May 27 2021 May 27, 2021 June 1, 2021 5Comments by ben

I’m puzzled…

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I’ve been having a look through this year’s D&AD winners.

I’m not saying the juries got it wrong time and time again, but there are a few verdicts I don’t understand.

The first is the lack of an editing Pencil for this:

I’d also suggest that, despite its meh voiceover, it’s a pretty remarkable ad, with the kind of craft that blew the mind of ad people and the public alike. It appears only to have collected a Shortlisting for Direction (not even in The Book in old money), and a Wooden Pencil (an entry in old money) for the ad itself.

If I’d made this world-famous corker and scored only a single entry, I’d be rather miffed. Was it not entered into Editing? Were the Editing jury high? Drunk? Comprised only of Adidas employees?

Then there’s this campaign:

That was good, wasn’t it? Very good, I’d say. Almost great. Definitely worth an entry, if not a Nomination (Graphite in new money). I don’t know if Uncommon blasted the entries with punts in Graphic Design, Art Direction and Typography, but I would have.

Result: a single shortlisting in Press and Outdoor.

Huh?

On top of that, this was the only mention for at all for Uncommon, the agency that produced more famous work in the UK than any other last year. I get there might have been some snobbery about Brew Dog, but wasn’t there some cool ITV stuff last year? Or Habito? Like I said, I’m not sure what was entered, but Nils has usually been a committed enterer when it comes to D&AD, so I assume he would have given the above a go or two. Did they all fall by the wayside? If so, that’s bullshit.

Next is this campaign:

That’s good, isn’t it? Fresh strategy, excellent art direction and photography/image manipulation, even a good line.

Two Shortlistings in Press and Outdoor.

I’m assuming Mother entered them into craft categories etc., so they must have been ignored in Art Direction and Photography. I have no idea why.

Finally, this one is a bit more of a stretch, but I’m going to question it anyway:

Yes, it won three Yellows, Three Graphites and Two Woods (Woodens?).

But it should have won a Black.

It was better than at least two of the Black winners.

Anyway, commiserations to the people behind all that work.

I’d have voted for it, and at the end of the day, that endorsement is surely a greater honour that a piddly Pencil.