Design that’s down to business, up to no good
Party and sleep? Down a vodka with a San Pellegrino? Eat fries while you’re on the treadmill? All options are on the table in a new video for Crowne Plaza that’s encouraging patrons to get down to business – or up to no good.
The video, an entry in the 2017 D&AD New Blood Awards, was the brainchild of UTS Visual Communication students Annabel Cook, Lina Lindberg and Samson Ossedryver. Their irreverent and cheeky take on how hotels can deliver a more personalised guest experience won them a prestigious Yellow Pencil Award in this annual international design competition.
“The concept was all about indulging both your business side and your playful and cheeky side, all in the one trip – why have one way when you can have it all?” Cook says.
D&AD, which stands for Design & Art Direction, is a not-for-profit member organisation that exists to drive creative excellence in design and advertising. Based in the UK, D&AD runs the annual D&AD Awards, which challenge participants to develop short videos that respond to an industry-supplied design brief.
Nicola Hardcastle, a teaching fellow in the UTS School of Design, was the catalyst for Cook, Lindberg and Ossedryver’s foray into the world of D&AD. Originally from the UK, Hardcastle was familiar with the organisation and its highly prestigious awards scheme, and was the driving force behind the UTS entry.
She also connected the students with Sydney design agency For the People, whose team provided weekly mentoring sessions that helped them flesh out their idea.
“Team dynamic, talent, time and sheer effort, layered with the industry insight they received from their For the People mentors, were key to the project’s success,” Hardcastle says.
The result was a video that the D&AD judges described as ‘very insightful and wickedly cheeky’, and ‘beautifully put together and brilliantly observed’. The Crowne Plaza team themselves called it ‘the type of challenging creative response that we would never get from our established agencies.’
“'Down to Business, Up to No Good' cut through and stood out straight away. The team took on the challenge at the heart of the brief and ran with it, coming up with something that really tested the limits of what the brand could do and be,” says Bethan Morris, D&AD New Blood Manager.
“It's no mean feat to shake up expectations so totally and yet still come up with something that the client loves.”
Following on from the win, Cook and Lindberg were both accepted into the prestigious D&AD New Blood Academy, an annual design bootcamp for up-and-coming creatives. The pair spent two weeks in London exploring the design profession from every conceivable angle.
They participated in workshops, collaborative design projects and presentations, guest lectures from leading designers, portfolio criticism and site visits to design studios and other innovative companies, like Google.
They also built extensive personal and professional relationships that could lead to a wealth of opportunities as they launch their design careers.
“We were meeting designers from different studios and different agencies almost every day,” Cook says.
“It was a very cool thing to do, especially halfway through the year when I still had a semester of uni to go, because it definitely opened my eyes to the possibilities that are out there for me.”
Cook, Lindberg and and Ossedryver will discuss their D&AD experience in a talk for the Australian Graphic Design Association at the Surry Hills Community Centre on 30 November 2017. Doors open at 630pm for a 645pm start.
