Voxpop

Last week the Design Week Award winners were announced. What value do you think creative awards bring to the design business?

‘I’m a great fan of creative awards. They bring a healthy sense of competition to the design business and a fantastic sense of achievement to the recipients. And they’re a great excuse for a knees-up.’

Philippa Butters, Head Of Corporate Design, Yellow Pages

‘It’s a funny one. If you’re not winning them you can easily see them as a waste of time. If you’re lucky enough to win them they’re fantastic. They are a great forum to celebrate and benchmark creativity in your own company, throughout the design industry and on the client side.’

Jonathan Ellery, Director, Browns

‘For me, the value of creative awards is that they celebrate the importance of creativity. And they remind us and our clients that life and work are not just about the bottom line.’

Franco Bonadio, creative director, Enterprise IG

‘The cynic in me is prompted to pen platitudes, especially now that every professional body and every magazine in town seems to host their own award scheme. Just taking part isn’t enough for our expanding industry, everyone must also be seen to win. The enthusiast in me, however, says that this shows that the business is spawning riches which deserve wider recognition beyond commercial success. Awards are welcome, if for no other reason than we get to share our successes with others and inspire one another to greater heights.’

Malcolm Garrett, Design director, AMXStudios

‘Creative awards for design are important because the primary reason clients use design agencies is creativity. Designers instinctively know this. They also know that winning creative awards attracts new design talent, which in turn attracts more clients. Some design agencies don’t agree with this. To them, creative awards are an indulgence and the only awards worth having are business effectiveness awards. This argument has the faint whiff of sour grapes. Furthermore, anyone who has ever sat on juries for both knows full well that while you can prove anything with figures, great design needs no further explanation.’

Richard Watson, partner, GDR client advisory agency