PANN LIM
CO-FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR
KINETIC
SINGAPORE
Adfest 2017 Jury President for Design and Print Craft
1. Insights on the judging
There were many strong and interesting entries that were submitted into the design and print craft category this year. As with all entries, there will be work that stood out right from day one and most likely than not, they are metal winners at the end of judging. Although we have quite a diverse panel of jury this year, ranging from Industrial to Branding designers to Ad based Art Directors and writers. However, the team was unanimous on 95% of the metal winners. This goes to show that a great idea executed to perfection will always cut through all borders and receive the same recognition.
2. Which piece of work stood out for you and why is this your pick?
There were so many interesting pieces of work but the piece of work that moved me was this project titled ‘Still Life’. It was a stunt for an ALS patient (heard he was an ECD of an advertising agency). When a person is suffering from ALS, his body will be paralyzed head down. The only part of his body that can move are his eyes. With this insight, he posed as a still life ‘object’ and he invited members of the public and artist to draw him as their subjects. That project spoke to me on a profound and different level, I was really moved and touched by it and it really made me think about how fragile life is. And now I feel the urge to share with my loved ones about ALS because it is not widely covered as a medical condition.
3. What do you like about ADFEST?
I cannot imagine what I can’t like about Adfest. 🙂 The festival is all about celebrating the best ideas and craft from this region and to me being able to be part of this process is already a privilege. I also enjoy meeting old friends and making new ones. And I am very sure some of the new friendships made here will last a long long time. I also feel super honoured to be able to judge under Ted Royer alongside some of the heavyweight creatives from the region. This experience was priceless and I learned a great deal from everyone.
Pann Lim is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Kinetic Singapore, K+, Holycrap.sg and Rubbish Famzine. He is addicted to design, advertising and communications and strongly believes that creating work without an idea is a sin.
This belief has earned him over 450 industry awards locally and abroad, including Singapore’s highest design accolade — the President’s Design Award in 2013 and 2015, Gold Pencils at the New York One Show, Cannes Lions and a Yellow Pencil at the 2016 D&AD. Through his career, Pann has been invited to judge at numerous award shows from the Singapore Creative Circle Awards (The Gong Show), the Effie Awards, Malaysia Kancil Awards, Miami Clio Awards, Webby Awards and British D&AD Awards. In 2016, Pann had the honour of chairing The Gong Show. Most recently, he has been named the Crafts for Design Jury President in the 2017 D&AD Awards.
Pann strongly believes in nurturing fledglings and sharing his passion for creativity. He is a founding member of The Design Society and a frequent guest at Singapore’s design schools. Pann was also an adjunct lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic from 2012 to 2013.
