OCCUPY LOTUS REPORT 2012

On November 10, 2011 over 100 designers got together at the Commodore Lanes, below the Lotus Awards ceremony, for beer, banter and bowling.

For the 18 days prior, the Occupy Lotus movement lit a firestorm within the Design community, bringing voice to over a decade of dissatisfaction against the province’s most visible creative awards show.

Many in the Lotus Awards camp and Advert ising community wrote it off as sour grapes, the ranting of “losers” and the voice of a small, bitter minority.

But in a mere 18 days, the Occupy Lotus mov ement generated:

Some in the Lotus Awards have stated that they embrace change. Some in OccupyLotus are skeptical.

This survey, conducted between November 18 and December 1, is an attempt to embrace a positive view of change within the Lotus Awards.

videos tweets video views Facebook post views7 173 681 27,811

On November 10, 2011 over 100 designers got together at the Commodore Lanes, below the Lotus Awards ceremony, for beer, banter and bowling.

For the 18 days prior, the Occupy Lotus movement lit a firestorm within the Design community, bringing voice to over a decade of dissatisfaction against the province’s most visible creative awards show.

Many in the Lotus Awards camp and Advert ising community wrote it off as sour grapes, the ranting of “losers” and the voice of a small, bitter minority.

But in a mere 18 days, the Occupy Lotus mov ement generated:

Some in the Lotus Awards have stated that they embrace change. Some in OccupyLotus are skeptical.

This survey, conducted between November 18 and December 1, is an attempt to embrace a positive view of change within the Lotus Awards.

videos tweets video views Facebook post views7 173 681 27,811

WHO OCCUPIED LOTUS?

Sore losers? Or zealous winners?Occupy Lotus involved BC’s top and

winning-est design firms.

2108 _ Local, National and International Awards won collectively by survey respondents

271 _ Lotus Awards and Lotus Merits won collectively by survey respondents

82% _ Non-advertising Creatives (Designers, Interactive Designers, Marketers, Other)

73% _ Over 10 years experience

42% _ Over 20 years experience

64% _ Members of the Graphic Designers of Canada

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF SURVEY% represents the percentage of respondents for each question

OPPORTUNITYWho are you & what is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

Respondents who historically enter the Lotus Awards

Respondents who historically attend the Lotus Awards Ceremony

If the Lotus Awards made significant changes in how it involves, recognizes and rewards Design & Interactive I might be interested in participating and/or entering work

JUDGES What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

A mixed group of Advertising, Design and Interactive creatives to judge all entries

Judges to meet in person to review work & debate live

Judges to assess work based on criteria/scale provided by Lotus Awards

CRITERIA What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

Design & Interactive categories to be reflective of international award shows

Equal number of design categories to Advertising (ditto with Interactive) Actual samples of design is required, not just images or renderings

All work submitted must be submitted “as published” only

STANDARDS What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

Entries judged on some balance of ideas, craft and appropriateness

Proof that work is based on real briefs, objectives and is paid for by clients Measurable results should also be considered (sales, share, awareness)

Self-promo entries can only win in “self promotional” category

40%

39%

49%

47%

67%

72%

87%

94%

48%

85%

88%

88%

76%

84%

OCCUPY LOTUS RECOMMENDATIONS

OPPORTUNITY Meet the needs of BC’s Designers and Interactives and they will come.

JUDGES1. Mixed panel of judges, who all meet live to discuss and debate work.2. To keep numbers down, to include a mix of disciplines, and to maintain a strategic focus to judging, we recommend one judge for each of the disciplines below: a) Art Director b) Copywriter c) Designer d) Interactive Designer e) Marketing Specialist (Agency or Client-side)3. The Lotus Awards committee will also need to decide on a set of criteria which it feels represents “the Best of Creativity in BC”. These values (scale) would be given to the judges to help guide the judging process and to ensure that entries are consistent from year-to-year, that they represent the Lotus Awards’ values, and that they prevent judges from being entirely subjective. See Standards 1.4. The Graphic Designs of Canada (GDC) must become involved. More important that any other participation is that Canada’s national design body helps mold and promote this show, just as AAABC and BCAMA has been involved.

CRITERIA1. No more small mindset for the awards show: take cues from other significant & respected awards shows to base categories. Some categories ( for design, based on best-practise) may include: a) Logomark b) Complete Identity Program (minimum 10 applications) c) Packaging (single or system: must send actual samples) d) Motion Graphics Design ( film titling, TV graphics, video, etc.) e) Print Brochures (annual reports, corporate brochures, etc.) f ) Design Posters g) Environmental Graphics h) Typographic Design (typefaces or custom typographic design) i) Self Promotion or Pro Bono Work j) Miscellaneous2. Designers and Interactives want equal representation.3. In the spirit of live judging, samples should be submitted as actual samples (not just photos).4. Work cannot be edited to be “perfect”, but must be submitted “as published” (that means no “aired-at-3am-on-a-Kelowna-TV-station” ads either!)5. Entry criteria needs to be clear and distinct. That means goofy business cards cannot win in “Identity”.

