UK's Sutherland is Loeries Communication Design jury chair
A five-times D&AD judge, Sutherland is a graduate of Norwich School of Art, worked at The Partners for six years, spent seven years at HGV and then went on to co-found Hat-trick design in 2001. Hat-trick has a number of big-name clients, including the Natural History Museum, British Heart Foundation and Royal Mail, and is currently ranked number three in the Design Week creativity table in the UK.
Are ideas universal?
With the clout of personal success and international judging experience behind him, Sutherland brings a wealth of insight to the role of Communication Design jury chairman. "I am very interested to see if ideas are as universal as I hope," he says.
"It will be fascinating to see and understand cultural and visual references because I love looking at and judging work. For me, it's quite selfish really - to see lovely work that I've not come across before. Having judged D&AD quite a few times, as well as other national competitions, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Loeries compare."
SA standards “high”
In an increasingly global brand-communication community, Sutherland has obviously been exposed to some South African talent already. "D&AD has obviously shown more international work in recent years, which has been great," he says. "The standard of South African work I've seen in annuals and magazines has been very high, and I think that this is an exciting time for design in particular, with amazing work being produced around the world and new companies springing up every year."
This is Sutherland's first visit to SA, and he's "looking forward to visiting and hoping it will be a great experience".
The Loerie Awards Judging Week kicks off with the Judges Seminar on 13 July 2009, and continues until 17 July. The 31st Annual Loerie Awards will be taking place in Cape Town, Thursday 24 September - Sunday 27 September 2009.
For more, go to www.theloerieawards.co.za.