Future Lions, AKQA’s annual global competition to unearth the next generation of creative talent, is now open for entries. This will be the 15th year of the competition and AKQA has secured Lego Group and WIRED as official partners.
This year’s Future Lions theme is a call to action for young people aged 18 – 25 to show how creativity is an essential skillset to Rebuild The World. Young people are encouraged to use the power of imagination and technology to create a campaign, product, or solution that will help shape the future.
Because of the pandemic, the brief will be open until April 1 2021. Four winning teams will pitch their ideas live to an expert creative jury in (northern hemisphere) summer 2021. The jury will include the LEGO Group Global chief marketing officer & EVP, Julia Goldin; the LEGO Agency global head and SVP, Remi Marcelli; and Wired Magazine, and it will be hosted by AKQA chief creative officer, Peter Lund.
In a first for the competition, one of the four winners will be crowned with a Grand Prix. Its team will then work with the LEGO Group and AKQA to create the idea. Each of the teams will be awarded a prestigious Future Lions trophy.
Julia Goldin commented, “At the LEGO Group we are committed to develop and inspire the builders of tomorrow. LEGO bricks provide endless possibilities for creativity, imagination and fun, whilst helping to develop skills like creative problem solving and collaboration. We are delighted to partner with AKQA on this year’s Future Lions competition to challenge and inspire future creative leaders to produce innovative ideas to ‘rebuild the world’.”
Peter Lund stated, “Future Lions was born from a belief that the future ultimately belongs to the next generation of thinkers. For them to have a real impact through their ideas, we had to evolve the role of the competition to be anchored in the real world. We couldn’t imagine a better partner than the LEGO Group to spearhead this next chapter of the Future Lions legacy.”
Future Lions has kickstarted the careers of many of today’s creative leaders. Last year more than 440 schools across 71 countries took part in the competition. Each year, the school with the most shortlisted entries wins Future Lions’ School of the Year’ trophy. Previous winners include Berghs (Sweden) and Miami Ad School.
The full brief is available from www.futurelions.com, with the closing date for entries April 1 2021.
Previous winners:
- McDonald’s – Mcfive
Light-based disinfection technology is integrated into McDonald’s touch-screen service points, and customers are prompted to high-five the screen after ordering, which sterilises their hands before eating, in a fun and straightforward way.
Team: Da Hye Lee, Dong Hwi Jung, Lin Heo, Se Hun Oh, Seung Yeon Lee
School: Hongik University, Seoul
- Vodafone – Ur Voice
A necklace device uses AI to recreate the voice of a patient that has lost their natural voice, and syncs this with the patient’s mouth movements and gestures, to recreate the patient’s full range of vocal expression and emotion.
Team: Amanda Sanromã, Gabriel Gonçalves, Lucas Y Justino, Matheus Valery
School: University Centre of Fine Arts, São Paulo
- Apple – Epilepsy Watch Out
Apple Watch is used to detect a seizure, and Siri then provides step-by-step instructions to guide bystanders – who may otherwise feel powerless or afraid – to assist the patient, thus showing the potential for wearable technology to help both the wearer and those around them.
Team: Arendse Rohland, Sarah Peen Andersen
School: Miami Ad School, Hamburg