STANDARDS1. Designers believe strongly that design = business. So work cannot be judged on pure “art” or “creativity”, but must be a mix of values like other significant international awards: a) Idea (unique, memorable, powerful, smart) b) Craft (design, typography, finishing, imagery) c) Appropriateness (solves clients’ goals, meets consumer needs) d) Effectiveness (results: sales, share, awareness)2. All work must be real work for real clients who paid with real money. Pro Bono is fine, and can certainly be given its own category. But the message is no work created just for winning awards is eligible.4. Self promotion is awesome! But it is easy. So give it its own category.

AWARDS & JUDGING

What is needed for youto consider entering / attending

the Lotus Awards?

JUDGESWhat is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

A mixed group of ad, design & interactive creatives to judge all entries

Design judges design, interactives judge interactive, etc.

Judges to review work independently with group discussion via Skype

Judges to meet in person to review work and debate live

Judges to assess work based on their own personal criteria/scale

Judges to assess work based on criteria/scale provided by Lotus Awards

CRITERIAWhat is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

Design & Interactive categories to be based on ‘popular’ ones in BC

Design & Interactive categories to be reflective of international award shows

6 design / 5 interactive / 22 advertising categories is equitable

Equal number of design & interactive categories to advertising

Online entry with JPG images of work is preferable

Actual samples of work can be edited to ‘ideal’ imagery, not entirely as published

Work submitted can be edited to ‘ideal’ imagery, not necessarily as published

All work submitted must be entered ‘as published’ only

STANDARDSWhat is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards

Entries judged on ideas and pure creativity only

Entries judged on some balance of ideas, craft and appropriateness

Experimental and client-less work is acceptable alongside client work

Proof that work is based on real briefs, objectives and is paid for by clients

‘Appropriateness’ of solution is a strenuous enough criteria

Measurable results should also be considered (sales, share, awareness, etc.)

Self-promo entries can win in any category (ie. design firm’s own packaging)

Self-promo entries can only win in ‘self-promotional’ category

49%

19%

11%

52%

87%

88%

33%

6%

12%

67%

94%

88%

28%

52%

19%

12%

16%

72%

48%

76%

85%

84%

“ Concept designs, or works created solely for the purpose of entering competitions, are not eligible.” D&AD AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

“It is our goal to guard against the entering of fake ads. ONE CLUB AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

“Work must have been produced in response to a genuine brief and be approved and paid for by the client”D&AD AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

“All entries - excluding student work - must have been created for a paying client except pro bono work for charities and non-profit organizations” CLIO AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

“All entries must be submitted for judging exactly as published, aired or implemented and may not be modified for awards entry.” CANNES FESTIVAL { Rules of Entry }

“All entries must have been made within the context of a normal paying contract with a client”CLIO AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

An agency, the regional office of an agency network, or the independent agency that enters an ad made for nonexistent clients, or made and run without a client’s approval, will be banned from entering the One Show for 5 years. The team credited on the “fake” entries will be banned from entering the One Show for 5 years.

An agency, the regional office of an agency network, or the independent agency that enters an ad that has run once, on late night TV, or has only run because the agency produced a single ad and paid to run it themselves*, will be banned from entering The One Show for 3 years.

ONE CLUB AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

1. FUNCTION Performance of the design solution in relation to stated objectives and user needs.

2. PROFITABILITY Including positive financial returns, strengthening of corporate brand positioning, relationship building, cost reduction, enhancing employee satisfaction and/or improving operational efficiencies.

3. AESTHETICS Alignment of all elements in the design solution for maximum physical, intellectual and emotional appeal.

4. INNOVATION Ability to apply new thinking, new methods and/or new technologies to address a specific challenge or opportunity. Ability to show added value to the profession.

5. ACCESSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY Design that makes daily life easier, safer, more comfortable and more affordable for everyone regardless of age, size, background or ability; surpasses code compliance to current legislation. Also minimal impact on the environment, reduces resources, minimizes waste, energy resource efficiency, surpasses conformance to current legislation and promotes knowledge & positive behaviours concerning environmental & social responsibilities.

THE DESIGN EXCHANGE AWARDS { Rules of Entry }

MOST ADMIRED AWARD SHOWS

What are your top 3 most respected creative award shows that you have

entered at one point? Why?

