Art Directors Club of Europe Announces Finalists for ADCE Awards 2023

The Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) unveiled the finalists from 23 countries for the ADCE Awards on its 32nd edition; the most prestigious competition of the creative and design industry in Europe.
A renowned international jury, made up of 57 leading creatives and designers from 21 European countries, concluded their deliberations on the best of European design and advertising work on November 9th and 10th in Barcelona. The award winners will be revealed during the Gala ceremony on December 1st at the ADCE Festival, held at the Disseny Hub in Barcelona.

ADCE Festival is the essential annual gathering for creatives and advertisers across Europe. The event will take place in Barcelona from November 30th to December 1st, bringing together top global creatives minds to lead a series of inspiring sessions under the theme “Agents of Change”, with lectures, workshops, guided tours and networking spaces focused on those who are embracing the challenges of the industry to deliver new creative solutions.

ADCE Awards – Finalist Announced

A total of 963 entries were submitted from 28 European countries to the ADCE Awards this edition. After jury deliberation, 416 entries from 23 countries were selected as finalists. The Gold winners, as well as Special Awards and Grand Prix, will be revealed later this month at the Awards Gala Ceremony (part of the ADCE Festival) on Friday, December 1st. Silver, Bronzes and Shortlists will be announced right after the Gala on the ADCE website.

The leading countries contributing to this selection include Germany with 96 Finalist entries, Austria with 50, United Kingdom with 46, Portugal with 33, and Spain with 32.

ADCE Festival
The ADCE Festival serves as a common space for Europe’s creative community to come together, gain inspiration, and participate in the exchange of invaluable experiences. The event has become a vibrant gathering that unites professionals from diverse fields around the world, united by their sustained dedication to sparking change and cultivating innovation through creativity.
This year’s Festival introduces a compelling theme: “Agents of Change”, curated by the Founder of MediaMonks, Wesley ter Haar. “Are we Agents of change, or agents of chaos? Creatives can be heralded as the former, and sometimes derided for being the latter. This year, we’ll celebrate agents of change, those within our industry and from elsewhere, and how they’ve managed to control or even cajole the chaos to deliver change, in their work, in their industry, and beyond”, said ter Haar.
The festival will feature a lineup of conferences, immersive workshops, and networking spaces devised to celebrate design and new creative solutions.

Conferences – Top global creatives confirmed to speak

• Wesley ter Haar, cofounder MediaMonks — “Excitement & Anxiety in the Age of Generative AI”
• Nick Law, Creative Chairperson at Accenture Song — “Seven Principles of Song”
• Pum Lefebure, Co-Founder, CCO at Design Army — “Feel All the Feels”
• PJ Pereira, Creative Chairman at Pereira O’Dell — “Self-Defense For Your Advertising Career”
• Martin Haerlin, Gen AI Artist — “The future of AI-filmmaking”
• Bei Wang, Cultural Broker, Metaverse Explorer, Digital China — “Creatives are the New Activists”
• Magda Mojsiejuk, Designer, Futurist, Researcher at Futurity Systems — “Changing Our Future Narratives: What Can Designers Learn from Science Fiction?”
• Josh Fruttiger, Global Marketing Solutions Lead, TikTok – “Unlocking exponential entertainment with TikTok”
• Iain Tait, Founder, Food Arts & Technology – “Delete It All (live)”
• Lydia Amoah, Founder & CEO, The Black Pound Report and Backlight – “Unleashing the Power of the Black Pound: Driving Inclusion, Growth and Success in Europe”

A curated selection of hands-on workshops designed to inspire and challenge participants’ abilities at problem-solving, endurance, collaboration, and innovative ways to enhance their inner creativity:
• “Let’s Create a Commercial using AI Tools” (led by by Martin Haerlin, and Alex Kutka)
• “The Atlas of Weak Signals” (Jana Tothill, IAAC – FabLab)
• “Design <> Materials: 2D, 3D & 4D” (Robert Thompson, Materfad)
• “Imagine Better Futures” (Magda Mojsiejuk, Futurity Systems)
• What Do You Want to Transform? Be Part of the Change” (Núria Vila, Creative Director/ Designer)
• “How to transform your agency to integrate tech (Wildbytes)
• Act in Synch “The courage class” (Europe in Synch)
Guided Tours
This year’s Festival also offers two guided tours for those who want to walk around and discover the creative and cultural district of Poblenou 22@ by InsòlitBarcelona:
• Crafts & Creativity: Poblenou 22@ quarter: open studios
• Back to the future – Poblenou 22@ creative quarter

The Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) is a non-profit association headquartered in Barcelona. It comprises 21 professional clubs and associations of graphic design and advertising from 20 European countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Georgia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Founded in 1990, the ADCE strives to foster excellence in graphic design and advertising creativity at a European scale. The association represents more than 5,000 professionals from the field and gives visibility to the best works accomplished locally. The current president is Alex Schill, Global Chief Creative Officer at Serviceplan Group and it recently merged with the One Club for Creativity, being its European branch.