Cannes Lions launches Design category

Welcoming the appointment of Rodney Fitch CBE, chairman and CEO of Fitch Worldwide, to chair the inaugural Design Lions jury, festival CEO Philip Thomas said, “We are truly honoured to have Rodney Fitch chair the first Design Lions jury. With such a long and illustrious background in design, working with a broad portfolio of clients from all over the world, the inaugural Design Lions competition could not be in better hands.”

Commented Fitch, “I had often wondered why Cannes never honoured design; for isn't design the very platform on which so much creative endeavour is based? Now that the world has come to its senses, I'm greatly honoured, and not a little humbled to be the Design Jury's inaugural president and am confident the work we shall see will be inspirational and help make these Lion roar even louder.”

Entries will be rewarded for creativity, originality, execution and consumer engagement. The winners of the first-ever Design Lions and Grand Prix will be honoured in Cannes on Wednesday, 18 June 2008, alongside the Press and Cyber Lions winners.

Distinguished career in design

Rodney Fitch CBE, chairman and CEO of Fitch Worldwide, will chair the inaugural Design Lions jury

During a distinguished career in design that has spanned nearly forty years, Fitch has served as a member of the Design Council and as a past president of both the Chartered Society of Designers and D&AD. In 2005 he was inducted into the Legion of Honour and Hall of Fame of the American Institute of Store Planners, the most prestigious award in retail design for an individual, and in 2006 was a finalist for the Prince Philip Designer's Prize. He was awarded a CBE in 1990 for services to the British Design industry.

Fitch is also active in the development of design education and is currently a senior governor of the University of the Arts, London, the largest collegiate institution of its kind in Europe, and supervises an MA course in Retail design at the Hoegeschool Academy in Rotterdam, Holland. He is also chairman of V & A Enterprises, the Victoria and Albert museum's commercial business.

He founded the Fitch agency in 1972 and now has 19 studios in 12 countries around the globe. His work embraces brand development, packaging design and corporate branding, and specialises in delivering “consumer experience” in the retail environment across all retail sectors. Clients worldwide include Amazon, Bentley Motors, BP, Dunlop, DHL, Hewlett-Packard, IKEA, L'Orèal, Lego, Marks & Spencer, Nokia, Microsoft, P&G, Starbucks, Toys ‘R' Us and Unilever.

Information regarding categories, which include Press, Outdoor, Film, Media, Sales Promotion, Cyber, Direct, Titanium, Integrated, Radio and now Design, and how to submit entries to the Design Lions competition will be available from 2 February 2008 at www.canneslions.com.