Let's Do Lunch: ADC Interactive Jury

Breaking bread with the various juries of the One Show and ADC Awards

Judging for The One Show 2019 and the ADC 98th Annual Awards has officially begun, with the first disciplines being discussed and debated in beautiful Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Don't be too envious of the tropical location though; they're spending most of their days locked away in darkened rooms close to your work and far from the beach. The judges do get to have breaks, however, and when they step into the sunshine, it's a perfect opportunity to chat with them about their experiences in the jury room. We call this "Let's Do Lunch!"

We first got to catch with some members of the ADC Interactive Jury: Henry Cowling, Creative Managing Director of MediaMonks in San Francisco; Elav Horwitz, VP Global Innovation Director for McCann Worldgroup in New York; Augie Chun, Head of West, Creative Strategy at Snapchat in Los Angeles; Jenny Ehlers, Executive Creative Director at King James in Cape Town; and Giulia Magaldi, Senior Art Director at GUT in Miami.

Welcome guys! Let's start this off nice and easy — what has the work been like on this first day?

Henry: It's been a really good first couple of hours! It's been really exciting to see some of the work. I don't really have a sense of how the rest of you are feeling about what we're looking at, or where your hearts are at, but I already have a few favorites. That said, I don't think I'll reveal them quite yet. (laughs) Once I get a sense of what everyone else is thinking, then I'll come in and strike hard with my top picks!

You've seen quite a bit of work already, despite it being only the first day you've all been together. That probably means you're starting to notice some trends in the entries. Are there any trends that you're noticing that you're already getting tired of?

Elav: Snapchat filters! (laughs while looking at Augie) With some of the entries we have seen so far, you see the excitement of using new technologies with little thought to how the consumers will experience it. You'll see case studies where they'd say "we did a cool filter!" That's nice, but why did you do a cool filter, as opposed to something else? And it's not just filters, it's Alexa, it's other AR applications. I feel that the trend is to jump onto the latest thing without a solid reason to do so, and that needs to stop.

Augie, you're from Snapchat, so you're probably more familiar with the creative capabilities of the platform than most. As Elav just said, some agencies might be creating a filter just to create a filter. But surely you're also seeing things that surprise even you in how Snapchat is being used.

Augie: I'm blown away by the level of craft that I'm seeing, as it intersects with AR. Just to put something together in the AR world is an achievement itself, but you can't just stop there. Fortunately a lot of the things I'm seeing today are really showing me how the technology can be leveraged to build out entire multifaceted campaigns, not just one-off executions. I can't wait to see more!

Let's get back to something positive. What have you seen this morning that you wish you saw more people and agencies were doing?

Jenny: I especially love it when digital work interacts with print design. If I may be so bold as to mention a piece that I really loved, there's the Puma "world's fastest annual report." Annual reports are huge in the design world, and this is an incredible example of where print and digital intersect. It also helps that it tied into their brand so perfectly.

There once was a time when what we call "interactive" or "digital" was more of a supplemental medium, there to back up film and print and whatnot. It's obviously not that anymore, but looking back to the kinds of interactive work that existed at the start of your careers versus the work you're seeing in the jury room today in 2019, what has that evolution been like?

Henry: Interactive is now undoubtedly the mainstream. I remember back when I was 21, my first creative director told me "don't get into digital, you'll never get out of it." And now the geeks have taken over the world. That's where the action is in our industry.

One of the things that I love about interactive is that it's so accessible. A person with a decent laptop can make work that's on par with what some of the best studios are coming out with. And with social media know-how, they can even distribute it. It's become such a level playing field.

"One of the things that I love about interactive is that it's so accessible. A person with a decent laptop can make work that's on par with what some of the best studios are coming out with."

Finally, what's been the most surprising aspect of judging so far?

Giulia: There were a number of amazing projects that I saw this morning that were completely new to me, and I find that so fascinating. You're so used to seeing great work being shared in our industry, and by the time it makes it to the award shows, you've seen it so many times that all you need is the first two seconds of a case study video to know what it's all about. That's why it's a joy to be here, discovering moving, powerful projects that I've never seen before.

The One Show 2019 and the ADC 98th Annual Awards will both be awarded during the One Club Creative Week, which takes place May 6–10 2019 in New York City. Tickets are available now.

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