Cannes

*Award show

s scoring lower than 2 have been om

itted

20

15

10

5

0

One Show

DX

Awards

Applied A

rts

Graphis

Com

munication A

rts

D&

AD

AD

CC

Graphex

London International

WHAT’S IN IT FOR LOTUS?

Respect? More entries? Money?Or perhaps all of the above?

How do we involve more designers?

What kind of work do youdo MOST of the time?

How many years have you been in the design business?

Do you historically tend to ATTEND the Lotus Awards?

Do you historically tend to ENTER the Lotus Awards?

How much do creative awards matter to you and/ or your business? 1 = Nada5 = Oh it matters, alright

Design (50)

20+ years (38)

1 (21)4 (17)

5 (13)

3 (16) 2 (24)

10-15 years (28)

1-5 yrs(12)

6-10 yrs(12)

YES (33)

NO (58)

Advertising (16)

Other (10)

multi-medianinja (8)

inter-active (7)

YES (36)

NO (55)

PEOPLE SOUND OFF TO OCCUPY LOTUS

I believe in the Lotus’s, and award shows in general, it’s just having gone for 3 years (with nominated photographers I rep) I found it very one-sided throughout the events, and you were left with the distinct impression that you didn’t have a chance in hell to ever win! Also I found it incredibly disrespectful to all the agencies and artists involved when it came to many, many categories and the results were “no winner in this category”, BURN! I felt it was if the world-wide judges had an open license to mock our advertising community as we do not have as high-profile clients or budgets to stand beside what they are used to, and therefore they ‘judged’ use as that ‘poor, pathetic little Vancouver, nice try though’!Now I am coming from an impartial place as I simply rep and produce, I am not part of the creative, but being an agent, my opinion is that is NOT good PR for Vancouver....maybe have ‘International’ & ‘National’ & ‘Regional’ categories that can be judged appropriately.Name tags are good too, so you can meet more people while you are there!---

many in the design community feel that the advertising - first ethos of the Lotus Awards undervalues the best design work...-Marketing Magazine---

We want to raise the standard, we want to make it tougher to win,” he said. “I’ve watched my colleagues and firms do spectacular work, and I’ve seen their work win around the world at big global competitions, and at Lotus they’re not even a runner-up.”---

We have actually served on the board of Lotus and many of the supporters of Occupy Lotus work tirelessly in the Vancouver creative industry. We want to raise the bar way, way up for “creative excellence in BC”.---

We believe that design and interactive industry associations are needed to help be strong advocates for our industry, not just the AAABC and local ad agencies.---

Hopefully, this time next year instead of planning a fun event against Lotus, you will be wrapping up the final details for a Lotus show that we, as a community, can all be proud of. Looking forward to working with some of you.---

There are incredibly talented people in Vancouver. But we need to stop thinking so small and regional. We need to do brilliant work for clients who need it and actually pay us to do it. We need to push ourselves and be better.---

It’s tough being told the other boys and girls are bigger, smarter and faster than you isn’t it?---

“Occupy Sesame Street” campaign was funny. “Occupy Lotus” ...not funny.---

Occupy Lotus participants “are undermining what those dedicated talents are working hard for ... you’re creating a false truth; that earned recognition is worthless.”---

It’s too bad “Occupy Lotus” didn’t just take part in the show this year. Constructive dialogue and volunteerism would have saved us all from the ugliness they have chosen to create.---

Seeing how much “pro-bono” work gets recognized at Lotus is my biggest beef. Why do agencies like Rethink feel that doing “cute” work for clients who they don’t charge proper fees for (I know, I’ve lost out on work to them because they quoted LESS than my 2 person firm) is good for the industry I cannot fathom. If awards are to mean anything why not award them for real (but creative of course) work for real clients? Can’t Rethink do good work for real clients? Of course they can, but they seem to think that dominating award shows with cheap, “cute” work is good for them.

They win top awards for corporate identity and its a single business card cut of beef jerky or something equally “cute”. That’s a cute business card, not a corporate identity!!!TV commercials that run once in the middle of the night on a cable network or in a theatre?!?

Media stunts that you know damn well the client never paid for.

It demeans the entire industry and profession.---

Context should be a major consideration. Not just about who can do the nicest with the biggest budget. Most designers work with constraints and some of them come up with great solutions in spite (or because of ) those constraints. Would be nice to celebrate those as well. Think small agencies doing work for small to medium size business.

