D&AD has revamped its interactive awards categories to reflect the
growing importance of digital media and to encourage creative talent to
extend their knowledge of interactive communications.
D&AD has increased the number of categories in interactive media from
two to six. To date D&AD has offered entrants a choice of only CD-Rom
and websites. By comparison, the Cannes International Advertising
Festival’s Cyber Lions last year had a total of 13 categories.
The new categories in interactive media are: consumer websites; business
to business websites; online advertising; online games; CD-Rom, DVD and
kiosks; and convergent media.
The revamp of the D&AD interactive categories was spearheaded by Marcus
Vinton, creative director and head of digital communication at Ogilvy &
Mather, who is a D&AD juror next year.
Vinton, who has judged numerous interactive awards, consulted with Larry
Barker, next year’s D&AD president and the executive creative director
of BMP DDB, about drafting the new sections. He also worked with his
fellow D&AD juror, Gary Lockton, chief executive of Deepend.
Vinton said: ’I realised when I was looking through last year’s book how
limiting the interactive section was. Most awards now have at least six
to eight tighter classifications of work, which focus on different
content areas, allowing real depth of category.’
