New York agencies have dominated the ADC Awards. VMLY&R New York won the Black Cube for Best of Show for I Will Always Be Me, a book that banks the voices of those with MND, created for Dell technologies and Intel. MullenLowe US New York won Agency of the Year.
VMLY&R New York’s I Will Always Be Me https://www.iwillalwaysbeme.com/ also won behalf Best of Discipline in Interactive, three Gold Cubes (two in Interactive, one in Advertising), one Silver in Interactive, and two Bronze, one each in Advertising and Interactive.
Based on cumulative points for all Cubes and Merits won, MullenLowe US New York was crowned ADC 102nd Annual Awards Agency of the Year. The agency won two Best of Disciplines, in Brand/Communication Design and Illustration, for Something To Offend Everyone, for Brooklyn Film Festival. Overall, the work received four Gold Cubes (two in Illustration, one each in Brand/Communication Design and Advertising), two Silver (both in Advertising), one Bronze in Brand/Communication Design, and a Merit in Interactive.
This year’s ADC 102nd Annual Awards “of the Year” winners are:
- Agency of the Year: MullenLowe US New York
- Boutique Agency of the Year: Bickerstaff.734 Kyiv, and Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles (tie)
- Brand-Side Agency of the Year: Squarespace New York
- Design Team of the Year: The New York Times Magazine New York
- Boutique Design Studio of the Year: G Design Studio Athens
- Network of the Year: VMLY&R
- Production Company of the Year: Smuggler New York/Los Angeles
- Music & Sound Company of the Year: JSM Music New York
- Brand of the Year: Squarespace
- Non-profit Client of the Year: Brooklyn Film Festival
- Freelancer of the Year (as selected by The One Club and Working Not Working): Greg Miller, Greg Miller Photography, Mansfield Center (CT, US)
- Members’ Choice Award: Performance Art Toronto The Black Elevation Map for Black & Abroad
ADC 102nd Annual Awards Best of Discipline winners are as follows.
- Advertising: DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors Chillboards for Coors Light
- Apparel/Accessory/Footwear Design: Jam3 and Media.Monks Amsterdam Ozworld for Adidas Originals
- Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design: iart – studio for media architectures Basel with AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi Milano Novartis Pavillon – Zero-Energy Media Facade for Novartis
- Artificial Intelligence: Dentsu Tokyo with Data Artist Inc., Dentsu Live, and Shindii, all in Tokyo, Voice Watch for Toyota Mobility Foundation
- Brand/Communication Design: MullenLowe U.S. New York Something To Offend Everyone for Brooklyn Film Festival
- Brand-Side/In-House: Squarespace New York with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles The Singularity for Squarespace
- Experiential Design: FCB New York McEnroe vs McEnroe for Anheuser Busch Michelob ULTRA
- Gaming: The Hive Toronto with MLB New York Chatham Plays On for OLG
- Illustration: MullenLowe U.S. New York Something To Offend Everyone for Brooklyn Film Festival
- Interactive: VMLY&R New York I Will Always Be Me for Dell Technologies and Intel
- Motion/Film Craft: VMLY&R Mexico Mexico City Shout for Telefonica Movistar
- Packaging Design: G Design Studio Athens Dia Elis for Dia Elis
- Product Design: Serviceplan Germany Munich with Serviceplan Korea Seoul Dot Pad. The first smart tactile graphics display for Dot Incorporation
- Photography: The New Yorker New York Waiting for the School Bus in Uvalde for The New Yorker
- Publication Design: Rang Li Stockholm Chinese Nursery Rhymes for China People’s Education Press
- Typography: DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors Chillboards for Coors Light
Winners from AUNZ: Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles led the way, ending up tied for ADC 102nd Annual Awards Boutique Agency of the Year honours, based on cumulative points for all Cubes and Merits won this year.
The agency won two ADC Gold Cubes, both for The Walking Dead – Pathways on behalf of The Walking Dead in Gaming, one each in Sound Design and Narrative. Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles also picked up a Bronze in Interactive, UX/UI – User Interface Design for work on behalf of RCA, and a Merit in Illustration for branding identity work for Billycart.