Without a reboot, Lotus Awards is harmful to BC’s creative industries. It represents a scant few players—almost exclusively advertising—and NOT the best of creative excellence in BC as they promise. Arguably the best aspect of Lotus is the high calibre external judges, but they are from a variety of industries and not provided criteria such as context, usage or re-sults by which to make informed judgements. The result are numerous awards going to very pretty executions which could barely be clas-sified as “real” work. Further, the event has become so bloated and costly that entry fees and event tickets have become cost prohibitive for many. Perhaps my biggest pet peeve about Lotus Awards is that so very few clients could give a damn and it all becomes a big wank fest and circle jerk. It’s great to be congratulated by peers, but it could be so much more interest-ing, informative and relevant to the business community (our clients) with some fine tuning to emphasize the positive impact on culture, society, economy and community in which the entries function.---

Seems to me that Lotus is advertising, or at least that’s how I’ve always perceived it. Nothing wrong with it not being interactive or design. Don’t get what the whole ‘occupy lotus’ was about. They’re doing their thing well, let them do it. I’ll do mine.---

I like the idea of a co-party occurring while the Lotus was going on. I find the Lotus has become too expensive to attend in these times. While the rest of the world is tightening belts, Lotus continues to increase ticket prices for what seems like less and less value. Last year’s Lotus was abysmal on several counts, and I vowed not to attend any more.

As a side note I went to the Occupy party after I attended another awards event earlier that evening. The event took place in arguably one of the most expensive private clubs in the city. Our sit-down buffet style dinner was $30.00 and was one of the best buffets I’ve ever seen. For a ticket price around the $90 mark the Lotus Awards and their offer of finger foods this year seemed a lot less desirable.

So, kudos to Occupy Lotus for thinking outside the box.

BUT:A couple things to finish my contribution.

To me there was a certain undertone of rebel-lion, or anti-Lotus Awards sentiment. I know most people were just there for a beer and bowling, but I was approached by two people who voiced what I considered to be question-able opinions about the people upstairs. The bottom line is that if you really want to be involved in Lotus, then show up and volunteer, or buy a ticket. The majority of the people at Occupy Lotus did neither, but still felt some sense of being left out. Lotus is an Advertis-ing Show done by Advertisers for Advertisers that includes a couple design and interactive categories mostly because the Advertising Agencies often employ in-house design and interactive elements. It is not, has never been and will never be an Advertising/Design Awards Show.

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s photographers felt quite snubbed by Lotus (similar to the sen-timents of designers right now) as the photo categories were reduced to one or two, and further to zero. When I asked a member of the Lotus Committee they responded that they weren’t receiving enough entries to warrant the category. Categories that don’t get entered, don’t stick around long.

How many people at Occupy Lotus entered a design in one of the design categories this year? How many people at Occupy Lotus have ever entered the Lotus Awards?

How many had actually ever attended one and knew what they were at Occupy Lotus to show their non-support to????

My point here is that I think the Occupy Lotus seemed a bit more “anti-big-bad-award-show” and less “celebrating the creative collective we have here in Vancouver”.

I think there was some sentiment there that the Lotus were not being inclusive. My final point here would be that I am disappointed that there are no questions here for photog-raphers. Your poll doesn’t include any of our occupations or associations.

I met 4 photographers at that event in the very short period of time I was there.

I feel left out by your big-bad-anti-big-bad-awards-show-party-party.

I smell an OccupyOccupyLotus party in the making for next year.

;-)---

Thrilled to see and hear a cry from the rank and file that have the cajones to point out obvious bias and separation from the field. Awards are earned, not bought and politicized. A fair shake and a fair deal and a fair show. Please.---I’m a student in the IDEA Program at Cap-ilano University. I’m still new in the design community and, therefore, don’t have much knowledge about Lotus or other award shows in Vancouver.

As far as I know, Lotus doesn’t have a student category which is a negative, in my mind. Student categories are a great way for the rest of the design community to see who’s up-and-coming. The main reason I attended Occupy Lotus was to have the opportunity to connect with industry professionals and meet some new people. That being said, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to network since most people at OL stayed in their own groups.

Overall, I did have fun at OL. Mark Busse did make an attempt to talk to me and my classmates (though, at that point, everyone was drunk and I doubt the conversation went anywhere)---

I think the Lotus awards needs to be reflective of where our clients are going. Interactive, social media, holistic brand expression.---

I do not believe that The Lotus Awards ‘equally’ represents Vancouver’s Creative Community. It really is an Ad show - which is perfectly fine - it really is - just call it that. My challenge is that it offers Design and Interac-tive categories without the same care taken to judge them as what they are. If including these categories treat them as an equal & considered discipline - this includes number of categories, judges & judging criteria & committee repre-sentation. Truth is I have always been a strong supporter of The Lotus Awards but sadly say that it doesn’t properly represent my interests as a designer. Any attempt at bridging that gap would be really appreciated.---

Thanks for the doing this. Smart and wise to solicit all feedback. That’s how work gets better, organizations grow and strengthen, to build up a confident professional design com-munity. Kudos!---

Areas to consider: Environmental design, Point of sale, Signage, Poster.

