Entries rise by 33% at Kyoorius Design Awards 2014

Kyoorius, with an aim of connecting the creative world, within India with the rest of the world, through various design activities recently organized the Kyoorius Design Awards (KDA) 2014 jury session in association with D&AD. Kyoorius has been galvanizing the design community since 2006. Ethically and with the highest standards – the Kyoorius Design Awards (KDA) in association with D&AD recognize, honour and award the most outstanding creative work in the Indian design & visual communications sphere.

The KDA 2014 offered a diverse range of categories that recognize both comprehensive design projects as well as individual components. To this end, the Design Craft jury is dedicated to illustration, typography, graphic design and photography.

Speaking at the event, Rajesh Kejriwal – Founder CEO of Kyoorius said, “Design is at the root of creativity. Over the last 5 years we have seen the role of design change in India – from being a non-essential to a critical tool for business development and growth. We’ve seen significant growth in participation both at the awards and at Designyatra not only from designer and studios but from clients themselves.”

All the jury members who belong to the field of design, advertising and branding gathered in Pune at the sprawling campus of DSK International Centre. It is one of the only institutions of its kind in India, offering professional courses in Animation, Game Design and Industrial Design. The event was held to review, discuss and elect the best of the best over an intensive three-day session where all voting is private, never by a show of hands.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, the KDA 2014 jury members Michael Johnson – Creative Director & Principal, Johnson Banks, Felix Ng – Creative Director, Anonymous, Alok Nanda – Founder & CEO, Alok Nanda & Company, Brendan McCormick - Fitch - Creative Director, Anthony Lopez – CEO & Principal, Lopez Design and Ram Sinam – Co-Founder, Trapeze shared their thoughts on the entries and the designs they judged this year.

Jury Foreman Michael Johnson, sharing his thoughts said, “I think the work quality was very high, and some of the local designs surprised me. Next I would like to see more modern Indian designs; I am looking forward to Indian stars making headway in the design industry. In India design industry is very young and is catching up quickly; designers have to find their own identity.”

“Firstly, judging was a tough experience for me as I am judging Kyoorius Awards for the first time. Interesting thing about judging is that you have to understand the work you are looking at and the thought behind the same. I think the standard of work is very high, India is really going to show strength in design as they are already doing so in advertising,” opined Felix Ng.

Alok Nanda sharing said, “I think designing as an industry is growing in India and it's been fairly seen in the entries which we have seen. Kyoorius has created a good design platform and is providing great opportunity for work and it’s vigorous.”

“There are good designers in India and it was really interesting to see their talent. But, I feel apart from taking inspiration from International designs and designers it’s time to create one’s own identity and showcase your culture in your design. Way to go,” stated McCormick.

Voicing his thoughts on KDA 2014, Lopez said, “I think platforms like this give a broad understanding of what the industry is doing today and how it’s growing today. As a jury we are torn between the regional or Indian context and the international designs. We saw much international work which we are exposed to. Design in India compared to international market is at a very infant stage and still has a big curve to take.”

“It's difficult to differentiate between Indian and International designs. We are much more aware about what is happening around us visually and aspirations come from there. Everybody comes with different views and perspectives but there is an alignment of thought which makes a winner. To make a value judgment is a difficult task but I feel it’s a great platform for the designers,” said Sinam.

Kyoorius Awards have no winning tier structure – no gold, silver or bronze, and it is the jury’s prerogative to award one or multiple Blue Elephants in one category, whereas none in another, if entries are not up to the mark. A mix of the top international, regional, and Indian creative minds have been selected to ensure that work is compared against industry best practices, while keeping the Indian context in mind.

This year KDA completed India’s largest design awards with 468 entries judged across 9 categories, ranging from Branding & Identity, Design for Communication, Packaging, Space, Books to Writing and Editorial.

Adding further Kejriwal said, “I think compared to last year, the quality of work we’ve seen this year has been really good, I am happy to see loads of good work. We have a local as well as international jury as I feel that the body of work that you call design does not mean it should be only for the Indian audience but should make sense to global audience as well. Last year it was 340 entries from India, this year we are at 468 entries which is about 33 percent increase this year. The word is spreading and I am optimistic that in the coming year we will hit around 600-650 entries.”

Kyoorius will once again open its doors to the public as it had done for the Advertising Awards jury sessions in Mumbai. Winners of Blue and Black Elephants will be awarded at Kyoorius Designyatra, the annual creativity and innovation conference held in Goa from 11th to 13th September 2014. In-book winners, also considered nominees for Blue Elephants, will be announced in August. Alongside winners, nominees will be featured in the Kyoorius Design Awards Annual, an annual publication that is distributed to over 5000 corporates in India. [By: Ranjana Gupta| Twitter: @RGrightsreserve]