Tay Guan Hin on the Art Director’s Club awards and the One Show judging in the Caribbean

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Hin.jpgTay Guan Hin is the Global Executive Creative Director for J. Walter Thompson (pictured centre) and here’s his judging diary from the Art Directors’ Club and the One Show.

Five days ago in Washington Dulles airport, I had been trying to sleep along three uncomfortable steel chairs with my old computer bag acting as my ‘comfortable’ pillow at 3 am. Patiently waiting to catch my next flight at 7 am. After flying for over 30 hours from Singapore what’s another eight more hours till I reach Punta Cana, the place where the Art Directors’ Club and the One Show judging takes place.

Hin3.jpgHin 1.jpgHin 7.jpgHin 6.jpgHin 5.jpgHin4.jpgHaving heard so much about the Caribbean, I finally walked into the lobby of an all-inclusive resort called Bavaro Beach Palace, and I was not disappointed. The salty sea breeze greeted my face as I gazed upon the turquoise colored beaches filled with holidaymakers. The massive compound felt like a city within a city, thanks to the enormous beaches, numerous pools, various restaurants, a casino, a disco, and shopping malls. It even has its golf course and football field.

The One Show Club of Creativity knows how to pick the best locations for judges to feel inspired.

For over 97 years, ADC has continuously honored the very best in meticulous craftsmanship in the world of design, advertising and innovation.

Kevin Swanepoel, Chief Executive Officer, emphasized the difference between this show compared to the others when he addressed us on the first day.

He actively encouraged everyone to look beyond the big idea and judge on the craftsmanship above all other aspects. Every brush stroke, every pixel, every letter of every typeface must be perfect. Market share increase is nice, but we should be looking for beauty.

In today’s fast-paced world, we have lost in the art of craft, so it’s a timely reminder to pay attention to the details when I work on my next project before it flies out of the agency.

At a time when other shows continually find ways to increase their entry fees, it’s crazy for ADC to reduce their fees. To level the playing field, they introduced a tiered pricing structure, making it easier for smaller shops to have their work recognized on a global stage. It reflects ADC’s new mission to support the global creative community, no matter how small the design/agency is.

We have intense work cut out over the next four days.

Under the advertising discipline, we had over 38 subcategories to judge between the 9 of us. There’s also a greater emphasis on balancing the gender and diversity in all jury groups.

Our jury members consist of Greg Hahn, Eka Ruola, Greg Braun, Jenny Nicholson, Katherine Guethoff, Melvin Mangadea, Susan Young and Tara Gorman. It felt like a mini-reunion as I’d judged with some of them in another show precisely a year ago.

I’m glad the organizers kept this group small because it allowed us to have more opportunities to bond. It also made us more honest. When it came to discussing the best in discipline, I couldn’t detect any ego in the room. It was done respectfully without much prejudice. ” It’s one of the smartest, coolest, classiest juries I’ve ever had the pleasure of being on” sums it all up when Greg Braun texted in our chat group on the very last day.

There was even talk of starting our very own restaurant/agency.

The judging process consists of two rounds. (Not counting what has already judged online). For all 2d and 3d pieces, like life-sized posters, print, DM, you can physically touch and explore the craft of each detail. These were laid down on long tables. After each round of votes, another layer of work reveals like peeling an onion. Voting was done anonymous using their proprietary judging app on i-pads to score. At the end of each category, we have time to make final revisions and adjust our scores. Work that made it thru to the final round might not necessarily win even a merit.

And there are some pieces which didn’t also make it to the final list but was resurrected and went on to win high metals. There’s a strict policy that prohibits lobbying or disparaging comments which helped to move the conversation on. “Hey I have seen this before” or “I hate this piece” are merely disregarded without sound reasoning or proof.

How you enter for award shows is an art by itself. When there are too many entries for the same work in multiple categories, it creates judging fatigue.

The score usually starts strong but drops dramatically after continuous viewing. Every show has a different judging process. For ADC, every judge see all the same categories hence it makes sense to carefully select fewer categories that reap the most returns.

The standard overall was quite strong. There were familiar pieces that are already highly awarded from other shows, but the bulk was new which was refreshing to see.

Some of my favorites include the Doritos and Mountain Dew rap battle between Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman. An experimental video from Uber called Mother of all surprises where mothers were flown in to drive their loved ones all the way home as Uber drivers. The hilarious naughty cinema highjack by Burger King in a cinema showing “IT” and Cochlear, a cinema ad disguised as a hearing test with two different endings depending on your level of hearing loss.

Although I didn’t see many entries from Asia, the stronger ones I noticed came from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Manila, and  China. A particular poster from Japan featuring school girls fighting like Sumo wrestlers stood out. As awards budget shrink, agencies become more selective, but ADC is still a very worthy show, backed by The One Club for Creativity, which is a non-profit organization that reinvests back to the global creative community.

I’m honored to be invited and given this opportunity to judge alongside like-minded talented global CCO/ECD in selecting the final body of work. Indeed, it truly represents the breadth and depth of well-crafted innovative ideas that push the limit of creativity. I’m immensely proud of all the winners and leave Punta Cana more humbled yet inspired and motivated than ever to push my limits.

It’s 11.30pm now as I’m flying over Osaka. I’ve been trying to sleep but decided to write this blog instead. After flying for over 30 hours, what’re another 7 hours to go till I return back home?