Reduce the advertising categories.

Prevent the same piece of work winning in multiple categories. i.e. Limit the number of categories a piece of creative can enter.

No self-promotion outside of self-promotion! ---

A lot of awards shows are the same as in what’s rewarded is brought down to the level of qual-ity of what’s entered. And also you see winners have some sort of tie with the lead judging panel. I just think overall we need to raise the quality and reward only the best work. It will raise the quality of the work in Canada and what people choose to enter.---

I don’t know how many design firms are excluded from the call for entries, but Ion hasn’t received one since the year we last did the book - I think it was 2004 or 5. We’ve only entered if we happened to remember to check the website.

Lotus is pretty much an agency f**kfest so I’m not going to loose sleep over not being invited, but being a past winner and VOLUNTEER, it would be nice for them to at least keep us on their mailing list.

Sorry I missed the bowling - I heard it was a gas.

Bring it back to the basics. Leave politics out of it and focus on successful and innovative design, advertising and interactive projects. Student and personal projects should have a place as they are often the most creative due to a lack of ‘brief’. This work, however should not mix with projects which were produced under the confines of budgets, briefs, committees and other bureaucracies.---

I’m a small studio. I hate competing against ad agencies who will spend $2000 in entry fees for one project-entering many executions in every category. It’s easy for them to sweep a show. I may only have $300 to painstakingly choose projects from a year’s worth of work. Some judges only appreciate a narrow aes-thetic and reject anything outside of it. Design judges typically are very stingy while advertis-ing judges have lower standards. Everyone and their grandmother is eager to have their own awards show and take $150+ per entry. So i’m getting sick of these things.

PEOPLE SOUND OFF TO OCCUPY LOTUS

I thought the Lotus Awards were only for advertising, but it really doesn’t make sense, since there aren’t *that* many firms in BC. Opening it up to design and interactive makes sense - share the love.---Given the size of the local market, it’s embar-rassing enough that we have the Lotus awards at all. Other big, proper cities (I think Vancou-ver likes to term these as ‘world class’) don’t have shows just for their own local area.

The event itself has been ok in the past; a bit glitzy and the opportunity to dress up and see people I don’t usually see. But that’s a social and we could organise a massive social event in Vancouver for creatives, or agency people, or just designers, or whatever... without the distraction of awards nonsense.

I’m fed up of going to an event filled with people who just want to ‘be seen’, like junior account execs who think it’s fucking Mad Men. And anyway, I never got ‘into advertising’ in the first place. I’m a designer, and I’ll always be a designer. I just happen to work at an ad agency, but it’s not my first choice! So if I’m honest, I’d rather see Lotus get rid of all the design categories, and it’s just an ad show. At least I won’t get irritated by Rethink winning another design Lotus for “Best fake business card for my friend’s uncle’s dog’s arse” with what is basically a ‘wacky’ advertising idea. So there.---

No rant, but thanks for opening dialogue to what an award show should be---

have attended and submitted and won (merit) @ lotus in the past. boycotted 4 years ago.

too expensive (gala), too much of an ad wank-fest, too many bullshit single-instance-paid-for-by-the-agency-for-awards-only.

make me feel proud of the industry i’m in – it’s a strange mix of trying to be elitist and acting like a small-town high-school

also, the idea of it focusing entirely on advertising would suit the current mandate but would be far behind the times. perhaps it should die and be reborn with a new name, new mandate.---

I don’t know if this is fair to say, but everyone knows that the Lotus Awards is a big parade for DDB and Rethink, with a few others sprinkled in there. Granted that Rethink and DDB do great work, the award show has always stunk because of this.

I’m not sure how this is fixable, but something needs to change. ---I am a designer with a wife and four beautiful children to support. I am not a member of the GDC because I could buy new shoes and clothes for all of my kids with the membership fee, and that just seems wrong to both my wife and myself. I also don’t enter awards shows because I would rather not waste my time or money on wild goose chases with no positive outcome. My clients don’t give a damn about any design award shows - they care about if I listen to them and understand what they are trying to accom-plish. It takes me all of my professional time to understand and deliver what they need - and they are the reason I do what I do.

