• Communicate when you have something relevant to say. It’s better to send less frequently than to annoy people with irrelevant content.
• Target and segment your audiences/messages. At M+B, we sent our top 20 prospects individually-tailored emails every month. Those emails landed us work with some of our favorite clients – Scion, Runner’s World and GOOD Magazine.
• Grow your social followings and post your email campaigns to your networks. It’s free, immediate and likely to get new eyes on your messages monthly.
• Give people the opportunity to opt out and respect their wishes. It’s the law and the right thing to do.
  

• Don’t be impulsive. Test your email before sending – it costs nothing to test a few alternate subject lines and lead images before pressing send on a large-scale emailing. Keep track of what works and increase the open/click rate with each campaign
• Don’t send one-offs. Think of emails as components of a larger campaign. Intersperse content-rich monthly newsletters with simple, image-driven announcements or sales. The best campaigns deliver the right messages at the right time to the right people. You can get even more personal with a minimally-branded email design for candid letters to your audiences.
• Don’t restrict yourself to typical email campaigns. At M+B we tested all print/motion campaign creative with short-run, targeted emails. It’s much less expensive to dial in your message by email that through ad buys and printed mailings.
  

• Communicate your desired action – opening and clicking is fine, let people know the real reason your sending – whether it’s to open an account, sell a product or invite people to an opening.
• Include your brand in the subject line. Try it, it works.
• For content-heavy emails, let people get to the relevant content with a table of contents/navigation and jumplinks.
• Great photography is a must. Assume your customers are one of the 50 million instagram users. They’re used to dialing in images of their kids, they’ll expect no less from your email.
• Kill your darlings! This is Les Segal’s mantra (my former boss, founder of Addison New York and author of some seminar information design books in the 70’s). Be disciplined with your design. You want your emails to reflect your brand without becoming a dumping ground for unnecessary design elements.
  

• Optimize your email design for mobile devices and tablets. You’d be surprised how many of your competitor’s emails break on mobile devices.
• Rich media within email is getting there. Outside of Mac Mail, email clients are spotty with video playback, animated gifs and HTML tricks. Stay current with what’s possible and use rich media where appropriately.  
• The future of marketing and advertising is limitless segmentation and targeting. Remember that Email is the most segmental campaign tactic on the planet – with no extra charge! Tailor your content to individual groups and watch your response rate soar. Pardon the cliché, but the movie Minority Report seems much more futuristic in 2002 than in 2012.
  

Art Directors Club Announces Global Winners
for ADC 91st Annual Awards

Creative Artists Agency takes four Golds for Chipotle “Back to the Start”,
BETC Paris wins three Golds for CANAL+ “The Bear;
Designism and cumulative award winners to be named at May 8 gala during Creative Week in New York.

NEW YORK, April 10, 2012 – The Art Directors Club (www.adcglobal.org), the premier organization for creatives in integrated media and the first global creative collective of its kind, announces the international winners of the prestigious ADC 91st Annual Awards.

In a break from past years, the top ADC Gold Cube winner was not a traditional advertising or design agency: Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Los Angeles landed four Golds and two Silvers in Advertising, Interactive and Motion categories for Chipotle’s“Back to the Start”.  The spot also garnered a Gold in sound design for Duotone Audio Group, New York.  “The Bear” television commercial for CANAL+ was also highly recognized, winning three Advertising Golds and a Silver for BETC Euro RSCG, Paris and a Silver for MJZ, Los Angeles.

Other significant overall winners included School of Visual Arts with nine ADC Cubes, The New York Times Magazine with six (including a pair of Golds, one each in Design and Photography), Heimat Berlin with five (three Silver and two Bronze in Interactive and Integrated), BBDO New York and MJZ, Los Angeles with four, and Google Creative Labs, Leo Burnett Toronto, Leo Burnett Sydney and Pentagram Design with three Cubes each.  This year’s winners represented 24 countries, reflecting the program’s global stature.

The awards will be celebrated during Creative Week at the ADC 91st Annual Awards Gala on May 8, 2012 at Espace (http://www.espaceny.com) in New York.  At the awards gala, the club will announce the  winner of its second-annual ADC Designism Award honoring work for a nonprofit that drives social or political change.  In addition, recipients of this year’s Agency of the Year, Network of the Year, Design Team of the Year and School of the Year honors, based upon a cumulative points system, will be revealed.  The exhibition of winning work opens May 9 at the ADC Gallery with a happy hour cocktail reception, 4:00-7:00 pm, and runs through May 24.

