Mike at the D&AD New Blood Pencil Panel
Mike ReedLast week, I was lucky enough to be one of the five panellists at D&AD’s New Blood Pencil Panel. Our job: to help advise the students tackling this year’s New Blood briefs.
(Start watching at 13:41)
Quite a responsibility, really, and daunting in the anticipation. But the reality was a relaxed and hopefully quite spirited affair, with some great questions coming in via the social ether.
And given that this was the depths of the Tube strike, it was a pretty good attendance at the offices of our gracious hosts, the Moving Picture Company on Wardour Street. (Although we almost lost a panellist to the transport chaos.)
My fellow panellists were (L—R on the video):
Andy Sandoz of Work Club (Chair)
Iain Aitchison of Plan
Jack Renwick of Jack Renwick Studio
Charlie Sells of Jelly
Ian Wharton of AKQA
Some key thoughts I took away:
Listen to other people but also listen to yourself — and the brief
Repetition of an idea across channels does not = integrated
Nothing is more important than a brilliant idea, although levels of execution in student work now rival (or, as Ian Wharton revealed in an unguarded moment) surpass those at agencies.
Making a brand relevant doesn’t (always) mean changing it: what are the truths about the brand you can bring out for new audiences?
You can see the questions, and some responses from the panellists, by searching #pencilpanel on Twitter.