I am involved in ‘Canstruction’ and am on the board of directors of Canstruction Vancouver because the people who benefit from it are not designers - they are people who are deserving of my and also my family’s free time.---

I have attended a few LOTUS awards and I stopped going as it always seemed to me that I had to pay good money to sponsor a couple of ad agencies party. As it was always the same, I stopped going. LOTUS awards don’t seem to be transparent. It wasn’t exciting and pure design seemed to always be treated as a second thought. Yikes....---

Lotus needs to work much harder on two as-pects - eligibility/criteria/effectiveness/catego-rization of the submissions themselves; and the event itself. Although I appreciate the spirit of trying something different this year - turning an already indulgent boozefest into an officially indulgent boozefest party came across incred-ibly unprofessional. Our collective industries struggle to build respect and I’m sorry to say that last week’s event made us all look like ignorant teenagers. I was embarrassed at the lack of attention and respect for the ‘awarding’ process, and 100% relieved that my client was unable to join us. We deserve better than this. Let’s get some class back into this event.---

If you eliminate the “not-real or do-anything-you-want-and-it-doesn’t-really-matter-clients”including: Dog Walkers, Tattoo Parlors, Play-land, Vancouver Film Festivals, Spy Shops, One of retail establishments that did not pay for the work or really run it, packaging that is never mass produced, logos, sites and direct mail cre-ated for photographers and friends in studios etc - you’d get a real show with real work that raises the bar in a real way. Good Luck.---

I’d love to see us do away with categories all together. If it’s great work, it gets in. Period.---

Our firm has supported Lotus for a number of years, with designing and producing catalogs and themes, being on the judging committee and managing the incoming entries. On the other end of it, we have won our fair share of Lotus awards. It is unfortunate that we cur-rently do not seem to be on their radar, receive RFE’s or seem a part of this community. Don’t get me wrong: I think other design firms should have their chance to step into the limelight and win the awards and participate, but I get the impression that if firms like Ion and others that have been around for a while are not in the loop, that this will marginalize the quality of the show and is less likely to gain traction in the design and emerging communications fields in BC. These days, less separates traditional ad-vertising agencies from design firms - we need to work together to promote our mutual value and stop seeing each other as ‘competition’. The design community operates cooperatively for the most part, and adverting agencies need to grow up and show more leadership.---

I like this survey and I hope you can mix design, interactive and advertising with more-less equal weight. As mentioned along the line of other international awards shows. I like the event and the party... it’s great, it’s a celebration and where hopefully the three disciplines can meet and converge. Thanks.---

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18396147

It has been a while since I submitted any of my work to competitions. For the most part I have noticed that work done for little tiny clients never wins. It almost feels like only work done for big corporations from large design studios has a chance.

My own personal impression has been that some awards seem to be set up so that a few studios can add awards to their list. It is also true that only a few studios produce award-winning work. So I am not sure how I would be motivated to participate.

Sorry, I am not being very helpful... but I would have to think for a while to answer that.---

Honestly, I think the Lotus awards are fine. On an event level, they nailed it after a shitty show-ing last year.

As far as awards go, again, they nailed it. A 50/50 ad/design split is ridiculous. It’s not a design show. It’s an ad show. Design is a part of advertising and is reflected at the lotus awards.

I couldn’t sit through a show where half the work is design, not to mention the same designs over and over. There’s only so much work going around Vancouver. It’s ONE medium. If we de-voted half the awards to Radio, you’d be crying.

I’m not even an old, out of touch ad guy. I’m in my early 20s and, honestly, this Occupy Lotus thing was immature. And uninspired.

And on another note, the Occupy reference doesn’t even apply. If you were to occupy lotus you’d be hanging outside the venue picketing. Instead you copied lotus and did the exact same thing. “Hey here’s this thing I hate. I’m-a copy it, do a worse job, and have it on the same night because I’m a 6 year old!”---

Pick a stronger symbol next time, guys. Also no ones stopping you from starting a Design show. Or growing up.---

Stop using exclusively non-BC judges under the pretense of ‘objectivity’. Their lack of con-text for the work is equally as impactful on the judging as any perceived local bias.---

Let’s get it on! Yeah Baby!---

Lotus has always been one to only take semi-seriously. It’s readily and historically accepted that there be a leniency towards awarding either good ideas that didn’t work, or great ideas that were never really produced as presented. When I spend so much time trying to defend Lotus from the criticisms of my clients who believe that Lotus are just for ad people to pat themselves on the backs, I have to wonder what purpose they are truly serving if not also for the people who actually pay for the ads too.---

Many advertising agencies have fairly recently begun offering a wider range of design services and competing directly with design studios. If that continues to be the trend, the quality and appropriateness of their design and interac-tive projects should be measured against that of studios that specialize in that type of work. Without criteria enabling this to happen, the Lotus Awards will continue to be perceived as a navel-gazing exercise for larger advertising agencies dabbling in design and interactive.---