ADC Gold Cube winners in all categories are listed below.

Advertising: 37 ADC Cubes (10 Gold, 12 Silver, 15 Bronze, 14 Merit)

• BBH New York/Google Creative Labs, New York, NY, USA, for Google, “The Web Is What You Make Of It”, Advertising, TV/Film Television Commercial
• BETC Euro RSCG, Paris, France, for CANAL+, “The Bear”, Advertising, TV/Film Television Commercial
• BETC Euro RSCG, Paris, France, for CANAL+, “The Bear”, Advertising, TV/Film Cinema Commercial
• BETC Euro RSCG, Paris, France for CANAL+, “The Bear”, Advertising, Broadcast Craft, Direction
• Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for Chipotle, “Back to the Start “, Advertising, Broadcast Craft, Animation
• Duotone Audio Group, New York, NY, USA, for Chipotle, “Back to the Start “, Advertising, Broadcast Craft, Television Music/Sound Design
• Jung von Matt AG, Hamburg, Germany, for Anders Sundt Jensen, Damir Maric, “The Invisible Drive”, Advertising, Ambient/Environmental Stunts/Guerrilla
• JWT Shanghai, Shanghai, China, for Samsonite, “Heaven and Hell”, Advertising, Press Craft, Art Direction
• LOWE/SSP3, Bogota, Colombia, for Ministry of Defense, “Operation Christmas”, Advertising, Ambient/Environmental Stunts/Guerrilla
• Young & Rubicam, New York, NY, USA, for Land Rover, “Pathological Liar “, Advertising, Broadcast Craft, Copywriting

Interactive: 26 ADC Cubes (6 Gold, 12 Silver, 8 Bronze, 4 Merit)

• BBDO Germany GmbH, Dsseldorf, Germany, for Daimler AG, “smart eball”, Interactive, Physical Innovation
• Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for Chipotle, “Back to the Start“, Interactive, Online Content Original Web Commercials
• DDB Paris, Paris, France, for MINI France, “MINI Maps “, Interactive, Social Online Game
• kempertrautmann gmbh, Hamburg, Germany for edding International GmbH, “Wall of Fame”, Interactive, Website Campaign Site
• Mirada, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for IBM, “Think”, Interactive, Physical Installation
• MUHTAYZIK | HOFFER, San Francisco, CA, USA, for Call and Response, “Slavery Footprint”, Interactive, Website Campaign Site (micro-site)

Integrated: 12 ADC Cubes (2 Gold, 5 Silver, 5 Bronze, 3 Merit)

• Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, CA, USA, for Sprint, “All Together Now”, Integrated
• Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners, New York, NY, USA, for BMW North America, “BMW ActiveE - A Social Experiment Shaping the Future of Mobility”, Integrated

Design: 47 ADC Cubes (6 Gold, 11 Silver, 30 Bronze, 15 Merit)

• ART+COM, Berlin, Germany, for Deutsche Bank AG, “Anamorphic Mirror”, Design, Environmental Design, Retail/Restaurant/Office/Outdoor or Vehicle
• ayrcreative, Tokyo, Japan, for Daichinomi, “Handmade 2011 Calendar” Design, Corporate/Promotional Design Calendar or Appointment Book
• Happy F&B, Gothenburg, Sweden, for Gteborgstryckeriet, “Lost & Found”, Design, Corporate/Promotional Design, Booklet/Brochure
• Iyama Design, Inc., Tokyo, Japan, for Kamoi Kakoshi Co., Ltd., “mt train, mt expo, mt ex Hiroshima”, Design, Environmental Design, Retail/Restaurant/Office/Outdoor or Vehicle
• The New York Times Magazine, New York, NY, USA, in-house, “What Happened to Air France Flight 447?”, Design, Editorial Design: Magazine Cover
• Serviceplan Gruppe fur Innovative Kommunikation, gmbh & co. kg, Munich, Germany, for Austria Solar, “The Solar Annual Report”, Corporate/Promotional Design, Annual Report

Motion: 15 ADC Cubes (3 Gold, 5 Silver, 7 Bronze, 2 Merit)

• Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for Chipotle, “Back to the Start “, Design, Motion Animation
• Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for Chipotle, “Back to the Start “, Design, Motion Direction
• Psyop, Los Angeles, CA, USA for Fage, “Plain”, Design, Motion Cinematography

