D&AD side note.

This year was somehow difficult. And, though I am not the one to judge, the outcome of this years D&AD Global Awards is somehow disappointing. Not in all categories. The commercials for Skittles for example are brilliant and therefore deserve a pencil. But the poster category was slightly disturbing. In the next to pictures there is one winning poster hidden and one who did not. Unfortunately it's the "St. Wayne" billboard for Nike, made by the folks at Wieden+Kennedy London, that did not get a pencil. Not even a nomination. That's a decision I simply couldn't understand or, to put it in a rather adequate way, pissed me off that much that for one second I thought about quitting (don't worry about the money, I've just renewed my membership). It was the best poster that has seen the shiny sunlight of 2006. Brilliant execution, great idea. All for nothing. And then I see this. Worth a yellow pencil. That's a poster I argued about with someone before. He thought it is a simple and nice idea. I though it looks like the entrant for some photoshop contest on Worth1000.com. And as much as I try, I still don't like it. Not the idea, not the art direction. But maybe it's because Wieden+Kennedy did a brilliant piece of work for one of their clients and I still can't find LEGO on the client list of the agency behind that poster. Is it because it was done for award reasons only? I don't know. Maybe I simply don't like it. Anyway if the judges at D&AD decided that "St. Wayne" wasn't even worth a nomination and LEGO was, they will have their pros and cons. From my point of view it's disappointing. D&AD always has been the award with the best judged work worldwide and hopefully always will be. But this year, I am counting on the guys and dolls in Cannes to do it better than some of their colleagues in London. Nothing more, nothing less. Thanks for the attention.