<font color="#CC0033">Cannes 2008:</font> More Golds for JWT and Leo Burnett in Design Lions

JWT has also got a bronze Lion for the Rolling Stone magazine launch campaign

It’s raining gold for India at Cannes. After its fabulous performance in the Press Lions, India has now scored in a new category introduced just this year, the Design Lions.

JWT continued with its winning spree by adding a gold and a bronze to its collection. Leo Burnett bagged another gold for the poster ads of Luxor Highlighters.

JWT bagged its gold Lion for the Burden campaign against child labour for the Care Foundation. Under this initiative, a statue of a boy with a load on his head was kept at several places. The load was attached through a pulley to a donation box. The idea was to show that the more the money that is put inside the box, the more the load is off the child’s head. The same work was also shortlisted in the Direct category.

The president of the Design jury, Rodney Fitch, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of the WPP Group’s retail design agency, Fitch, said, “This was such a clever idea.”

However, he pointed out that though the Design category was open to all kinds of entries this year, there will be fewer promo or direct entries allowed next year.

India’s second gold came for the Luxor Highlighter posters. Fitch referred to this work as a brilliant piece of craft. The ad carried information about three historical characters. The copy was highlighted with a Luxor highlighter in such a manner that the face of the historical character was outlined and stood out. The copy, which is continuous, makes complete sense only when the highlighted portion is read as well. These posters were put up in college canteens and on college notice boards where they could be read from up close.

However, the work that Fitch was most impressed with was the Rolling Stone entry by JWT. The agency had recreated the iconic Rolling Stone cover using Indian embroidery forms such as Kantha and Zardozi for the launch of the music magazine in India.

Fitch said that this piece of work, although not an original idea, was a great work of craft even as it retained the iconic language of Rolling Stone.

Talking about the Indian entries received for the Design Lions, Fitch said the Indian experience was totally different. While the West has become complacent, Indians are trying harder and that shows.

Complete Cannes 2008 coverage