Photography: 18 ADC Cubes (4 Gold, 7 Silver, 7 Bronze, 6 Merit)

• EDG, Cond Nast, New York, NY, USA for Abstract Partners, “POWER Platon”, Photography, Magazine Editorial Miscellaneous
• Harper’s Bazaar, New York, NY, USA, in-house, “The Real Lady Gaga”, Photography, Magazine Editorial Fashion
• The New York Times Magazine, New York, NY, USA, in-house, “On Earth As It Is In Heaven”, Photography, Magazine Editorial Miscellaneous
• TIME Magazine, New York, NY, USA, in-house, “Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience “, Photography, Magazine Editorial Miscellaneous

Illustration: 9 ADC Cubes (1 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze, 8 Merit)

• Laurence King Publishing, London, UK, in-house, “Let’s Make Some Great Art”, Illustration, General Book (Commercially Published)

Student: 19 ADC Cubes (6 Gold, 7 Silver, 6 Bronze, 7 Merit)

• Art College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA, drug abuse PSA, "Get the Message", Design, Motion Motion Graphics
• Filmacademy Baden-Wrttemberg, Ludwigsburg, Germany, for Dirt Devil, “Exorcist”, Advertising, Broadcast Craft, Art Direction
• Miami Ad School, San Francisco, CA, USA, for Homeless Youth Alliance, “Keep the Meter Running”, Advertising, Ambient/Environmental Stunts/Guerrilla
• School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA, in-house, “SVA Portfolio Screening 2011”, Design, Motion/TV Identities/Openings/Teasers
• University of the Arts, Bremen, Germany, for Das Magazin, “Der Schne Mann”, Design,  Editorial Design/Magazine/Full Issue
• University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA, for Pandora Radio, “Poster Series”, Advertising, Poster or Billboard Promotional

Art Directors Club Creative Week events

ADC 91st Annual Awards Gala:
Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 6:30 pm cocktails, 8:00 pm awards presentation
Espace, 630 West 42nd St. between 11th-12th Ave, New York http://www.espaceny.com
Attire: creative black tie
To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.adcglobal.org/adc/events/calendar/#328.

ADC 91st Annual Awards Exhibition
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 opening, cocktail reception 4:00-7:00 pm
Exhibition runs May 10-24, 2012, Monday-Friday, 10:00 am-6:00 pm, free admission, open to the public
ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th St., New York

The complete list of ADC 91st Annual Awards Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit winners will be posted shortly.  To view the list, please visit http://www.adcawards.org/winners/.

THE BLACKWING EXPERIENCE: the Art Directors Club celebrates the iconic pencil of the creative process

On April 17th, the Art Directors Club partners with Palomino Blackwing to present THE BLACKWING EXPERIENCE.  An opening party for the week-long Blackwing Experience exhibition in the ADC Gallery, this is a multimedia event celebrating the iconic Blackwing pencil.

For decades, Blackwings were the pencil of choice for a generation of visual artists, illustrators, animators, editors, composers and writers, and beloved by many of the greatest creative minds. The brand went dormant in the 1990s, although an impassioned fanbase remained.  Two years ago the Cal Cedar company revived the Blackwing, in a new version painstakingly modeled after the original. Now, as a new generation of creatives is discovering this classic tool, the Art Directors Club hosts a party that includes contemporary artists’ homage to the pencil, works by the Chuck Jones Center of Creativity,“artisanal pencil sharpening”, antique pencil memorabilia, live music, live projection drawing and more: plus opportunities for attendees to grab a drink, grab a Blackwing and create their own masterpiece.

We asked Charles Berolzheimer, the CEO of Cal Cedar, some questions about the return of the Blackwing.  The man responsible for the reviving of the brand, he is also a sixth-generation pencil-maker, and has a true passion on the subject.  In this interview he delves deep into what this pencil means to the creative fields, the involved process of bringing it back, and what it means to pick a pencil up in the digital age.

So, we’re celebrating a pencil. What is this Blackwing and where does it come from?
The Blackwing 602 was originally introduced by Eberhard Faber in the 1930’s.  It had two distinctive features compared to most other graphite pencils used for art and writing purposes in its era.  It had a special formulation for its graphite core which provided for a very smooth writing performance that was marketed with the slogan “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed”.  The graphite performance was similar to Eberhard Faber’s premium Microtomic range of graded leads for artists and technical drawing purposes, but available only in one grade which was never imprinted on the pencil or commonly disclosed.  Additionally the Blackwing features a distinctive ferule and eraser design with a removable and extendable block eraser that offered some improved utility vs. standard cylindrical erasers permanently fixed to the pencil.  

