Announcing the D&AD awards panel

Our Executive Creative Director, Adrian Burton, will be judging the branding category at this year’s D&AD Awards.

D&AD is an educational charity that represents the global creative, design and advertising communities. Since 1962, D&AD has set industry standards, educated and inspired the next generation and, more recently, has demonstrated the impact of creativity and innovation on enhancing business performance.

The deadline for entries is looming – winners announced the week of 26 April.

Good luck!

Tags: Adrian Burton, D&AD Awards

Time to start taking the lead

Our CEO, Christian Schroeder, authored a piece that was featured in Design Week’s Business Insight section.

Despite the long-held view that the strategic direction of brands is the responsibility of advertising agencies, Christian says that the advertising industry is in disarray as it struggles to come to terms with diverse media platforms and channels.

Christian explains that the branding and design industry are perfectly placed to take on a more central role in the future of communications, “But we are only going to earn that position if we can show that we have the hunger to claim it, the quality of people to maintain it and, most importantly, the confidence to own it.”

“We should be brave enough to look outside our immediate sector and finally understand that we are in the business of ideas that make a commercial difference, and not the business of design for the sake of design.”

To read the full article, check out Design Week’s website.

Tags: Branding, Christian Schroder, Design Week

And the winner is…

On 1 December, our work for the rebrand of BBC News was crowned winner of the Benchmarks Awards for the category ‘Media Programmes.’

Put on by Design Week, the Benchmarks are designed to set a standard in the recognition of excellence in brand communications. Entrants are judged on the consistency of the brand message within the programme or across the campaign, overall creativity and innovation achieved within the constraints of the brand guidelines. The judges also consider the appropriateness within the relevant market sector.

For more, see a list of all the winners, check out the shortlist or see Design Week’s feature covering the event. Also, keep an eye out for the upcoming Benchmarks Awards book, accompanying a future DW issue.

Tags: BBC News, Benchmark Awards, Benchmarks