D&AD Blog

Everyone starts somewhere

Piccadilly Circus, by 2nd year student, Richard Seymour

Throughout his year as D&AD President, Garrick's underlying theme has been that 'Everyone starts somewhere'. He has hosted the odd pub event where leading creative lights have shown their early work and has asked his President's Lecturers to include a student piece or two into their talks.

We've now brought all of this and more together into an 'Everyone starts somewhere' exhibition. If you're at New Blood this week, you'll be able to see the exhibition up on the balcony. If you can't make it, we've also put an online gallery together, with all the pics up on Flickr.

A new D&AD Chief Executive

We're very happy to announce that Tim O’Kennedy, brand and communications consultant and former MD of Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, is our new Chief Executive.

Tim's career began at Saatchi & Saatchi London in the early 1980s, following which he was hired by Jay Chiat as ‘one of the first Account Planners in the US advertising industry’.  After 2 years at Wieden + Kennedy Portland steering the original ‘Just Do It’ campaign, he became International Marketing Director at Nike.  Tim returned to Europe with Nike in 1994 and later joined The Lowe Group Europe as Chief Operating Officer.  He was a founding partner of marketing agency Circus in 1998 and subsequently became Managing Director at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, where he remained until the end of 2007.  Tim currently serves as a non-executive director of digital creative agency Perfect Fools in Stockholm, and of communications agency Indie in Amsterdam.  He also serves as an advisor to DIESEL Industries in Molvena.

Tim says:

“I feel honoured to take the reins at this amazing organisation, which has always lived in my mind as the absolute reference for creativity in the communication arts. D&AD’s multi-disciplinary purview is a big part of the appeal for me: I grew up in the worlds of advertising and design, and have a deep-seated appreciation for both, as I do for the possibilities afforded by interactive media.

The world of communications is changing, and at an exponential rate - but it’s doing so in ways which can make D&AD more relevant than ever.  While I believe that the role of CEO is by definition multi-faceted, my most important job will be to reinforce this relevance, to further secure D&AD’s position as the standard-setter for creativity worldwide.”

While our Chairman, Anthony Simonds-Gooding says:

“Tim will bring an entrepreneurial mindset and fresh thinking to D&AD which will take the organisation into new territory.  His wealth of international experience will help cement the company’s position in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.  As a man who has circumnavigated the globe, I am sure that he will steer D&AD safely through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead ensuring that D&AD continues to be the pre-eminent award for creatives in a world where the industry terrain is changing, where brands, products and services are becoming increasingly homogenised and where creativity remains the sole differentiator to ensure business success.”

Tim's first official duty will be to welcome guests to the New Blood Private View on Monday 29 June.

NOMINATE YOUR FUTURE CREATIVES NOW. (PLEASE)

We need you!

2009 has been a poignant year for both business and creativity. With this in mind, and to give industry a ‘helping hand,’ Adobe has joined forces with D&AD to introduce the Future Creative Bursary.

As an investment in the next generation, the bursary offers ten graduates or junior creatives a great platform to shine. It’s designed to provide the necessary tools to help them take those next steps and develop their talent further.

The entry deadline is 7 August, so if you know of a rising star who you'd like to nominate for one of the bursaries, please visit the awards website to find out more.

Student Awards Nominations site goes live

 

We've just launched the Student Awards Nominations site

For the moment the site features all the Nominations, but after the Student Awards Ceremony on 2 July the site will become a fully-fledged Online Annual. It will then showcase all the winning and in-book work, feature the Student of the Year and provide judges' feedback.

The day after the night before

We'll be back with a more in-depth review of last night's Awards Ceremony next week, but for now massive congratulations to all the winners, especially Black Pencil recipients Matt Dent (who we're calling the youngest ever Black Pencil winner until someone says otherwise) and ART+COM, and Droga5 for their two.

If you'd like to relive the evening through the medium of twitter, have a look at the #dandad stream

Otherwise, there are 450+ photos of the evening  taken by our marvellous photographer Noah Da Costa and photos of the happy winners by Ben Turner up on Flickr, and there's a Flickr group if you'd like to share your own photos from the evening.

And finally for today, here are some snippets of some our winners, hot off the stage and flush with success.

Simon Waterfall speaks on the steps of the V&A

Some footage of Simon on the steps of the V&A on YouTube:

D&AD's night at the museum

Martin Lambie-Nairn had just finished his talk at 'Inspired by' on Friday night, when the fire alarm went off.  The whole building had to be evacuated, but the show must and did go on; Tony & Simon spoke on the steps of the museum for the dedicated crowd who stayed around, and a few firefighters too.  The really good news is, the V&A didn't burn down.