UTS Viscomm Students pick up Yellow and Wood Pencils at 2023 New Blood Awards
Real briefs, set by real clients, judged by the industries top creatives.
The D&AD New Blood Awards are open to advertising, design, digital and marketing students, recent graduates and emerging creatives worldwide.
New Blood is one of the world’s largest student competitions and the awards are well recognised by industry. This year only three of the awards went to students from Australian institutions – two of which were awarded to UTS entrants.
Entrants are in full or part-time education, recent graduates who finished their course within the past two years, or 23 or under. Winners typically go on to work with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Flip it good
Ruben Savariego, Sophie Whitehead, Isabelle Trudgian and Sofia Locke took home a Yellow Pencil for Penguin ‘Flip’. The iconic Yellow Pencil is awarded to outstanding work that achieves true creative excellence.
The team behind Flip designed a circular economy around books, reimagining the concept of a book swap and building a meaningful community alongside it.
Developed for book publisher Penguin, the project includes a digital Penguin Pass that provides access to the Flip community, allowing members to organise events, host online meet ups and redeem perks.
Their bespoke recyclable book box, including tear off bookmark, allows community members to not only receive a book they’ll love, but also to package up their latest read and send on to its next home via a library or bookstore.
Through the Flip app, readers can follow their boxes journey and leave reviews as to whether the most recent graduate of their TBR (to be read) pile is a flip or a flop (but beware of the spoilers!).
Tapping into Gen Z’s belief that brands should be sustainable (67%), the growing desire to reject the creation of more merch bound for landfill, and the rise of #BookTok, the creative team behind Flip nailed their submission.
Maths can be a hoot
Chantelle Cortez Maglalang, Tam Le, Emily Yang, Feby Bestari and Cassandra Song grabbed a Wood Pencil for Duolingo ‘Lin & Lucy’s Home’. Wood Pencils are awarded to the best of the year in advertising, design, craft, culture, and impact.
Designed for language learning app Duolingo, most famous for its iconic green owl who is usually up to no good on TikTok, Lin & Lucy’s Home aims to address math anxiety affecting Asian Australian children.
Acknowledging that this anxiety often begins in the home rather than the classroom, this creative team designed a home-style interactive pop-up experience that will inspire children to discover the magic of maths.
Visitors are welcomed to take their shoes off at the door, measure ingredients in the kitchen (season ‘til your ancestors are satisfied!), discover their face shape in the bathroom mirror, tally up bedroom karaoke scores, and collect stamps as they build up their simple everyday maths habits.
Attendees can grab takeaway on the way out, including measuring spoons, photocards and a protractor to continue enjoying maths in their own home, in partnership with Duolingo Math.
The Pencils were awarded at the closing of this year’s New Blood Festival in London, where the winning work has been on display in a graduate showcase of more than 30 exhibiting universities.
Find out more about the D&AD New Blood Awards and explore all the winning submissions at dandad.org
