viscom chooses the “Visual Hero“ in Düsseldorf
Willy Brandt as a visual revolutionary, Superman wearing an astronaut helmet, and a tribute to Charlie Chaplin: content-wise, the winning designs of the second designmaker competition perfectly take up the theme of “Visual Hero”. But not only were the ideas right, the design and technical implementation on a variety of advertising media also impressed the jury who decided on three entries as the winners of the designmaker 2012. The competition was looking for design ideas which, in keeping with the motto “Design meets implementation”, could be implemented on the largest possible variety of advertising media. Many creative minds had entered their designs; the three best were invited to Düsseldorf for the award presentation. The designmaker is organised by viscom, the International Trade Fair for Visual Communication, Technology and Design in cooperation with Karl Gröner GmbH and creativ collection Verlag GmbH. The main sponsor is Hewlett-Packard, with ASLAN Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG and Regulus GmbH acting as further sponsors.
1st place: The hero in public media
For the second time round, viscom found the “designmaker” of the year: Anna Elisa Kern, who is a trainee with “Manuel Potter Werbeagentur”, wins the award. The winner was supported by her boss Manuel Potter who is the proprietor of the full service agency.
The winning design shows Willy Brandt inaugurating a nationwide colour television in Germany at the 25th German Radio Exhibition in West Berlin on 25 August 1967. Linking colour TV, which is the visual thrill par excellence, with a politician who was a “hero” in the Sixties combined two perspetives on the “Visual Hero” theme. Bernd Gröner, the Managing Director of Karl Gröner GmbH and spokesman of the jury, also emphasized the excellent artistic quality and formal aesthetics of the overall design at a high level, its intelligent reduction of forms and appealing visual language. With all these qualities, the design was perfect for realisation on all advertising media.
2nd place: Comic strip hero
A simple design with a great effect: Sander van der Pol of “Van der Pol Reclame & Belettering” from the Netherlands followed very closely on the winner. The motif centres on a Superman figure wearing an astronaut helmet. The jury praised the humorous implementation of the hero theme which is characterised by a very forceful visual language. Due to the reference of a super hero and the comic-style realisation it also addresses a broad target group. Another particularly positive feature was the creative adaptation of the design to the various application technologies.
3rd place: Movie hero
A tribute to Charlie Chaplin won Arno Ludwig third place in the designmaker 2012 competition. The freelance designer and proprietor of Air Atelier already had made it into the first three last year. His design centres on an image of Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest visual heroes in movie history, embedded in an elaborate vector illustration with great visual appeal. This was a very creative implementation of the “Visual Hero” theme and particularly striking. The jury was impressed by the “constant change in the background colours and the modular use of individual design elements”, jury spokesman Bernd Gröner said when presenting the award. As a result, the design can be varied and adapted in many ways to the various application technologies.
The prize money awarded for the best design was 3,000 Euro, for the second prize 2,000 Euro and for the third 1,000 Euro. The winners also received manuals and software by the sponsor creativ collection Verlag GmbH.
About the designmaker
The designmaker award is presented by viscom in cooperation with Karl Gröner GmbH and creativ collection Verlag GmbH. The main sponsor is Hewlett-Packard, with ASLAN Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG and Regulus GmbH acting as further sponsors. The award was presented for the second time in Düsseldorf in June 2012. The prizes were awarded for designs which are effective on a broad range of advertising media.
In 2012, the members of the jury were Frauke Bollmann, Editor-in-Chief for Advertising Technology/Digital Signage; Bernd Gröner, Managing Director of Karl Gröner GmbH; Walther Pommer, creative collection Verlag GmbH and viscom Project Manager Chun Yip Man. The winning entry of the designmaker will be presented during viscom, the International Trade Fair for Visual Communication, Technology and Design.
In 2012, viscom takes place in Frankfurt from 25 to 27 October. www.viscom-messe.com
Download press photos of the award winners
For any further information please contact:
Dr. Mike Seidensticker
Press Spokesman
Email: mike.seidensticker@reedexpo.de