A student entry from The School of Visual Arts won the best in show at the 95th annual Art Directors Club (ADC) Awards in New York last night, marking the first time a school submission has earned the show's top honor.
The Black Cube winner, "Taking the Plunge," is an animated short about a marriage proposal gone wrong. It was created by School of Visual Arts computer art, animation and visual effects students Thaddaeus Andreades, Marie Raoult, Nicholas Manfredi and Elizabeth Ku-Herrero, under thesis adviser Joe Burrascano. The work also earned an ADC Gold Cube in Motion, Animation. SVA was the single biggest winner of the night with 17 total awards, including one Black Cube, four Gold, two Silver, six Bronze and four Merit.
Leo Burnett Worldwide was also named Network of the Year. Its award-winning work included the holiday spot "Justino" by Leo Burnett Madrid, for Loterias Y Apuestas Del Estado (the Spanish National Lottery). It won two Gold Cubes, for Advertising and Motion, and the brand won Client of the Year for its Pixar-style animation about a lonely night watchman. Elsewhere, Leo Burnett Argentina won an Advertising Gold Cube for its Samsung Safety Truck campaign, and in the Motion category, two Gold Cubes went to Leo Burnett Melbourne for work for Honda.
BBDO New York won Advertising Agency of the Year; the work that ADC recognized included Foot Locker's Fight of the Century, awarded a Gold Cube. R/GA won Digital Agency of the Year and was awarded Gold Cubes for Digital for "Straight Outta Compton" for Beats by Dr Dre and its smart baby monitor for Owlet. Dentsu was awarded Design Agency of the Year, and Australia's Goodoil Film won the Production Company of the Year award.
Other notable campaigns awarded included REI's #OptOutside by Venables Bell & Partners, which won Gold Cubes for both Digital and Integrated, and Geico's Unskippable by the Martin Agency, which won two Gold Cubes for Advertising. Goodby Silverstein & Partners also did well with six ADC Cubes, including one Gold for Xfinity and Comcast's Emily's Oz.
This year the ADC honored work from 25 countries. Find out more about them at the ADC website.
