ADC 101st Annual Awards entries open with playful branding campaign

Founded in 1920, the ADC Annual Awards is the world’s longest continuously running awards program recognising global excellence in craft and innovation in all forms of advertising and design.

Using the theme “Creativity 101 - Each Cube Has a Story to Tell”, the campaign from DDB Paris focuses on how creatives go through all states of mind when searching for an award-winning idea, and depicts the unique story behind a great piece of work. A playful approach is used to illustrate the creative process and deconstruct the work to reveal what went into it.

The campaign will feature a number of both well-known and up-and-coming illustrators, graphic designers and other creatives from around the world, each conveying what went into one of their great ideas, their search for inspiration, and all the secret ingredients needed to generate amazing creative work.

“Behind each one of the iconic ADC Cubes hide unique stories - stories of passion, creativity, resilience, doubt and triumph”, said Alexander Kalchev, chief creative officer at DDB Paris. “To celebrate the incredible diversity of stories behind the Cube, we decided to put the creative community at the heart of our campaign, paying tribute to their creativity through a series of visuals that are as unique as the creative process.”

Entries can be submitted now, with fees increasing after each deadline period. Regular deadline is 31 January 2022, with extended deadline of 18 February 2022 and final deadline 4 March 2022. No physical entries will be accepted this year due to the ongoing pandemic, all entry media must be uploaded into the online entry system.

Tiered pricing, special awards

A special tiered pricing structure makes it easier for smaller agencies, studios and freelancers to participate. Larger agencies and brands pay the standard entry fee; smaller shops get a discount on entries (amount varies by discipline), and freelance creatives and one-person shops are eligible for an even greater reduction in their entry fee.

Other highlights of ADC 101st Annual Awards:

• Continued partnership with creative community Working Not Working on content collaborations, as well as the special Freelancer of the Year award, won previously by Los Angeles-based author, artist and illustrator Kadir Nelson and Brooklyn-based Brazilian film editor Mah Ferraz. All ADC 101st Annual Awards Gold Cube-winning entries submitted through the freelance level of the show’s tiered-pricing system will be judged again by a separate jury that includes the Working Not Working community.

• ADC Members’ Choice Award, where freelance members of both The One Club and Working Not Working are invited to cast votes for their favorite entry amongst the year’s top-scoring works in all ADC Design disciplines.

• For the second year, the competition includes the ADC Fusion Cube, the advertising and design industry’s first global initiatives to recognise great work that best incorporates underrepresented groups in both creative content and the team that made it.

• Also in its second year is the ADC In-House Design discipline, recognizing creative excellence by brands.

• Reduced pricing for personal/unpublished work in Fashion Design, Illustration, Motion/Film/Gaming Craft, Photography and Typography.

  ADC 101st Annual Awards juries will be announced shortly. Judging will be conducted online, starting in March 2022, with finalists announced in May. ADC 101st Annual Awards Gold, Silver and Bronze Cube winners will be announced during Creative Week in May 2022.

  The One Club awards shows each have their distinct focus: ADC Annual Awards juries look to champion excellence in craft, design and innovation, while The One Show judges focus on creativity of ideas and quality of execution.

  Unlike for-profit awards shows, The One Club is a non-profit organisation that puts revenue generated from awards entries back into the industry in the form of programmes under its four pillars: Educations, Inclusion & Diversity, Gender Equality and Professional Development.

  These programmes include the annual Where Are All The Black People diversity conference and career fair, One School free portfolio program for Black creatives, One Production free training program to bring greater diversity to the production side of the business, Creative Boot Camps for diverse college students, Right the Ratio Summits addressing gender equality, Creative Leaders Retreats, Mentor & Creative providing mentorships at agencies for nearly 200 young creatives, bi-annual Saturday Career Workshops for high school students and more.