SVA Short ‘Taking the Plunge’ Wins ADC Black Cube

NEW YORK -- Capping off a stellar overall awards performance, the School of Visual Arts, New York beat out professional agencies from around the world to take home the prestigious ADC Black Cube for best-in-show Thursday night at the Art Directors Club ADC 95th Annual Awards Celebration and Exhibition at the ADC Gallery in New York.

An animated short about a marriage proposal gone wrong, ADC Black Cube winner “Taking the Plunge” was created by SVA computer art, animation and visual effects students Thaddaeus Andreades, Marie Raoult, Nicholas Manfredi and Elizabeth Ku-Herrero under project coordinator Laura Nitz.

This marks the first time a student entry has won a Black Cube, and 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.

“‘Taking the Plunge’ presents a confluence of extraordinary skill, thoughtfulness, story, heart and dedication brought to life at the very beginning of some young careers,” said Rama Allen, executive creative director, The Mill, who served as chair of the ADC 95th Annual Awards Motion jury. “We would have applauded the remarkable craftsmanship of this piece regardless of how much experience lay behind it, but we felt the rare early talent we saw deserved to be recognized with a commensurate honor. We congratulate the SVA team for some damn good filmmaking that made us laugh, exclaim and even feel a little bit jealous.”

This year’s top honors, based upon ADC awards won across all categories, went to:

• Network of the Year -- Leo Burnett Worldwide
• Advertising Agency of the Year -- BBDO New York, New York, NY, USA
• Digital Agency of the Year -- R/GA, New York, NY, USA
• Design Agency of the Year -- Dentsu, Inc., Tokyo, Japan
• Production Company of the Year -- Goodoil Films, Paddington, NSW, Australia
• School of the Year -- School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA
• Client of the Year -- Loterias Y Apuestas Del Estado, Madrid, Spain

Other noteworthy winners included Leo Burnett Madrid, Leo Burnett Melbourne, The Martin Agency and Venables Bell & Partners with two Gold each, and Goodby Silverstein & Partners with six ADC Cubes, including one Gold.

This year’s ADC 95th Annual Awards winners represent 25 countries, reflecting the program’s global stature. A complete list of this year’s Black, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Merit and Designism winners by category can be viewed here.

ADC Gold Cube winners in all categories are listed below.

Advertising: 45 ADC Cubes (11 Gold, 21 Silver, 13 Bronze, 11 Merit)

• FCB Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil for BDF Nivea Brasil “Doll,” Advertising, Promotional Materials: Small Scale
• Forsman & Bodenfors, Stockholm, Sweden for Volvo Trucks “Look Who’s Driving,” Advertising, TV/Film: Non-broadcast Commercial
• Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, CA, USA for Comcast/XFNITY “Emily’s Oz,” Advertising, Branded Content & Entertainment: Branded Content Broadcast Digital
• Ogilvy & Mather London, London, UK for 28 Too Many “It Happens Here,” Advertising, Press Advertising:Public Service/Non-Profit
• Leo Burnett Madrid, Madrid, Spain for Loterias Y Apuestas Del Estado “Justino,” Advertising, TV/Film: TV Commercial
• Leo Burnett Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina for Samsung “Safety Truck,” Advertising, Innovation: Advertising
• BBDO New York, New York, NY, USA for Foot Locker “The Fight of the Century,” Advertising, Innovation: Advertising
• The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA, USA for Geico “Unskippable: Family, Long Form,” Advertising, TV/Film: Non-broadcast Commercial
• The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA, USA for Geico “Unskippable: Family, Long Form,” Advertising, Innovation: Advertising
• TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Los Angeles, CA, USA for Apple “World Gallery,” Advertising, Poster/Billboard for Advertising: Outdoor
• School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA for “The Container Store: Organize Any Space,” Advertising, Poster/Billboard: Outdoors

Digital: 34 ADC Cubes (8 Gold, 11 Silver, 15 Bronze, 10 Merit)

