Hasta La Ideas

Planet Earth shows us the world in a brand new light. Delicate surfaces mark the continents as a bold relief. The smooth structure of mainland in rela..

Australia and South Africa picked up their first Black Pencils at D&AD’s gala award ceremony last night, held at London’s Roundhouse…

It was a bumper year for Black Pencils, with five of the exclusive awards dished out at the event, which was hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr. Two of these went to Sapient Nitro in Brisbane for its Best Job in the World campaign for Tourism Queensland, which turned a classified ad into an elaborate and hugely successful PR campaign for the region. The Black Pencils were awarded to Sapient Nitro in the Integrated and Direct categories.

The Best Job In The World – Black Pencil in Direct / Integrated & Integrated / Integrated. Agency: SapientNitro. Client: Tourism Queensland

TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris in Johannesburg picked up one Black Pencil, and a clutch of Yellows, for its excellent campaign for The Zimbabwean newspaper, which saw redundant Zimbabwean banknotes used on posters and as flyers. Slightly surprisingly, the Black Pencil was awarded to the ad agency in the Graphic Design category, in recognition of the innovative use of money as leaflets.

Trillion Dollar Flyer – Black Pencil in Graphic Design / Leaflets. Agency: TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg. Client: The Zimbabwean Newspaper

The High Line in New York, a walkway built into a former elevated freight railroad by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro won a Black Pencil in Environmental Design, while the final Black went to D&AD perennial award winner, Apple, for its website Apple.com. This latter prize was the only Black Pencil that received a lacklustre response from the audience, prompting only a small ripple of applause.

High Line – Black Pencil in Environmental Design / Public Space & Community. Agency: Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Client: Friends of the High Line

Apple Website – Black Pencil in Websites / Websites. Agency: Apple. Client: Apple

Forty-two Yellow Pencils were also awarded (see full list below). Droga5 Australia won three of these, while the We Choose The Moon website, which recreated the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in real time for the John F Kennedy Presidential Library Museum, took two.

Director Spike Jonze was awarded the D&AD President’s Award from outgoing President Paul Brazier, and was cheered as he picked up the special gold pencil.

Brazier pointed out that the global recession hadn’t served to dampen the creative industry, and also acknowleged the unusual and non-traditional approaches of many of the winners. “Over the last few years at D&AD, ever more ingenious creative work has been rewarded,” he said. “Maybe the rise of digital has had something to do with it. That showed us you didn’t need to use traditional media to solve clients’ problems. And when a simple stamp on a useless bank note can make a statement for freedom of speech, and a Barrier Reef tourist destination can become the biggest story on the news, it really feels like times are changing.”

For information on all winners, visit dandad.org.

Yellow Pencil winners:

Book Design: Entire Books – Atlas of the New Dutch Water Defence Line / 010 Publishers / 010 Publishers, Netherlands

Branding: Brand Communications in 3D & Environments – Treehouse Restaurant / Colenso BBDO/AIM Proximity / Yellow, New Zealand

Branding: Brand Communications in Moving Image – Soap / Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan / Wego Love Motel, Taiwan

Digital Advertising: Digital Advertising Campaigns – We Choose the Moon / Domani Studios / The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum , United States

Direct: Online – 4320LA/SYD / Droga5 / V Australia, Australia

Environmental Design : Public Space & Community – Medieval and Renaissance Galleries / Victoria & Albert Museum / MUMA / Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum , UK

Environmental Design : Temporary Exhibitions – You and Us (Integration of Displaced Persons in Baden-Württemberg) / jangled nerves / Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg , Germany

Graphic Design: Moving Image – There Are More Than 11 Trillion Things To Learn / Paul Postma & Christian Borstlap / Stichting Kinderpostzegels / TNT Post / The Foundation for Children’s Welfare Stamps Netherlands Childrens’ Stamps, The Netherlands

Integrated: Integrated – Livestrong Integrated Campaign / Wieden + Kennedy Portland / Nike Foundation, United States

Integrated : Integrated – Trillion Dollar Campaign / TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg / The Zimbabwean Newspaper , South Africa

Magazine & Newspaper Design : Entire Magazines – Apartamento Magazine / Apartamento , Spain

Magazine & Newspaper Design: Entire Magazines – Elle October 2009 issue (Lily Allen) / Elle UK / Hachette Filipacchi Publishing , UK

Mobile Marketing: Mobile Marketing – The World’s Biggest Signpost / Farfar / Nokia, Sweden

Music Videos: Animation – Strawberry Swing by Coldplay / Black Dog Films/ EMI Records, United Kingdom

Music Videos: Music Videos – Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear / The Directors Bureau / Warp Records , United States

