With the opening of the 87th Annual Awards Call for Entries came the unveiling of a new award category, the ADC Design Sphere Award. Chairing the ADC Design Sphere jury is Marc Gobé, chairman, chief executive officer and executive creative director of Desgrippes Gobé, a thirty-year design and branding consultancy with offices around the world. Trained as a designer and a graduate from the Ecole Professionnelle de Dessin Industriel in Paris, his broad experience in packaging, structural design and architecture has attracted a mix of clients and ADC's interest in his leadership of the Design Sphere jury. His firm has created some of the most memorable brand identities and design programs for Air France, AOL, Victoria's Secret, Banana Republic, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Weight Watchers, Travelocity and Gillette - to name just a few.

Marc shared with us his aspirations for the ADC Design Sphere, his broad affection for the American landscape - from a national park to a Brad Pitt movie - and his reaction to seeing his work on the runway. Interviewed by Regan Murphy, regan@adcglobal.org.

MG: There is a realization that design is truly one of the best ambassadors of a brand's message and corporate philosophy. People judge brands by their products, and advertising is so much more effective when it endorses products that are designed to bring emotional experiences to consumers.

MG: Two global graphic identities for Coca-Cola - in the second, we introduced a robust visual vocabulary by activating the Coca-Cola iconography and adding the color yellow. It's probably what I consider the company's best work. Seeing John Galliano use the new cans in a runway show - in the models' hair, with dresses of red and yellow - that was a heart-stopping moment.

MG: Generally our clients choose us. After meeting our team and seeing our work, we either have an almost instant connection or not.

MG: I hope that we'll be able to see how design, when managed over a long period of time, can establish a brand image that continually inspires people. I want to show that there is a power in managing design on a consistent basis, as it reinforces a company's vision, message and experience.

MG: It really depends. We have had clients ranging from 10 years down to short 6-month projects, but we always encourage longer relationships in order to build more consistency and power into their brands.

MG: We believe that design is one of the most under-leveraged and powerful tools that brands have available to them. Desgrippes Gobé is a truly global firm, with offices in New York, Paris, Brussels, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, so we have a great variety of talent and cultural perspectives available to us. Our cross-functional teams of strategists, designers, writers, product designers and architects really work seamlessly together with our clients to create potent insight and provocative work.

MG: Service, service, service. We try to have the right team on the job and have a proactive approach in constantly stimulating clients with new ideas.

MG: Music and jazz.

MG: Nature.

MG: With my passion for design.

MG: Raymond Loewy.

MG: To come to America.

MG: Not yet but very soon.

How do designers employ wit, irony - even subversion - in the service of making a connection with their audience, and how can they replicate these connections across a body of work? Are there limits to commercializing this kind of design, or are we seeing new opportunities for the provocateur in an ever-commoditized world? What is the role of the brand in this context, and to what degree does a sly exchange between designer and user create a new kind of brand experience? Core77 presents a panel discussing ways of leveraging the droll parts of the emotional spectrum to provide impactful products and experiences to users. Did we say users? We meant people. Smiling ones.

Moderator: Ze Frank
Panelists: Paul Budnitz, Founder of Kidrobot; Kelly Dobson, Technologist; Steven Heller, Writer/Editor; Tobias Wong, Artist


Schedule: 2-6 pm, cocktail reception following
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC
Details and Registration: www.core77.com/offsite

A limited edition poster designed by ADC Young Gun 5 Little Friends of Printmaking will be distributed at this event.

Enjoy an evening of genteel design discussion and civilized refreshment with British illustrator, graphic designer, comics artist and typographer Rian Hughes. For over 20 years, Hughes has been fusing visual design with pop aesthetics. His distinctive panel art revolutionized the British comic industry, and his modernist graphic design and illustration style have been widely copied. Since 1996, Rian has released an astoundingly diverse range of display and text typefaces under the Device Fonts moniker.

6:30-9:30 pm @ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC
Details and Tickets: www.veer.com/ideas/rianhughes/

Please join the ADC Board in a celebration of Myrna Davis' tremendous contribution as Executive Director of the ADC from 1993-2007.

6:30-8:30 pm
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC
RSVPs res@adcglobal.org

Immerse yourself in design activism during a half-day event at the ADC with presentations from Milton Glaser, Steven Heller, Elizabeth Resnick, Tony Hendra, John Bielenberg, and more.

SCHEDULE:
4:45 PM: Designism 2.0::SEE
Speakers include: Kay Sloan, President, Massachusetts College of Art + Design
Tony Hendra, Manifesto and Elizabeth Resnick, Co-Curator of Selections from The Graphic Imperative and Associate Professor of Communication Design for the Massachusetts College of Art + Design.

6-6:30 PM: Break

6:30 PM: Designism 2.0::TALK
Masters of Designism and Panel Discussion
Speakers include: Steven Heller (Moderator), Milton Glaser, Janet Kestin and Ji Lee.

Idealist.org Presentation
Ami Dar is the founder and executive director of Action Without Borders, the organization that runs Idealist.org.

