Grand-Winning Team Arigatos produced its winning entry, ‘Track-for-All’, created by team members Yuki Abe, copywriter; Yuto Fujita, planner, Marina Kobayashi, creative planner, Dentsu, Japan and Doh Kim, art director, Cheil Worldwide, South Korea.
“The brief was inspiring to start off with,” said Kobayashi, “… honestly, Inclusive Design was a topic that no one in the team was familiar with. Learning about the concept was fun and interesting on its own and through this process, all members of the team naturally began to empathise with the institution’s mission, to ‘build a world where everyone can thrive’ (our Track-for-All strategy, was indeed, inspired by the message of this mission). The brief strongly made me feel that inclusive design was a concept that should be known more by the world and this feeling motivated me to create a strategy that will not only be educational, but more importantly enjoyable by a wide range of audience.”
Team Arigatos’ award-winning strategy for ‘Track-for-All’ employed a Rube Goldberg-inspired installation to introduce IHCD and its mission to advocate the use of inclusive design in the 21st century to a global audience. The young creatives strategised to overcome both creative and logistical challenges to earn their award-winning status.
“We made the Track-for-All device on our own, which was also a challenge. Most team members had no experience in arts and crafts, but we all worked together in constructing a Rube Goldberg-like machine that works,” continues Kobayashi. “One member of our team works in Korea, communication was difficult at times, because we couldn’t get together too often as a team. Meetings were often held on Skype and we had to ensure that all communication was kept transparent, to maintain a sense of teamwork.”
The jury was inspired by Team Arigatos’ dynamic pitch and powerful accompanying video illustrating the team’s prototype design for the ‘Track-for All’ showcase. Following the jury’s selection of the winning team, Valerie Fletcher, executive director of IHCD commented, “We enthusiastically move forward with the winning team Arigatos to realise their Track-for-All strategy through an exhibit in Boston.”
The winning team worked directly with the non-profit to make their idea into a reality. Mission accomplished! Team Arigatos had the opportunity to see their work go live and their award-winning showcase is now a permanent fixture in IHCD’s showroom at its Boston, Massachusetts headquarters.
“Being awarded the honour of a permanent installation has taught my team and I, that passion and commitment will bring along good results,” adds Kobayashi. “We all felt very passionate about this project, so it was very overwhelming for us when we got to know that the installation was going to be permanent.”
Team Arigatos hopes that that the installation will open new doors to more opportunities in the future and that it will continue to inspire people as long as it is on display. “We hope that the permanent installation will become a certificate for ourselves and the client, who will always be there, to celebrate the hard-work and passion poured into making the Track-for-All idea into shape.”
The benefits of the Torch Awards are robust. No other competition offers emerging creative talent the opportunity to be celebrated for innovative work created on behalf of a worthy non-profit, the experience of seeing their campaign utilised in the real world, a mentorship that provides access to advertising’s top-tier of creative leaders, and a life-changing experience that instils career confidence.
“For me and the team, I feel that earning the Torch Award has given us confidence to have belief in keeping hold of the ideas that we think are great. Earning the Torch Award has also taught us, that hard work, deep thinking, and strong teamwork truly does pay off at the end,” concludes Kobayashi.
The 2017 Torch Awards competition is the Integrated-Mixed Media Challenge. Interested young creatives may enter and submit their idea for tackling the needs and goals of 2017 partner Today, I’m Brave, a registered non-profit that celebrates people performing Brave acts every day and everywhere. For more information, go to Torch Awards website.