Outdoor Advertising: Poster Advertising Campaigns – Trillion Dollar Campaign / TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg / The Zimbabwean Newspaper / South Africa

Packaging Design: Packaging – The Earphones Note / Scholz & Friends Berlin / Panasonic Marketing Europe / Stereo Earphones RP-HJE 130 , Germany

Photography : Book Design – Re Enactors / Jim Naughten / HotShoe Books , UK

TV & Cinema Advertising: TV Commercials 41-60 seconds – Pure Waters / Publicis Mojo Sydney / Lion Nathan / James Boags Draught, Australia

TV & Cinema Advertising: TV Commercials 61-120 seconds – Chance / DDB Paris / INPES / Anti Tobacco, France

TV & Cinema Advertising: TV Commercials 61-120 seconds – Closet / BETC Euro RSCG / CANAL+ CANAL+, France

TV & Cinema Advertising : TV Commercials 61-120 seconds – The Regulars / Droga5 Australia / Carlton United Breweries / Victoria Bitter, Australia

TV & Cinema Communications : TV Promotions, Stings & Programme Junctions – Alan Carr Chatty Man Campaign / 4creative / Channel 4 / Alan Carr Chatty Man , UK

TV & Cinema Crafts : Animation – Future Hopping / Nexus Productions & Goodby, Silverstein & Partners / Comcast, US

TV & Cinema Crafts: Animation – The Beautiful Word Campaign / Ogilvy France / Mattel / Scrabble , France

TV & Cinema Crafts: Direction – Breathe / Blink & RKCR/Y&R / COI / Fire Safety, United Kingdom

TV & Cinema Crafts: Direction – Fantastic Journey / Final Cut & RKCR/Y&R / Virgin Media , United Kingdom

TV & Cinema Crafts: Direction – Pure Waters / Revolver Films & Publicis Mojo Sydney / Lion Nathan / James Boags Draught , Australia

TV & Cinema Crafts: Direction – Tips / MJZ / CareerBuilder.com , US

TV & Cinema Crafts : Sound Design – Sarah’s Story / Wave Studios / Barefilms / MNDA, United Kingdom

TV & Cinema Crafts : Use of Music – Future Hopping / Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Bright Pictures Bicoastal & Nexus Production London / Comcast, US

Typography: Poster Advertising – Clocks / BETC Euro RSCG / The Aids Africa Solidarity Fund / Solidarité Sida, France

Websites : – Sound Design & Use of Music / Sounds of Hamburg / Jung von Matt / Alster Philharmonic Orchestra of Hamburg , Germany

Websites : Websites – We Choose the Moon / The Martin Agency / John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum / The Moon Landing 40th Anniversary , United States

Writing for Advertising: Poster Advertising – The last place you want to go campaign / M&C Saatchi / Dixons Stores Group / Dixons.co.uk, United Kingdom

Writing for Advertising : TV & Cinema Advertising – The Regulars / Droga5 Australia / Carlton United Breweries / Victoria Bitter , Australia

Writing for Design: Packaging / innocent packaging (Autumn 2009) / Innocent Drinks, UK

For budding esthetes, the new children’s book from L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art attempts to distill the extensive roster of major modern talent into a clear, easy-to-read format. “Breaking the Rules: What is Contemporary Art?,” describes each chosen artwork—such as “Delicious” (Felix Gonzalez-Torres‘ candied installation above), “Lovable Horror” (Victor Estrada’s “Happiness” monster) and “Autobiographical” (Robert Rauschenberg‘s shadow box)—in kid-friendly terrms.

Covering a wide range of materials and approaches, author Susan Goldman Rubin successfully outlines the central points of contemporary art, keeping it simple without dumbing down essential information. Her straightforward approach accomplishes the ultimate in children’s lit; it’s a compelling read for both children and adults alike.

For example, on Gordon Matta-Clark and his piece “Office Baroque” (middle image), Rubin explains how he revolutionized the art world by selectively cutting holes in the floor and ceiling of an abandoned building until “the building itself constituted the work of art,” and she labels Tony Oursler‘s video work (above) of dismembered body parts onto unlikely materials “Eerie.”

Damián Ortega‘s humorously beautiful “The Cosmic Thing” (above) freezes time using wire to deconstruct a Volkswagen beetle into carefully suspended parts. Irony was not lost on Claes Oldenburg when he created “The Store” in 1961, consisting of plaster and muslin recreations of dollar store wares. He explains in an extended quote (one of the great strengths of the book), “Art should be literally made of the ordinary world.”

The book concludes with a page explaining, “Contemporary art will be…anything. Whatever an artist feels like doing. Artists are constantly creating new works that break the rules.”

“Breaking The Rules” sells from the MoCA store for $15.

The wood ceramic furniture