ASIA-PACIFIC ADFEST TO HONOUR PRINT CRAFT FOR FIRST TIME

LOOK: Photography owner Guy Venables (right), who is Sydney based, is the inaugural chairman of the Print Craft Jury at Adfest 06, the annual regional ad festival held in March each year in Pattaya Beach, Thailand. As this is the very first award of its kind in the whole region (even Cannes does not have this Craft section) Venables was asked by Adfest to design the award processes and categories, decide on relevant categories and put together the call for entries (check out www.asiapacificadfest.com)

This year photographers and producers, retouchers, stylists/art dept. type people, illustrators will all be recognised for the first time at an award show, with awards going to them for their craft alongside awards given for ‘best use of photography, illustration etc‘ which will recognise the ad agencies. The same ads may not win within each category.

Says Venables: "It is a great honour to have been invited to create this for them, the jury consists of five, Sydney photographer Julian Watt will be the western photographer judge on the panel as he has won a lot of awards in the region and is well recognised for his work there.
"Nothing in Print Craft is black and white, except newspaper...where the idea ends and the treatment begins are the shades of grey. The idea is conceived at the ad agency, and then the craftsperson’s treatment is often the key to breathing life in to it, sometimes it happens in reverse, leaving the craftsperson as the unsung hero.

"Behind the ‘treatment’ in Print Ads are the craftspeople, sometimes they work together, sometimes alone, however they all share the common goal of creating visually interesting and captivating work to convey the print ads idea and message. The vast majority of award winning print ads in advertising are collaborative efforts, and all too often the gongs go to the people at the top of the food chain. In the main, the Craft side of great print ads has been left unrecognized at most award shows. Best photography or illustration has usually been associated with the winning print ad etc. and an award for DI, 3D modeling, or production design in Print Adverting is virtually unheard off.

"This year Adfest has taken a bold step forward with its initiative and given Print Craft its own stage at Adfest 06. This year Adfest will shine a light on the people that make a great idea even better. Photographers & Producers, Illustrators, Retouchers, Production Designers/Stylists, will all get to take the walk if their work hits the mark of the internationally selected Print Craft Jury. Best Photography or Best Illustration may not necessarily appear in the Best Ad, (though Print Ad magic does tend to come together as a package) it’s about the best in ‘Craft’, and that’s the whole point. So, if you are a craftsperson, you can now stop moping about and stop spending time claiming ownership to creative over your work in the winning ads from award shows, this year is your chance to shine in your own right.

"The Inaugural Print Craft awards will award those who have often sat at other awards seeing their work on the big screen, and seeing the award being collected by the agency creative for ‘best ad’. No more will you have to mingle after award shows telling creative “I did that”, ‘they’... the important ‘they’... will know who you are; because ‘they’...will be watching you collect your award this year. If you truly are the ‘best’ in your Craft category, the jury will know who you are."

Secure your AdFest Registration today and join in the fun.