The Blackwing was produced by Eberhard Faber until 1987 when the company was acquired by Faber-Castell USA who took over production relocating to their Lewisburg, Tennessee factory.  For a brief period the pencil became the Faber-Castell Blackwing 602.  About 1994 Faber-Castell USA was purchased by Newell Rubbermaid through it’s Sanford Sharpie division, although the brand rights to Faber-Castell name were retained by the German partner.   Newell continued production of the Blackwing until 1998 when it was discontinued due to lack of sufficient sales given their primary focus on mass market high volume products.

The new Palomino Blackwing and Palomino Blackwing 602 models are produced in Japan by small customers for our wooden cedar slats who have an exceptional level of craftsmanship and reputation for high quality.   Japanese produced graphite cores are among the smoothest darkest available in the world. The Palomino Blackwing model first introduced in 2010 features a softer formulation with a buttery feel ideal for sketching and music notation offering a rich, dark mark.  Subsequently we worked closely with our graphite supplier to introduce our Palomino Blackwing 602 model with a slightly firmer lead, that more closely replicates the original Eberhard Faber version both in function and design, including the “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed” slogan.  The 602 model provides for a longer lasting point between sharpening with slightly lighter mark nearly comparable in smoothness to our standard Blackwing model and is favored by writers and others seeking longer lasting sharpness.  Both models revive the unique replaceable eraser with a slightly larger and better performing white and black erasers that pair well with the matt black and pearl grey finish of the two pencils.  Pink replacement erasers are available as an add-on purchase for those who prefer a more traditional look.  

The Genuine Incense-cedar wood our company supplies for these pencils grows in the forests of California and Oregon and provides for exceptional smooth machining, sharpening and brilliant lacquer finish for which this species and our company’s slat products are long respected.  In fact, Incense cedar is the one raw material consistently sourced and utilized along the historical timeline of production for the Blackwing Pencil. From the first Eberhard Faber versions produced in the US in the 1930s through to our Palomino version today produced in Japan. Incense-cedar is part of the legacy of the Blackwing brand.  
 
What makes this such an iconic creative instrument?
First, the distinctive design and performance of the Blackwing has had a unique appeal throughout its lifetime.  Under Eberhard Faber and it’s successors the design went through several variations as the brand evolved over time.  In fact the oldest models had a slightly softer graphite core and a darker black lacquer finish evolving over time to the gunmetal grey metallic with the harder formulation produced in later years.  These historical evolutions in design and performance are mirrored somewhat in the differences between our earlier Palomino Blackwing and Blackwing 602 models today.  The users of Blackwing pencils seem to have identified with the distinctive look and feel of the pencils and associated this with their creative process in some way.

Throughout it’s history the Blackwing pencil was used by a broad range of creative artists in the arena of music and lyric composition, animation, and broader artists and writers as well as others who simply appreciate the pencil for its excellent performance, look and feel.  Leading creative influences such as Chuck Jones, Steven Sondheim, Steinbeck, Duke Ellington and more are all known to have used the original Eberhard Faber Blackwing.  The directors of the Boston Athenaeum, a private library liked it so much that when they learned the Blackwing was to be discontinued, snapped up much of the remaining supply Within four years after its withdrawal from the market fans and collectors of the pencil were will willing to pay upwards of $20, $30 and even $40 a pencil for old stock via eBay auctions, some of these occasionally offered by the Athenaeum over the years.  In 2002 Ales Beam writes the first article on the story of the Blackwing Pencil.  Later stories appear in the blogosphere by Mark Fraunfelder from Boing Boing and Doug Martin of American Pencil Collectors Society on his Pencil Pages website plus a few animation and pencil bloggers also write about the Blackwing.  

Our re-introduction of the Blackwing in it’s two models has renewed interest in the Blackwing pencil from traditional fans of the pencil as well as a new generation of creative artists, musicians, writers, animators and more.

