Rosie Arnold D&AD President chooses favourite work from 50 years of entries
As D&AD seeks entries for its 2012 Awards, Rosie Arnold, president of the creative organisation, takes a look back and picks some of her favourite pieces of creative work entered over its 50 years in existence.
Apple Mac – the iMac design made computers accessible and beautiful. Before they’d just been lumps on your desk. This, coupled with the easy to use interface, changed the way we think and interact with technology.
Apple iPhone– Another revolution in how we think about technology: the iPhone made it desirable. Small, light compact, powerful… getting a QWERTY keyboard into the interface was a masterstroke.
VW lemon print ad – Admittedly this came out before D&AD started in 1962, but worthy of a mention, because it caused a seismic shift in advertising. It took a derided product, and turned the criticism into a virtue. Ground-breaking. The simple, clean art direction is still with us today. Clever, funny and – most importantly – memorable.
Levi's Launderette – This ad got In Book but not a Pencil at D&AD, which underestimated its long term impact (It happens occasionally!). Until this ad, Levi’s were naff. Hegarty’s great insight was to find a genuine moment when the brand was cool – America in the 50’s – but transpose modern values onto it. The intention wasn’t to have the guy in any underwear, but the regulator complained, so he ended up in the white boxers that made him an instant pin up.
Guardian Points of view ad – This is my favourite-ever ad. It forces you to re-evaluate your own prejudices. The impression it gives of the brand is competition defying – that only The Guardian can ‘give you the full view’. A great insight.
Heineken; Refreshes the parts ''water in Majorca" – Vintage Heineken. The play on Eliza Doolittle is brilliant, and you’re constantly guessing what’s going to happen next. Compelling.
Michael Johnson Stamps with moustaches! – Designing stamps is one of those things that every designer wants to do. But often when it comes to it, the results aren’t that interesting – it’s a lot of pressure with loads of stakeholders. The customisable moustaches were such a great idea. This felt like it was a first.
Norman Foster Needle bridge in France – I have a sneaking love of Architecture, and I was on the Black Pencil Jury that awarded this, so I feel very passionate about it. The bridge’s ethereal quality is just mesmerising. A great feat of human ingenuity.
ID magazine covers - Every cover of ID features someone winking. It’s an inspired piece of thinking: it represents the logo ‘ID’ and it speaks volumes about the ethos of the brand.
Woolmark Logo – Everything a logo should be, classic, beautiful, and sympathetic to the product. Perfect. You could turn this into a piece of jewellery and wear it.
Lego Kipper– The greatest product demonstration ever. The Tommy Cooper voice over isn’t actually Tommy Cooper – just a great mimic. Genius on a budget.
Tap Project – This – along with Nike’s Livestrong – was one of the first campaigns to truly embrace creativity as a means to change the world. Beautiful design, brilliantly executed.
Fed Ex logo– I love this for the arrow they snuck in there.