Inaugural e4m India Design Excellence Awards shortlists announced

After a long process in which hundreds of entries were perused, discussed over, and highlighted by an esteemed panel of national and international industry leaders, the shortlist for the first-ever edition of the e4m India Design Excellence Awards is finally out. 

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the exchange4media group invited entries from across all categories of advertising design to celebrate the most innovative campaigns and brand messaging that appeared on TV screens, print, digital platforms, corporate communications, product packaging, among others. For the first time, entries had to be live to market at some point between 1st July 2020 to 31st June 2021. If an event/activation had begun or ended in this stipulated period, but not completed/started within the same time, it was considered valid as long as a substantial part of the campaign fell under this time frame.

The jury panel included Martin Uhlarik, Global Head of Design, Tata Motors; Revathi Kant, Chief Design Officer, Titan; Sridhar Rajgopalan, Managing Director, Accenture; Preeti Vyas, Chairwoman & Chief Creative Officer, VGC; Jacob Benbunan, Co-founder & CEO, Saffron Brand Consultants; Tanu Sinha, Design Director – India, Pepsico; Thom Newton, CEO & Managing Partner, Conran Design Group; Andrew Barraclough, Vice President of Design, GSK; Hiren Dedhia, Design Head - India, Diageo; Biren Ghose, Country Head, Technicolor; Suresh Eriyat, Founder & Creative Director, STUDIO EEKSAURUS; Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder & Director, Elephant Design; Darshan Gandhi, Global Head of Design, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd; Greg Quinton, Chief Creative Officer, Superunion; Smita Rajgopal, Founder & Global Creative Director, Smitten; Charles Wright, Global Principal, Wolff Olins; Gabriela Lungu, Founder & Creative Chief, WINGS Creative Leadership Lab; Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director; Landor & Fitch India; and Chiki Sarkar, Co-founder, Juggernaut Books.

“This was truly an amazing jury, as we had industry veterans from different time zones, backgrounds, different elements of advertising and design fields,” noted Deshpande, adding, “There was some fantastic work done and we had a lot of debates and discussions to see who’d come out on top. As a whole, we’re happy with our choices and they’ve already set the bar quite high, from the first year itself.”

Enthusiastic about being such an illustrious panel, Ghose said, “It was interesting that we were all so consistent in our choices, as I’d thought there’d be more differences of opinion. That may have been more entertaining (laughs), but I think it speaks to the quality of the work and those who truly stood out. That being said, there were good entries from a broad spectrum of categories and media and I think the next step is going to really demonstrate excellence, whether it’s through imagery, audio-visuals and messaging.”

Speaking about participating in the inaugural edition, Quniton said, “It was really interesting and there was some truly international quality work done by some of the entries. I love Indian design, and its colours, energy, and vibrancy in the ideas. The awards have got some really good designs for the first year, and I encourage more advertisers and designers to enter next year, and show what a force design can truly be.” 

Expressing her excitement at being invited to be part of the inaugural jury for these unique awards, Lungu also had a similar message for future participants, saying, “You NEED to enter your work. This is truly an incredible platform for being able to showcase your work and being recognised for it. So please enter, show us your great work, and see it get recognised by the industry and with metals. Hopefully, I’ll see you all, and more, next year.” Find the complete shortlist here.

The e4m India Design Excellence Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place virtually on Jan 21, 6.30 pm onwards during which the Gold / Silver / Bronze will be announced. Kindly Register Here to attend.