It disappeared from the market: why bring it back? What was that process?
I think it’s probably an old familiar story that can be seen in a few industries.  For years we had witnessed and dealt with the impact of increasing globalization of the pencil industry on our company and on our customers purchasing our wooden pencil slats around the world.  Larger more powerful retailers demanding ever reduced pricing, offering reduced shelf space to the category, mergers and acquisitions within the industry leading to product line rationalizations with some brands like the Blackwing disappearing altogether and others experiencing a reduction in quality as traditional producers began substituting inferior materials and workmanship to address the incursion of lower quality cheaper pencils from developing countries.  Despite modest growth in unit volume around the world there was little product innovation in the pencil industry except from a few industry leaders.  Increasing supply chain efficiency, rationalization, margin reduction and cost reduction were the driving factors, but unlike other industries that continued to innovate, the lack of product innovation meant that typical users of pencils were getting short changed.  They were paying less for their pencils, but a new generation was at risk of growing up not ever experiencing what a good quality pencil really looked and felt like, hardly anyone was spending much on advertising and promotion of their pencils as opposed to their overall brands or other writing instruments with higher margins and ultimately this probably was not good news for the pencil industry as compared to alternative writing and communication tools.

Palomino started really more as an experiment.  We knew some great small sub-contract manufacturers in Japan who we’ve had relations with for several generations as a wood supplier.  Given demographics of the Japanese pencil market which is declining in annual unit volume a number of these smaller producers with their excellent skills and craftsmanship have been at risk of passing through to successive generations.  Could we help them establish a new market in the US and abroad while beginning to tell a story that reminds people what a great pencil really is and see if we could have a positive impact on these trends for our company and our customers in the industry alike?  Because of price competition Japanese pencils were not really being exported at all, even by the largest well known producers such as Mitsubishi and Tombow. We originally introduced our Palomino range of drawing pencils which covered a grade scale of 2H to 2B in 2005 via eBay, and have since extended to include 4B and 6B which are even darker and softer than the rest of the range or our two Blackwing models.  

At the same time, Web 2.0, blogging and early stages of social media was just beginning and we saw an opportunity to tell our story directly to the end users.  I started my Timberlines blog but was inconsistent in my time commitment to blogging, but it helped get the Palomino going.  By the end of 2007 we completed a shareholder transition that allowed us to better align company strategy with my vision for renewing the company as an industry innovator vs. continually focusing on cost reduction, shrinking and preservation of assets.  That year we also closed down our own 5 year experiment with pencil manufacturing in Thailand where we had successfully increased volume and made some pretty good pencils for our traditional slat customers, however thin OEM margins and too much working capital tied up meant minimal return for the effort and money invested.  In 2008 we converted our old Incense Cedar Institute Pencil Pages site which had several hundred thousand visitors per year from teachers, students and pencil enthusiasts to Pencils.com and started our own ecommerce sales on that URL.  I didn’t really know what I was doing, the site was a mix of a store and a social network narrowly focused on pencils, the teachers and students visiting were not really the target market for $1 each Palomino pencils.  I was afraid to spend anything on marketing and advertising until I began to see some return for the investment I had made to date so we operated with a very thin team of people pulling double duty in both our core slat business and this new e-commerce effort.

Almost from the first time we introduced the Palomino pencils in 2005 we had a few fans started making comparisons of our Palomino graphite pencils to the performance of the Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602.  We received numerous requests to issue a Palomino version with the unique removable/extendable eraser.  We explored this, but minimum order quantities far exceeded what we were even selling so far in all our Palomino pencils combined each year.  After launching the Pencils.com ecommerce store in 2008 our volumes began to climb over the next year and I was able to negotiate lower minimums for these classic eraser assemblies.  When I subsequently learned that Newell had failed to maintain the trademark on the Blackwing, I dropped the idea of naming the new product the Palomino Pegasus and claimed the Blackwing name.   We planned a fall 2010 launch tied to completion of a redesign of the Pencils.com site to focus more on creativity and self-expression as a branding platform.   Ultimately we introduced a black matt finish closer to the original Blackwing lacquer finish with a somewhat softer lead to distinguish from our most popular Palomino HB pencil and to more closely approximate the softer feel of the oldest Blackwing pencils we tested.  We had a lot of feedback about the pencil and some felt it was too soft having more experience with the later pencils which were a bit firmer, as well as calls for the gunmetal grey finish and the “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed” slogan, but we had enough feedback that we decided to go ahead.  

