Hasta La Creative!

At Cannes, everyone focuses on the winners — which campaign, which agency, and how your own country did. But before there’s a winner, there’s a jury. Ad Age is taking you inside the voting room at the Palais des Festivals through exit interviews with jurors from different categories. Here it’s Smart Design co-founder Dan Formosa, who was on the first-ever product design jury this year.

What surprised you? Gathering at the hotel the night before, something seemed surprising — all nine judges were male. I’m not sure how or why that happened, but with judging sessions taking place the next morning (which would be Sunday, bright and early) there was no turning back. There was a lot of conversation at dinner about how that might possibly influence the award selections.

Since it was the first year for this jury, was it difficult setting ground rules for how to choose award winners? Although this was the first Product Design jury at the festival, my personal involvement began six months earlier. In January, I started correspondence with Rhys Parker (on the Cannes Lions team) about the program and the criteria that should be used for the category. By the time of the event, the ground rules were clear, with the official description instructing the jury to focus on, “visual impact as well as the use and experience of the brand’s values through design.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com