Six decades of D&AD awards: the 1980s

Design and Art Direction (D&AD) was founded in 1962 by a group of London-based designers and art directors including David Bailey, Terence Donovan, Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes (who designed the original D&AD logo). The group was dedicated to celebrating creative communication, rewarding its practitioners, and raising standards across the industry.

This is some of what I remember of the 1980s, in no particular order and unsure of the significance of any of it. To look at the D&AD winning work from that decade is a kaleidoscopic experience as well. There’s humour and attitude, tradition and change and the conventional and the downright bizarre. I think that the industry looks back at this time as a golden age. Let’s examine the evidence to see if this is a rose-tinted approach.

This is a very modern advert as well and is clearly the forerunner of lots of the work that we have celebrated in more modern times. John Cleese’s mum asks the public to go and see his film so that she can afford to stay in her fancy nursing home. A lateral thought, beautifully realised. You know and trust that it’s his actual mum, she is totally charming and arresting, and the way that she laughs at the end is delightful.

Make that four from four. The Snowman has become part of our culture, a staple of Christmas, so simple, so magnificent but bittersweet at the end. I wonder if the jury that gave it a Silver Pencil, as they took in the beauty of the animation and its relationship with the music, even entertained the thought that they were judging something that would become a cultural artifact? It would be fascinating to find out.

So the 1980s were an outstanding decade, classic, peerless and the true foundation of advertising as we know it today? Well, yes but check out this promo for Jean Michel Jarre’s China tour. In contrast to everything above it seems dated and rooted in its time. So '80s, a bit off-beam and culturally naïve, like JMJ himself. This would probably go down well in Dalston today, I think, until the next fad came along.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.

Six decades of D&AD awards: the 1980s

01. Lego 'Kipper'

02. Monty Python 'Mrs Cleese'

03. Levis 'Thompson', 'Kerouac', 'Kesey'

04. Channel 4 'The Snowman'

05. Jean-Michel Jarre 'China Promotion'

Liked this? Read these!

Related articles