We were fortunate to get some good publicity timed well with the October 1st launch date and the sales of the Palomino Blackwing took off right from the start.  By early 2011 we had worked closely with our supplier of graphite to come up with a formulation that best matched the firmer performance of later Eberhard Faber Blackwing production and designed and launched the Palomino Blackwing 602 in June of last year to even better response and the publicity has continued to grow.  Today both pencils are selling well and we’re gaining retail distribution slowly but steadily with the firmer pearl grey 602 model outselling the softer black matt model by almost 2 to 1 ratio.  

What do you think it means to pick up a pencil in this digital creative era?
Digital drawing and writing tools certainly have a number of conveniences especially when it comes to speed and sharing of work with others in a collaborative environments.  However, people have been predicting the demise of pencils and pens for several decades due to digital media, but it’s just not happening.  There is simply a tactile sensation with the use of pencils, paint brushes, pens and other art materials on real paper that in my view transcends the digital creative experience.  Also the physical transference of the graphite or other art material medium onto the paper, layering and textures offers a sensory and for some an emotional connection to the process of creation that you really can’t duplicate at this point with a digital device.   Even when most of the finished work may be completed in a digital media pencils are quite often the implement of choice for the very first exploration and expression of a new creative idea by the artist, writer, lyricist or musician in sketching or notating as part of the process of conceptualization.  The ability to erase pencil marks relatively easily also allows for fine tuning and editing in a simple and efficient fashion.  

Certainly some people consider the need for sharpening wood-cased pencils a disadvantage, though many have a similar emotional and even nostalgic connection to the sharpening process and the use of the pencil in general.  Personally, I rarely use pens except when signing legal documents and never a mechanical pencil, that would be heresy for a wood guy like me.  I carry a pencil sharpener with me wherever I go.

What do you hope to accomplish with the Blackwing? Future plans?
I’d like to think that both the Palomino and the Blackwing names and our products and our company will become associated with premium quality and creative thought and expression in its many forms.  I see the Blackwing as an important vehicle to get the story of the wood cased pencil out to people who perhaps have taken pencils for granted, or think of them more narrowly only as a simple utilitarian device.  I’d like to get more people to rediscover the joy and pleasure of using a high quality pencil and to think of our products not just as a utilitarian good, but as an extension of their creative self.  Whether that’s scoring an original composition, keeping a personal journal or sketchbook or outlining your latest marketing idea, creativity comes in almost every part of our lives.

Really, whether it’s one of our company’s brands or any of the many of fine pencils produced by our wooden slat customers around the world who make the many great brands that we are also beginning to add to our Pencils.com store.  I just want to see that the pencil has some fun associated with its use and is considered an important part of the creative tool kit for more people overall.  I hope to add new products and extensions over time in these brands, but our first priority now is really executing on building awareness in fun and creative ways like the Blackwing Expressions event and building distribution to make sure the product is available so we can build a sustainable business in the core product range we have today.  Ultimately, I hope the Blackwing brand is around and well-respected 10, 20, 50 years from today and not just a passing fad and a failed experiment.

Presented by SVA's MFA Design Departments, Festival includes design documentaries about products, advertising in the 60's and the NYC debut of The Book: The Last Chapter?

Saturday, March 24, 1 - 9pm
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street, New York City
$15 pass includes all screenings

School of Visual Arts presents the SVA/BBC Design Film Festival featuring a once-in-a lifetime chance to view groundbreaking BBC films that have never previously been screened in the United States. The program includes design, advertising, and book-related films on topics such as the future of the book, the history of Levi's 501 Jeans and the Barcelona chair, and real-life stories of the ad men -- and women -- behind the fictional television series Mad Men. Curated by Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Department at SVA, and Adam Harrison Levy, faculty member in the MFA Design Criticism Department at SVA, the festival takes place Saturday, March 24, 1 - 9pm, at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street. Tickets are $15 for the entire day of screenings and available from Eventbrite at http://svabbc-auto.eventbrite.com/.

The festival marks the New York premiere of The Book: the Last Chapter?, an inventive and thought-provoking documentary about the fate of the book in the age of the iPad and the Kindle. Writers including Gary Shteyngart and Douglas Coupland, publishing entrepreneurs and literary agents weigh in on this crucial cultural question.

Selling the Sixties: How Madison Avenue Invented a Decade tells the story of the advertising world that inspired the hit television series Mad Men. Including interviews with luminaries such as Gay Talese and legendary advertising creative George Lois (famous for his Esquire covers, Xerox ads, work with Andy Warhol and Muhammad Ali and his reinvention of MTV), Selling the Sixties relays the story of consumerism in America. George Lois, the original Mad Man, will be present and taking questions after the screening.