I’ve always regarded the Lotus Awards as the ad industry’s party and not a serious, or all that credible, design show. We focus on client-based work and communication design, so really, in its current form, Lotus is not for us. Should it change? I don’t know. Might take a lot to make it a credible design show. ---

Do a little better job of advertising the event. I have attended once in the past - a guest of a print supplier. I had a fun time, but there was no more engagement beyond that. I am aware of the Lotus awards, but it is not top of mind and I do receive any correspondence from Lotus (digital or analog)...---

Event was appropriate this year. No speeches, no back patting, just straight to drinks. Same people win everything anyways.---

This is great these questions are being asked. I feel too many people have wasted to much time and effort getting worked up about Lotus in one way or another for a number of years. And I’m sure in some cases creating bad feeling in the community. It’s good this discussion is happening.

One last thing, the earning of points towards strategy rankings needs to be considered in the mix.---

Make an event make a difference. Gala events are not what the next generation needs.---

I don’t work in a creative agency; I’m a single designer on a tiny creative team in a non-for-profit. Therefore I feel my chances of winning are significantly diminished because other entrants are big firms with big teams and big money. I also have felt that interactive work has been unfairly judged; there’s a lot of weight placed on flashy, animated, graphic-heavy web-sites while the ones that are simple, more static but created with design and user experience principles deeply at heart really lose out. I do the latter. Also, the Applied Arts Student Award brought me zero benefits.---

if the Lotus Awards mattered on a global scale i’d be more inclined to enter work for judging...an awards show that is specifically homegrown is not of interest to me as a studio competing internationally for clients...why would a maga-zine publisher in New York care what the Lotus Awards thinks of my work?...thats what i’m faced with regarding any local awards events....---I’ve been on the winning side of the Lotus Awards – the side where the Agency specifi-cally called creative teams together to generate campaigns to win at Lotus. I was ‘fortunate’ to win an Award and several merits. It was also the last year I entered or attended.---

Guys, quit thinking about Lotus, do your own awards. Why do you want to be judged by the advertising community?---

Whether designers enter or not, Lotus will continue to include design and digital as it has for many years. Isn’t it in all of our best interest to make this show as respected and inclusive as possible? The perceived advertising bias comes from the Lotus Awards’ history and also the strong support that agencies continue to give it. This is not some institution trying to exclude design, it’s a struggling show trying to survive and only getting support from very few in our community. Change can happen, but takes involvement and support.------

91 responses

Summary See complete responses

What kind of work do you do MOST of the timeAdvertising 16 18%

Design 50 55%

Interactive 7 8%

I am a pure multi-media ninja 8 9%

Other 10 11%

How many years have you been in the business?1-5 years 12 13%

6-10 years 13 14%

10-15 years 28 31%

20+ years 38 42%

Are you a member of:Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) 35 64%

Interaction Design Association (IxDA) 4 7%

Advertising Agency Association of BC (AAABC) 4 7%

Marketing Association of BC (BCAMA) 7 13%

Association of Professional Design Firms (APDF) 5 9%

Special Interest Group in Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH) 5 9%

Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) 4 7%

Other 17 31%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may addup to more than 100%.

How much do creative AWARD SHOWS matter to you and/or your business?1 - Nada 21 23%

2 24 26%

3 16 18%

4 17 19%

5 - Oh, it matters, alright 13 14%

91 responses

Summary See complete responses

What kind of work do you do MOST of the timeAdvertising 16 18%

Design 50 55%

Interactive 7 8%

I am a pure multi-media ninja 8 9%

Other 10 11%

How many years have you been in the business?1-5 years 12 13%

6-10 years 13 14%

10-15 years 28 31%

20+ years 38 42%

Are you a member of:Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) 35 64%

Interaction Design Association (IxDA) 4 7%

Advertising Agency Association of BC (AAABC) 4 7%

Marketing Association of BC (BCAMA) 7 13%

Association of Professional Design Firms (APDF) 5 9%

Special Interest Group in Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH) 5 9%

Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) 4 7%

Other 17 31%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may addup to more than 100%.

How much do creative AWARD SHOWS matter to you and/or your business?1 - Nada 21 23%

2 24 26%

3 16 18%

4 17 19%

5 - Oh, it matters, alright 13 14%

Nada Oh, it matters, alright

Do you historically tend to ENTER the Lotus Awards?Yes 36 40%

No 55 60%

Do you historically tend to ATTEND the Lotus Awards?Yes 33 36%

No 58 64%

If you don't TEND to enter and/or attend the Lotus Awards, why?I don't enter awards 11 17%

I prefer other design/interactive awards 20 30%

Entry is too expensive 17 26%

Event is too much of a schmoozefest 25 38%

Gala tickets are too expensive 17 26%

Other 35 53%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may addup to more than 100%.

