned the home computer from a dull grey technical box festooned by wires into a slick desirable consumer product.”
The third generation iMacs were the first ‘all in one’ flat screen computers (with all the gubbins concealed flat behind the screen). The fourth generation iMac picked up D&AD’s most coveted award for creative excellence - the famous Black Pencil. “And now, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, along comes the fifth generation iMac,’ Powell adds.
Designed by Apple’s Design team, led by Jonathan Ive, Powell says iMac’s look and feel derives inexorably from a fanatical obsession with functional integrity, detail, material and a relentless distillation of complexity. It produces a contemporary style, but it’s a style mapped firmly by the classic aesthetic values of form, proportion, balance and composition.
“There is an intellectual completeness about Apple’s products, evidenced by their singular and uncompromising vision, that goes much deeper than just their look and feel. And it is this which makes them so compelling,’ says Powell.
With its surround-less screen and floating form, iMac is a
product, as Jony Ive says “with nothing that doesn’t need to be there”. It is
utterly simple. Powell challenges
readers to look around the back and try to resist the temptation to run a hand
over the rear surface, “It’s stunning,’ he says.
The latest generation of iMacs also comes with another little product likely to sweep up design awards everywhere - Magic Mouse: the world’s first multi-touch mouse, with a touch sensitive surface enabling all of the gestural control now familiar from the iPhone - swiping, scrolling and pinching. It’s the future…and it’s here now.
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