The complete list of ADC 102nd Annual Awards winners in AUNZ is:
Australia Gold
- Google Brand Studio APAC Sydney with Nakatomi Sydney Project Skate for Google in Artificial Intelligence, AI – Process
- Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles The Walking Dead – Pathways for The Walking Dead in Gaming, Gaming – Sound Design
- Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles The Walking Dead – Pathways for The Walking Dead in Gaming, Gaming – Narrative
- R/GA Australia We Are Warriors for We Are Warriors in Brand/Communication Design, Design for Good – Brand/Communication Design – Single
Silver
- Thinkerbell Sydney with Akcelo Sydney and Scoundrel Sydney Furphy What The Truck?! for Lion, Furphy in Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design, Public Art – Installation Design
Bronze
- Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles RCA for RCA in Interactive, UX/UI – User Interface Design
- R/GA Australia MOCA for Museum of Chinese in Australia in Brand/Communication Design, Branding – Branding Systems/Identities – Integrated
Merit
- Google Brand Studio APAC Sydney with Nakatomi Sydney Project Skate for Google in Brand-Side/In-House, Innovation – Single or Series
- Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles Billycart for Billycart in Illustration, Branded Identity – Series
- R/GA Australia MOCA for Museum of Chinese in Australia in Brand/Communication Design, Branding – Logo
- R/GA Australia MOCA for Museum of Chinese in Australia in Brand/Communication Design, Design for Good – Brand/Communication Design – Single
- R/GA Australia MOCA for Museum of Chinese in Australia in Brand/Communication Design, Branding – Branding Systems/Identities – Integrated
- Thinkerbell Sydney with Akcelo Sydney and Scoundrel Sydney Furphy What The Truck?! for Lion, Furphy in Experiential Design, Live Experiences – Guerrilla/Stunt
Ben Miles, VP, executive creative director, brand design & consulting, APAC, R/GA, commented, “To be recognised on the international stage at ADC is a huge honour. What makes this even better is that WAW and MOCA are both projects that are making positive impact, using the power of design to help reframe narratives and show their pivotal role in Australia’s cultural fabric.”
New Zealand: Bronze
- Practise Auckland with James Goggin Auckland, Forest Young Los Angeles, and Amanda Barrow New York Redaction for W. W. Norton in Publication Design, Books – Image-Driven
Merit
- Osborne Shiwan Auckland Kaha for Atamira Dance Company in Typography, Poster
The ADC Designism Cube, for the entry that best encourages positive societal and political change, went to DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, for Chillboards on behalf of Molson Coors.
There were two winners of the ADC Fusion Cube, established two year ago along with The One Show Fusion Pencil as the industry’s first global award to recognise great work that best incorporates underrepresented groups in both the content of the ad and the team that made it:
- Performance Art Toronto The Black Elevation Map for Black & Abroad
- Serviceplan Germany Munich with Serviceplan Korea Seoul Dot Pad. The first smart tactile graphics display for Dot Incorporation
Top winners:
DDB Chicago and Squarespace New York tied for the most ADC Gold Cubes with eight each.
DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors won five Golds for Coors Light Chillboards and three Golds working with adam&eveDDB London, Mars Wrigley Chicago and dummy Venice (California) for Twix Bears.
Squarespace New York with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles received four ADC Golds for The Singularity, three with Rare Medium New York, Rock Paper Scissors New York, and Hero Films Reykjavik, for Squarespace Icons: Björk, and one with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles for The Singularity BTS.
FCB New York won six ADC Gold Cubes, all for McEnroe vs McEnroe on behalf of Anheuser Busch Michelob ULTRA.
Other top ADC Gold Cube winners this year were Klick Health Toronto with five, and four each for MullenLowe U.S. New York, The New York Times Kids New York, The New York Times Magazine New York, and VMLY&R Mexico Mexico City.
11,198 pieces were entered from 59 countries and regions in the ADC 102nd Annual Awards. Agencies, studios, freelancers, brands and production companies in 32 countries were awarded a total of 106 ADC Gold Cubes, 120 Silvers, 162 Bronze and 390 Merits this year.
The top five countries for winners are the US with 367, Canada and Germany with 75 each, China with 74, and Japan with 38.
A complete showcase of all ADC 102nd Annual Awards Cube and Merit winners can be viewed here.
