Wishful Thinking

By Alixandra Rutnik on Feb 01, 2023

ADC Jury Chairs discuss work they wish they made in the past year

What does Interactive, Publication, Gaming, Apparel, Illustration, Packaging, Experiential, and Architectural Design all have in common? They are all categories of the ADC 102nd Annual Awards, and this is your official reminder to enter your work before the the next deadline on February 17.

Our industry is exploding with talented masterminds, and we know it’s not good to be jealous, but hey, sometimes it just be like that. A little healthy competition is how advertising stays hip and cool. And sometimes the work is so good we wish we did it ourselves. So we asked the ADC Jury Chairs from the above disciplines to share the work they secretly wish they could take credit for it and why they love it so much.

Mathias Appelblad
Global Creative Director, SEB Group
Interactive Jury

Every once in a while, there's a project that wants to happen. I don't know if this project was briefed or if it was a proactive passion project, but I really like Apple's The Greatest which covers an incredibly important aspect of diversity– Inclusivity. I think Steve Jobs once said, “We make products for people who believe they can change the world.” Apple's highly engaging, thoughtful, and heartwarming film truly embodies that in a modern context. It communicates a fundamental belief in democratizing creativity and creation, as well as a responsibility and ingenuity for the brand. It's beautifully crafted and plays into a familiar type of storytelling without being cliché. The Greatest was made by Apple's London in-house team and directed by Kim Gehrig.

Luke Hayman
Partner at Pentagram
Publication Design Jury

Too many to narrow down. There are some projects that are so consistently well executed - The Guardian, The Atlantic, Eye Magazine. A less mainstream publication I love is Pit - the “magazine with roots in food and fire” by Art Director Holly Catford (who also designs Eye) is powerfully designed and fun. Richard Turley continues to be provocative with his mission of anti-design BS with Interview Magazine and Civilization. Anything by David Lane at the Gourmand - exquisite craftsmanship and style with a dry sense of humour, and anything by my partner Matt Willey - notably the Paris Review.

Image courtesy of The Atlantic

Pelle Sjoenell
Chief Creatvie Officer at Activision Blizzard
Gaming Jury

I think Gucci Town on Roblox was brilliant and important too, as Gucci made headlines after it sold a virtual handbag at a higher price than the bag’s IRL counterpart. The fact that it’s an ongoing activation, not just a one off, shows there’s true commitment from Gucci to claim market share in virtual fashion and their not just pulling off a marketing stunt. Gucci Town is the vision of Creative Director Alessando Michele.

Francine Candiotti
Fashion Designer
Apparel / Accessory / Footwear Design

The intersection of technology and fashion. A pandemic like COVID urges people to think outside of the box. This shakeup is currently happening within the fashion industry from face mask demands to ideas around new technologies, and anti-viral or anti-bacterial clothing. If anti-viral clothing becomes the new normal, will the fashion space mix with medicine too? Who knew the most demanded fashion item would become a face mask? The below photo depicts the original robot dress by Alexander McQueen and Bella Hadid getting a dress spray painted on her at the Coperni Show.

Image courtesy of Peeping Moon

Takashi Murakami
Artist at Kaikai Kiki
Illustration Jury

Episodes 7 and 8 of the animation series, Chainsaw Man. Chainsaw Man is written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto.

Mary Lewis
Creative Director & Founding Partner at Lewis Moberly
Packaging / Product Design Jury

The hurly burly of a supermarket is a tough place for great design to shine. Wall to wall iconic brands are guarded by their conservative brand owners. However Bahlsen, the much loved German biscuits, 132 years in the making, radically re-introduced itself to a global stage, with panache and attitude. The redesign by creative agency Auge Design is breaking with convention, as the familiar logo blazes across the pack with epic bravado. Gone are the rudimentary biscuit arrangements, and the new logo is just one iconic centrepiece. See it, buy it, remember it, LOVE it!

Image courtesy of World Brand Design

Cara Mandel
Co-Founder / CEO at Interwoven Immersive & Senior Producer at AltspaceVR and Microsoft Mesh
Experiential Design Jury

I traveled to Boston this year to attend the in-person return of Club Drosselmeyer and it was spectacular. Loosely based on The Nutcracker, set in swingtime era with a live big band, dance performances, delicious cocktails, a rousing dance floor, all while a cast of delightful characters wandered the halls offering puzzles to solve and missions to complete. It was a blast! Club Drosselmeyer is created by Kellian Adams Pletcher, founder of Green Door Labs.

Nisha Mathew Ghosh
Architect, Artist, & Curator
Architecture / Interior / Environmental Design Jury

The CaixaForum Madrid by architects Herzog and de Meuron represents a way to look at buildings of the future in its precise surgical incisions to adapt the old to new conditions of contemporaneity. It is exciting because old and new come together to revalidate the old buildings in the city and its people. It is picturesque in a tactical architectural gesture.

Image courtesy of Architizer