Edinburgh Napier University is set to host the prize-giving event of the D&AD New Gen Awards, a collaboration between our partner Daydream Believers, an organisation promoting creativity in education, and D&AD, which represents the creative, design and advertising communities.
Date posted
30 May 2023
01:00
The D&AD New Gen Awards focus on empowering young people aged 11 – 18 to think creatively about socially important topics. They are challenged to respond bravely and creatively to briefs set by global brands and creative industry leaders, giving them an opportunity to understand the power and potential of their creativity and to identify and develop valuable skills at a much earlier stage in their educational journey than before.
A new way to play
This year’s brief was set by Adidas, and learning resources were provided for schools across the UK to participate.
Pupils were given a problem; that four out of five adolescents around the world do not experience both the enjoyment and the social, physical, and mental health benefits of regular physical activity.
Their challenge was to design a physical experience, a game or a sport to get more 11 – 18-year-olds to want to move, play and thrive, and use the power of the adidas brand to make their idea spread around the world.
The event
Edinburgh Napier has an established relationship with Daydream Believers. They developed a level 5 and 6 SCQF qualification in Creative Thinking, which is accredited by the University. Our School of Arts & Creative Industries is therefore excited to host this celebration of young creative talent.
On 5 June, the winning students will join us at our Merchiston Campus, along with Marie Dryden (Senior Foundation Manager) from D&AD, and Helena Good from Daydream Believers, who’ll be giving a talk on the future of creativity and the creative industries. Also in attendance will be representatives from some of the top creative agencies in Scotland, who’ll be working directly with the winners to help them develop their ideas even further.
The winners
The competition was open to all schools in the UK, but the five winners this year were all from Scotland.
In the Junior category there were 4 winners.
Maria & Caitlin, pupils from The Mary Erskine School, were awarded for their idea, Brailling. Their initial ideas examined how to make more sports and games accessible. They decided to focus on blind children and have come up with a range of ways to incorporate braille into games, from climbing to braille games controllers. Maria & Caitlin will be working with Bond & Coyne on their project.
Another winning idea, Glowie, came from Perth Grammar School. Lily thought of targeting girls specifically, and her initial ideas included lots of fun twists on existing sports, like rubber duck curling. For her entry she settled on glow in the dark ping pong, including a net around the table that players can travel around on seats with wheels. Leith agency will collaborate with Lily on Glowie.
Sprun is a relay-race style game, where young people can compete and have fun passing a spoon to one another around a pole to win. Gemma, Jane and Melissa from Castlehead High School, were motivated to keep their idea simple, to ensure the sport was accessible to all and required no specialist equipment. Gemma, Jane and Melissa will work with MadeBrave.
From St Thomas of Aquinas RC, Nina, Victoria and Kianna came up with Swimpossible. The three-pool complex goes up in difficulty levels to help young people learn to swim with confidence. The pupils had the fun idea to make the three pools form the Adidas logo, and to involve Team GB winner Duncan Scott to help get young people on board. Swimpossible will be developed on 5 June with help from StudioLR.
In the senior category there was only one winner – Caitlin from Grangemouth High School, with Outburst. Caitlin wanted to make her game accessible for teens and young people with social anxiety. The result is a game which combines rounders and a pinata. When the batter hits the ball, it explodes, and fielders run to collect what’s inside. Caitlin will get to work with representatives from Emperor on her project.
We’ll be covering the event to celebrate the power of young creativity and to find out where the pupils can take their ideas with help from experts in the industry. Find out more on our website and social media channels on 5 June.