Six designers enter contest for D&AD executive committee

Six designers are fighting for election to British Design and Art Direction’s executive committee, alongside ten nominees from the advertising arena. Election results will be announced at D&AD’s annual general meeting, at which the organisation will also put forward proposals to extend the time executive members serve on the committee.

The design candidates in the running are: Mike Dempsey of CDT Design, Vince Frost of Frost Design, John Blackburn of Blackburn’s, Marksteen Adamson of Newell and Sorrell, Harry Pearce of Lippa Pearce and Richard Mellor of Hyperinteractive.

Three candidates will be elected to the board; one from design, one from advertising, and the third winner will be the nominee with the most votes after a design and an advertising representative have been elected.

Ballot papers for the next president-elect will be issued at the AGM later in the year.

Proposals to extend the period of service on the board from the current three-year stint to four years will be put to the membership. D&AD director David Kester says the constitutional change is being proposed to fall in line with the alternating system of a design president followed by an advertising president.

The move could lead to an increase in the number of board members from nine to twelve. “This leaves us some flexibility and will assist us with the continuity” of the presidency, says Kester.

Under the current three-year terms, if a designer joins the board in the year when the president is from the advertising arena, he or she would have to put his or her name forward instantly to be president, Kester explains, or the opportunity is missed.

Nominee Richard Mellor is being backed by five of the current nine-strong committee, and is basing his campaign on taking the organisation forward by exploiting the advantages of new technology. “While I’m a passionate believer in D&AD and all that it stands for, I believe that the association should gear up for the 21st century by providing the entire creative industry with encouragement, guidance and incentive in the multimedia area,” he says.