Young creatives unlock the potential of the Surface
D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay announcing the Microsoft Surface New Blood Award winners. Photo: LarryJ (fb.com/larryjdotphotography)
Young up-and-coming creatives were able to show their fresh perspective at the D&AD New Blood Festival Awards.
The D&AD New Blood Festival showcases young creative, design, and advertising students or career starters and celebrates the brilliance of commercial creativity. It’s designed to help kickstart the careers of young professionals in the industry.
Part of the festival is a competition where 17 companies submit briefs. Microsoft Surface put forward a brief to encourage 18-24 year olds to be bold and use their skills and show the potential a Surface device brings.
They were encouraged to think out-of-the-box and use their talent and experiences to create an ad campaign that would show how the Surface opens a world of possibilities and empowers people.
Ideas put forward included the story of a relationship, the story of a man who researches snowflakes, the power of collaboration and even questions what reality is.
Ten jury members including two from Microsoft, Consumer Marketing Director Paul Davies, and Devices Category Director Simon Lambert, were amazed by the quality of the work and the creativity shown.
“Innovation and creativity are very important to me, and I believe great marketing should not only deliver commercial impact but should delight and surprise the audience,” says Davies. “This year’s entrants certainly took the brief to heart and showcased the potential Surface brings to its users.”
Overall, there were ten briefs that excited the jury and were awarded prizes.
Seven won the New Blood Wooden Pencil Award, a shortlist of the best work submitted.
Two won the New Blood Graphite Pencil, awarded to those briefs that went further to impress the judges.
One, La Rupture, won the New Blood Yellow Pencil Award. This was awarded to those briefs that were classed as outstanding. It’s the second highest award on offer during the festival.
According to the team behind it, “La Rupture aims to show that Microsoft Surface wants above all to be an instrument of creativity, of sharing and emotions, to give humans back their values and their creative power – even in the most personal of matters.”
Winners of the Yellow Pencil Award for La Rupture; Léna Le Rigoleur and Cath Shayler. Photo: LarryJ (fb.com/larryjdotphotography)
The teams received their awards from D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay who said of the competition: “…Looking at the quality of work, I’m confident that the future of our industry is in capable hands.”
The winners will be eligible for a bootcamp where they will continue widening their skillset and gets their foot in the industry. They also get to apply for an exclusive scholarship and funding opportunities to help further their career.
Microsoft also supported the event by being the device used to showcase all winning work for the competition during the two-day festival.
Find out more
See the winners of the 2018 Microsoft Surface brief
Find out more about how Microsoft supports the growth of digital skills in the UK