• AKQA, London, UK for Nike Basketball “Rise 2.0 Greater China,” Digital, Craft in Digital: Use of Technology
• BBDO New York, New York, NY, USA for GE “GE Podcast Theatre Presents The Message,” Branded Content & Entertainment: Branded Content Digital Web Series
• CAA Marketing, Los Angeles, CA, USA for Canada Goose “Out There,” Digital, Craft in Digital, Art Direction
• Miami Ad School, New York, NY, USA for “Lantern,” Digital, Apps: Services/Utilities
• R/GA, New York, NY, USA for Beats by Dre “Straight Outta Compton,” Digital, Social Content: Advertising Through Social Networks
• R/GA, New York, NY, USA for Owlet “Owlet Baby Care,” Digital, Craft in Digital: Use of Technology
• School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA for “Last Call,” Digital, Apps: Services/Utilities
• Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco, CA, USA for REI “#OptOutside,” Digital, Digital Experience: Guerrilla

Integrated: 5 ADC Cubes (1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze)

• Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco, CA, USA for REI “#OptOutside,” Integrated

Design: 31 ADC Cubes (5 Gold, 9 Silver, 16 Bronze, 14 Merit, 1 ADC Designism)

• Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA for Monterey Ocean Research Aquarium (MORA), Design, Poster Design: Promotional
• Daikoku Design Institute, The Nippon Design Center, Inc., Tokyo, Japan for Hachioji City “Takao 599 Museum, Design, Environmental Design: Museums/Gallery Installation
• Dentsu, Inc., Tokyo, Japan for TV Tokyo Corporation “World Table Tennis Championships 2015,” Design, Commercial Photography: Poster or Billboard
• Geometry Global, Bogota, Colombia for Ministry of Environment and Sustainability “Priceless Traps,” Design, Innovation: Design
• Taku Satoh Design Office, Inc., Tokyo, Japan for Issey Miyake, Inc. “Pleats Please Animals,” Design, Poster Design: Promotional

Motion: 32 ADC Cubes (1 Black, 9 Gold, 9 Silver, 12 Bronze, 9 Merit, 1 ADC Designism)

• ALT Creative, Austin, TX, USA for FITC “FITC Tokyo 2015 Titles,” Motion, Typography
• Buck Design, New York, NY, USA for Alcoholics Anonymous “Doors,” Motion, Animation
• Buck Design, New York, NY, USA for Nike “Hypervenom,” Motion, Animation
• Dentsu, Inc., Tokyo, Japan for Amuse Inc./Universal Music LLC “Perfume at SXSW,” Motion, Innovation: Motion
• Leo Burnett Madrid, Madrid, Spain for Loterias Y Apuestas Del Estado “Justino,” Motion, Animation
• Leo Burnett Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia for Honda HR-V “Dream Run,” Motion, Direction
• Leo Burnett Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia for Honda CR-V “Wild Horse Chase,” Motion, Direction
• School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA for “Taking the Plunge,” Motion, Animation; also ADC Black Cube winner
• School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA for “Cupidiculous,” Motion, Motion Graphics

ADC Designism Awards:

The ADC Designism Award, honoring work that drives social or political change, went to:

• Buck Design, New York, NY, USA for Alcoholics Anonymous “Doors”
• Geometry Global, Bogota, Colombia for Ministry of Environment and Sustainability “Priceless Traps”

All ADC Cube-winning work will be featured in the ADC 95th Annual Awards Exhibition at the ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th St., New York, now through July 29, 2016. The exhibition includes all Black, Gold Silver and, for the first time, Bronze Cube winners. The work will be permanently highlighted in the ADC online archive, and possibly used in future ADC promotional materials.

The ADC 95th Annual Awards Celebration, Exhibition and other club activities throughout the year are made possible in part through the generous support of ADC global partner Shutterstock. ADC also gratefully acknowledges its 95th Annual Awards design partner BBDO New York.

Source: The Art Directors Club

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.