There are so many advertising awards, but only one judged by journalists, who can bring impartiality to the process. Epica has underlined this in its 2019 campaign by Hecho Studios Amsterdam, which uses the appeal of humour to remind those who might enter that it’s time to leave the “self love” to other awards and the attention grab of a striking visual image, created by photographer, André Bakker, and body paint artist, Ton Nizet, to highlight Epica’s uniqueness.

“We appreciate the aesthetic and unique perspective Epica brings to judging creative work. To elevate this we wanted to convey a bold and visually striking message inspired on op art. With André and Ton in the mix, we managed to create an eye-catching visual that illustrate self-affirmation with a dash of sex-appeal,” noted Gregg Clampffer, executive creative director at Hecho Studios Amsterdam. 

Epica Awards will return to Amsterdam for its next jury meeting, conference and ceremony from November 18 to 21. The ceremony will be held for the second time at the KIT Royal Tropical Institute. It will be preceded by the annual Creative Circle conference, whose subject this year is The Truth About Brand Purpose.

This year’s jury president is Fiona Rogers, Chief Operating Officer of Magnum Photos. For 70 years Magnum has been home to legendary photojournalists, many of whom have also worked in the advertising field.

Fiona Rogers commented: “The Epica Awards is at the intersection between journalism and advertising, making it an ideal match with Magnum Photos. Our photographers have always represented an idiosyncratic mix of reporter, artist and creator, and today our contemporary members continue to push the boundaries of those founding ideals.

“We are in an age of infinite content creation. More than ever brands are turning to emotive, powerful and relatable stories which have the ability to move and cut through the noise. It’s an honour to be invited to preside over such an important initiative. I’m looking forward to seeing how our entries creatively approach this shift to an expanded, 360 degree representation of the traditional authenticity tropes.”

Epica also has a new website, designed by Lithuanian studio and former Epica winners, Godspeed Branding.

Tomas Ramanauskas, co-founder of Godspeed Branding, stated, “We decided to go epic for Epica. First, we’ve focused on brand assets: a striking award—a glass pyramid. It became the focal point of the website, a spinning object of fetish. Then we’ve taken Epica’s main brand colour and made it rule their web look—all of it turning black.”

Dovydas Stonkus, Head of design, Godspeed Branding, added, “We’ve worked really hard on the practical things: a refreshed UX, fewer pages, responsive design, quicker access of information. Our design team used animation to make browsing a smooth, seamless experience. The creative process was exceptionally smooth since we knew the Epica Awards very well and had a clear vision of how we would like to make them look. Great communication with the Epica team helped tremendously.”