JUDGES: What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards?a mixed group of advertising, design and interactive creatives to judge all entries 25 34%

designers judge design entries, interactives judge interactive, etc. 28 38%

judges to review work independently with group discussion via Skype 13 18%

judges to meet in person to review work & debate live 26 35%

judges to assess work based on their own personal criteria/scale 13 18%

Nada Oh, it matters, alright

Do you historically tend to ENTER the Lotus Awards?Yes 36 40%

No 55 60%

Do you historically tend to ATTEND the Lotus Awards?Yes 33 36%

No 58 64%

If you don't TEND to enter and/or attend the Lotus Awards, why?I don't enter awards 11 17%

I prefer other design/interactive awards 20 30%

Entry is too expensive 17 26%

Event is too much of a schmoozefest 25 38%

Gala tickets are too expensive 17 26%

Other 35 53%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may addup to more than 100%.

JUDGES: What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards?a mixed group of advertising, design and interactive creatives to judge all entries 25 34%

designers judge design entries, interactives judge interactive, etc. 28 38%

judges to review work independently with group discussion via Skype 13 18%

judges to meet in person to review work & debate live 26 35%

judges to assess work based on their own personal criteria/scale 13 18%

judges to assess work based on criteria/scale provided by Lotus Awards 33 45%Other 37 50%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

CRITERIA: What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards?design & interactive categories to be based on "popular" ones in BC 9 11%

design & interactive categories to be reflective of international award shows 39 47%

6 design / 5 interactive / 22 advertising categories is equitable 2 2%

equal number of design categories to advertising (ditto with interactive) 32 39%

online entry with jpg images of work is preferable 23 28%

actual samples of design is required, not just images or renderings 21 25%

work submitted can be edited to "ideal" imagery, not necessarily as published 7 8%

all work submitted must be submitted "as published" only 49 59%

Other 23 28%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than100%.

STANDARDS: What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards?entries judged on ideas and pure creativity only 8 9%

entries judged on some balance of ideas, craft and appropriateness 60 71%

experimental and client-less work is acceptable alongside client work 7 8%

proof that work is based on real briefs, objectives and is paid for by clients 50 59%

"appropriateness" of solution is a strenuous enough criteria 9 11%

measurable results should also be considered (sales, share, awareness, etc.) 36 42%

self-promo entries can win in any category (ie. design firm's own packaging) 10 12%

self-promo entires can only win in "self-promotional" category 54 64%

Other 17 20%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than100%.

If the Lotus Awards made SIGNIFICANT CHANGES in how it involves, recognizes and rewards Design & Interactive:I might be interested in participating in and/or entering work 45 49%

I am not interested; there are other award shows that interest me more 3 3%

I think Lotus Awards should just stick to Advertising 10 11%

I don't care about award shows and don't enter them 11 12%

Other 22 24%

judges to assess work based on criteria/scale provided by Lotus Awards 33 45%Other 37 50%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

CRITERIA: What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards?design & interactive categories to be based on "popular" ones in BC 9 11%

design & interactive categories to be reflective of international award shows 39 47%

6 design / 5 interactive / 22 advertising categories is equitable 2 2%

equal number of design categories to advertising (ditto with interactive) 32 39%

online entry with jpg images of work is preferable 23 28%

actual samples of design is required, not just images or renderings 21 25%

work submitted can be edited to "ideal" imagery, not necessarily as published 7 8%

all work submitted must be submitted "as published" only 49 59%

Other 23 28%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than100%.

STANDARDS: What is needed for you to consider entering / attending the Lotus Awards?entries judged on ideas and pure creativity only 8 9%

entries judged on some balance of ideas, craft and appropriateness 60 71%

experimental and client-less work is acceptable alongside client work 7 8%

proof that work is based on real briefs, objectives and is paid for by clients 50 59%

"appropriateness" of solution is a strenuous enough criteria 9 11%

measurable results should also be considered (sales, share, awareness, etc.) 36 42%

self-promo entries can win in any category (ie. design firm's own packaging) 10 12%

self-promo entires can only win in "self-promotional" category 54 64%

Other 17 20%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than100%.

If the Lotus Awards made SIGNIFICANT CHANGES in how it involves, recognizes and rewards Design & Interactive:I might be interested in participating in and/or entering work 45 49%

I am not interested; there are other award shows that interest me more 3 3%

I think Lotus Awards should just stick to Advertising 10 11%

I don't care about award shows and don't enter them 11 12%

Other 22 24%

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