8 PM: Designism 2.0::ACT
Cocktail reception - how to put intention into action with Idealist.org and others.

4:45-9:30 PM @ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC
See Schedule and Register: www.adcglobal.org/adc/events/calendar#15

ADC Members $24.50
Non-members $35.00
Students and Non Profit Organization Members $20.00
Seating limited
Questions: 212.643.1440 x10

In a series of illuminating and entertaining conversations, twenty-one of today's most influential and revered designers discuss, celebrate, and analyze their craft. Adeptly interviewed by brand consultant and talk show host Debbie Millman, these designers reveal their early influences, day-to-day rituals, enthusiasms, aspirations, and failures. For pop-culture enthusiasts as well as long-time designers, students, and those just starting their careers, this book will prove an invaluable guide to the history, controversies, milestones, and everyday foibles of working, living, and thinking as a graphic designer.

In mid-October, Isabel Johnson assumed the role of Education Coordinator within the Art Directors Club. She will be working, over the upcoming months, to expand and bring new energy to areas of the Education program.

The SCW has started up once again, and as always, the students are creating advanced and wonderfully unique projects. The opening workshop was led by School of Visual Arts Professor Benita Raphan, whose assignment called for the students to create a self-portrait using paper, markers, pencil, magazines and newspaper clippings. A few of the portraits were blown up to poster size and presented to the class the following Saturday. Two of the self-portraits are displayed here.

For more information please contact: isabel@adcglobal.org.

Petra Projects is pleased to present the debut solo exhibition of Carlo Van de Roer, entitled Watermark, which opened October 20 at Mehr gallery in midtown. The New Zealand artist's collection features color photographs of abandoned, drained swimming pools from all over the globe. Watermark reveals landmarks typically associated with warmth, exuberance and life, captured in settings that depict a feeling of emptiness. These granular C-prints evoke a sense of presence defined by absence. The resulting sensation is overwhelming for its counterintuitive nature. To draw attention to these empty pools seems contradictory, yet Van de Roer aims to show a new angle. He creates geometric contours defined by bold color palettes, highlighting the ambiguity of these "once" pools. Van de Roer won the 2006 ADC Young Gun Award and was the overall winner of the 2007 IPN Go Indie Award. Most recently he was awarded the 2007 Pix Digital Imaging Award. http://www.petraprojects.com/
October 20 - November 24 MEHR (MIDTOWN) 436 West 18th St.

Get ihaveanidea's recap of the fourth and final of a four part series exploring the work, history, hurdles goals and aspirations of ADC YOUNG GUNS Asif Mian, Christopher Lane, Justin Gignac and Floto+Warner on adc.ihaveanidea.org.

ADC mourns the loss of Edward Cottingham, an art director known for his simplicity of concept and elegance of design, who died on October 5, 2007. Cottingham's career spanned almost 50 years, winning numerous art director and design awards. Our condolences go to his wife, Mary, and his children.

The ADC thanks photographer Tom Kieren for donating his time and photographing the guests at the 86th Annual Awards Gala.

ADC Members now get additional business benefits from their membership. Login to "My Account" on the ADC website and scroll down to Special Offers to access special discounts to Members. We just added Emma, Eye magazine, and IdN magazine and DVD to our website - join the ADC today and take advantage of all the benefits we have to offer.

www.myemma.com
Meet Emma, the Web-based service that makes it easy to create, send and track stylish email newsletters and campaigns. With their custom-designed email templates, real-time response tracking and savvy audience and signup features, Emma makes it easy for any organization with a permission-based list (or a dream of building one) to communicate, market and interact in style. How can Emma help you? Take our 60-second tour and find out...

www.eyemagazine.com
Every quarter, Eye magazine brings you fresh perspectives from journalists, academics and experienced practitioners working in all areas of design. Inside Eye magazine, you will find insight into design trends, profiles of cutting-edge designers, analytical essays, in-depth interviews with leading international designers, the history of design, reviews and critiques. Topics cover the whole spectrum of visual culture, including typography, print and paper, photography, illustration, new media, publishing and animation.

www.idnworld.com
IdN (International designers' Network) is a magazine and DVD published in five editions and distributed globally. Over the past 15 years the Hong Kong-produced design magazine has made a big name for itself around the world. On sale in the U.S. by popular demand, each issue comes with a FREE two-hour DVD containing interviews with international designers and award-winning motion graphics. With 120 pages per issue, each printed issue includes a minimum of seven different types of paper using special printing techniques which reflect and support the themes of the featured topics. IdN includes cutting-edge news and in-depth features on the biggest names in today's design industry, with a special focus on graphic design, motion graphics, and interactive media including the latest developments in design and youth culture.

Become friends of the ADC on myspace.com. If you are a MySpace user you can now view the general ADC profile (myspace.com/adcnyc) as well as a specific page for the Saturday Career Workshops (myspace.com/saturdaycareerworkshops). A new, fun, and personal way to connect with ADC.

This is your space to share news of events, projects, comments and travels. The newsletter is published monthly. Send news to regan@adcglobal.org with the subject line Newsletter.

The ADC Gallery can accommodate up to 430 guests for your holiday party. For availability please contact: olga@adcglobal.org.

The ADC is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind. Founded in New York in 1920, the ADC is a self-funding, not-for-profit membership organization that celebrates and inspires creative excellence, connecting creative visual communications professionals from around the world.

To promote the highest standards of excellence and integrity in visual communications for the industry and to encourage students and young professionals entering the field. In short, to provide "visual fuel."

To provide a forum for creative leaders in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to meet, learn, participate, and explore the direction for these rapidly evolving industries.

Not Yet A Member? Join Now.
The Art Directors Club 106 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 212.643.1440 www.adcglobal.org