The great triumph for design in this year’s D&AD Awards has to be the tribute paid to TV graphics pioneer Martin Lambie-Nairn. In giving him the 1997 President’s Award, British Design and Art Direction president Mike Dempsey is not just honouring a lifetime’s achievement, he’s looking forward to much more to come from this prolific star. Lambie-Nairn didn’t stop with the seminal BBC2 idents, though that’s what everyone remembers best; his style and influence is travelling well and gracing many a TV screen at home and abroad.
Dempsey probably didn’t realise it when he made his choice, but the honour bestowed on Lambie-Nairn reflects the mood of this year’s 16 D&AD design silvers. The two new categories covering interactive media have yielded three winners in Duffy Design, Antirom and Hyperinteractive (a cheeky choice for D&AD). But what of more conventional graphics work?
A glance down the list reveals no packaging winners, only a nomination for Pentagram Design’s structural work for Superga. There’s no prize for brochure design per se – Aboud Sodano’s silver is for image manipulation – and no poster campaign or annual report silvers. Even Johnson Banks has had to settle for nominations for its Connex South Eastern poster series and annual report for PolyGram International, which won a Design Week award in March.
The other thing about this year’s D&AD is the number of US contenders. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you can’t help noticing names such as Apple Computer and Duffy Design. Even Anglo-American groups like Ideo and Pentagram have fielded their US teams successfully this year.
Things are changing at D&AD. Design has strong champions within the adcentric organisation that does more than most to support the notion of creative excellence. But designers are going to have to try much harder at the awards if they are to creep from under the ad world’s shadow.
D&AD DESIGN SILVERS
Individual CDs, tapes and record sleeves
Muzik Masters
Farrow Design for Deconstruction/Muzik
Typography
Listen
Simple Productions for National Assembly Against Racism
Image manipulation
R Newbold: Autumn/winter 1996 brochure
Aboud Sodano for Paul Smith
The Berkeley Hotel stationery
Pentagram Design for The Savoy Group of hotels and restaurants
Corporate identity programmes
The Type Museum identity
Cleaver et al for The Type Museum
Stationery ranges
Cow Lane Garage stationery
John Hughes and Thomas Moulton for Cow Lane Garage
Canna Kendall stationery
Johnson Banks for Canna Kendall
Complete books
Starck
Taschen for itself
TV sponsorship credits
Doritos idents
BMP DDB for Walkers Snack Foods
Design for the workplace
Prospect Pictures’ offices
Buschow Henley for Prospect
Pictures
Products for work
Apple E-Mate
In-house team at Apple Computer
Products for health and leisure
Nike V12 and V8 eyewear
Ideo Product Development for Nike
Products for industry and transport
Eurostar exterior form
Jones Garrard for Eurostar
Internet design
Tidy Cat
Duffy Design for Ralston-Purina
D&AD website
Hyperinteractive for D&AD
Interactive kiosks
Levi’s in-store kiosk
Antirom for Levi Strauss & Co Europe
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