Seen and noted

BEST TV
Winner- John Lewis: Buster the Boxer. One of the most anticipated ads of the year is the holiday ad from John Lewis. This year's spot goes back to the brand's whimsical roots; bringing the world some much needed levity. The amount of CGI work for the animals was impressive. It's tricky to pull off canine joy with a computer, but they did so-in spades. Sign me up for the Buster the Boxer plush toy.

Runner up- Milka: The Time Machine. The art direction is gorgeous out of the gate. The flatness of the village, clock shop and the time machine made of spare parts suspends reality while still managing to capture the human emotion of a kids' impatience for Christmas to arrive.

BEST PRINT
Winner- Volvo: One Safe Place. It's a tricky thing for brands to leverage current events to their benefit. Oftentimes it can backfire. But in this case, the ad is so perfectly on brand that it feels effortless and pure.

Runner Up- Orahi: Front. Graphic design language in advertising is underutilized. The elegance of blending two cars into one visually communicates the idea. The words are the supporting character in this ad, which is refreshing.

BEST OUTDOOR
Winner- IKEA Norway and Norwegian Red Cross: Syrian Homes. To create an impoverished war torn home environment alongside the shiny colorful sets of an IKEA showroom takes guts. The detail that IKEA went to in order to recreate a physical space with photos and stories of an actual Syrian family is impressive. Having multiple donation moments woven throughout the space made the ask more tasteful, and I'm guessing, effective.

Runner up- The Waste Factor: Designed by Waste. While repurposing wasted food isn't a new concept, taking the "use the whole buffalo" approach by converting the vegetables to printer inks that were than used for packaging as well is next level stuff.

BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner- Netflix: Narcos Spanish lessons. Netflix is on fire with their unconventional marketing methods. This latest iteration is priceless. Everyone knows the best part of learning a new language is learning the curse words. Using the content of the show as an educational tool is inspired. Keeping the characters intact, but in a tutorial context is a delightful executional detail.

Runner up- SoHo: The URXXL. Maybe it's because I'm an avid Silicone Valley watcher that I loved this. Or maybe it's the delightfully unorthodox promotional approach they took announcing the new season. Cock blocking Google to prevent people from cheating is the cherry on top of this sundae.




This week's guest judge is Carolyn Hadlock, principle/executive creative director, Young & Laramore in Indianapolis, USA.

As Young & Laramore's longtime executive creative director, Carolyn Hadlock is the driving force behind the agency's creative department, inspiring teams to deliver original, startling, and consistently effective creative for the likes of Goodwill, Brizo faucets, and Schlage locks, to name a few.

Since joining Y&L in 1991 as an art director, her work has garnered recognition and awards from the Art Directors Club, Ad Age, Adweek, Communication Arts, Cannes, Effies, Graphis, The One Show and the New York Film Festival. Carolyn has also done guest reviews for Creativity and Adweek, served on awards juries, and played a major role in helping to found The One Show's Creative Leaders Retreat. Most recently, Carolyn has become an established guest lecturer out in the "real world," and has been discovering her online-self writing Eunoia (http://carolynhadlock.com/), a blog she pens about "beautiful thinking from the worlds of art, advertising and culture."

Carolyn is also a passionate scuba diver, has never lost a game of Jenga, and is a self-proclaimed "ham sandwich snob" who can point anyone in the direction of the best tasting ham in at least five different cities.