The SVA/BBC Design Film Festival spotlights the film-making career of Alan Yentob, the creative director of the BBC. Yentob is an award winning filmmaker and creator of the innovative BBC arts series Arena. In 1988 he became Controller of BBC2, where he commissioned the first films that focused specifically on design. He has since become the creative director of the BBC and presenter of the arts series Imagine. Mr. Yentob will be present for the premiere and will be in a conversation with Adam Harrison Levy. He will be taking questions from the audience.

"BBC Documentaries are among the greatest in the world," says SVA's Steven Heller. "Early on, its producers took an interest in design. Put those two things together, and the result is a library of great design films. We wanted to show a few at SVA for our students and the general public. The amazing thing is that they have not been seen in the United States. Now, we can all benefit."

The SVA/BBC Design Film Festival is presented by the following SVA departments: MFA Design, MFA Design Criticism, MFA Design for Social Innovation, MFA Interaction Design and MFA Products of Design.

SVA/BBC Design Film Festival schedule

from the Objects of Desire BBC series:
1pm: Levi 501s
1:35pm: Barcelona Chair
2:10pm: Sony Walkman
4:30-5:30pm: Selling the Sixties: How Madison Avenue Dreamed the Decade
5:30 - 6pm: George Lois Q&A
7 - 8pm: The Book: The Last Chapter?
8 - 8:30pm: Alan Yentob Q&A

]]> Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:55:21 GMT http://www.adcglobal.org/connections/blog/?id=1804#reply About YGGeneralVideo http://www.adcglobal.org/connections/blog/?id=1795

If you haven't heard yet, our call for entries opened yesterday with a big bash at the ADC gallery (pictures soon - we promise!). This year is extra-special for us as we'll be selecting the 10th class of Young Guns winners - how better celebrate our history than to throw paint at one Young Gun from each of the past years?

A big thanks to these guys for being completely awesome:

Emily Oberman - YG1
Kevin Brainard - YG2
Scott Stowell - YG3
Anne Paas - YG4
Silas Munro - YG5
Menno Kluin - YG6
Lindsay Ballant - YG7
Jessica Walsh - YG8
Elizabeth Weinberg - YG8

also to:
Dress Code - Directors
Huma-Huma - Sound Design
Steve Romano - Director of Photography

Special thanks to Bitfire Inc. and Root EQ for providing the studio and lighting for our YGX shenanigans.

Follow Young Guns @YGblog

-EB]]> Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:41:22 GMT http://www.adcglobal.org/connections/blog/?id=1795#reply AdvertisingArchitectureDesignEventsGeneralIllustrationInteractiveInterviewsPhotographyTypographyVideo http://www.adcglobal.org/connections/blog/?id=1791

CHECK OUT OUR FULL JURY!

Keep fighting the good fight.
]]> Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:19:47 GMT http://www.adcglobal.org/connections/blog/?id=1791#reply About YGAdvertisingDesignEducationEventsGeneralIllustrationPhotographyTypography http://www.adcglobal.org/connections/blog/?id=1790

We're marking our 10th anniversary call for entries with a party at the ADC Gallery next Tuesday, March 13, 7-10pm.

To celebrate our rich history, we asked the best in the industry to submit an original X to display at the ADC Gallery the night of the event. For only $25, you can score one – 100% of the proceeds will benefit ADC Education Programs like The ADC Scholarship Fund and Saturday Career Workshop, helping create the Young Guns of tomorrow. We've posted below an exclusive peek at some of the artwork created for this project.

YGX sponsor Aldine Printing will be on site at the party with their letterpress, creating take-away prints for all attendees.

$10 Non-Members
ADC Members: Free

Food, cocktails, and beer will be served.

RSVP / Buy your tickets here.

All art prints must be paid for with cash or check on the night of the event, and will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. Learn more about ADC Education here.


Gavin Potenza


Jayson Atienza


Andrew Zuckerman


Chris Rubino


Jonathan Bartlett


Niko Courtelis


Matt Owens


Deanne Cheuk


Ellen Stagg


James Victore


George Bates


Stefanie Weigler


Jordan Awan


Paul Buckley


Sara Cwynar


Alex Kirzhner


Dan Saelinger

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