D&AD exhibition in Taiwan
Dec/29-Jan/14
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
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Creative, art direction/ken-tsai lee
Design/Du Hao-wei
3D Modeling/Zhang Qiao
Exhibition execution director/ken-tsai lee
Exhibition execution team/Du Hao-wei, Au Hiu-Ki, Praya Ho, Liu Yu-Hong
Over the last few days, the Taiwan Tech community has been following the transformation of the on-campus exhibition pavilion with increasing curiosity, and when the design was finally revealed, everyone was stunned: Fruit-filled pencils are now decorating the outside of the pavilion to attract visitors to the D&AD Design & Advertising Awards Annual Exhibition inside.
or two weeks, from 29 December 2021 to 14 January 2022, design-lovers will have the chance to see the best works of the UK-based Design & Art Direction Awards (D&AD ) in the Taiwan Tech exhibition pavilion, a rare opportunity during the Corona pandemic when most events have moved online.
The pencils represent the actual trophies that are handed to the winners of the competition under the D&AD Awards which is one of
the of the world’s Topest competitions for advertising design.
And while the pencils are just symbolizing the awards - starting from the Wooden Pencil to the Black Pencil Awards - the inside of them reveals the connection with Taiwan: There is hardly a better place in the world to enjoy delicious tropical fruit!
It is due to Ken-Tsai Lee’s efforts, Professor at the Department of Design, that the touring D&AD exhibition was brought to Taiwan Tech. Lee is not only a three- time D&AD-award winner, but was also nominated judge of the competition in D&AD 2021, a rare honor for a Taiwanese and a rare honor for an academic. Lee led a team of Taiwan Tech graduate students to gain experience in exhibition design and curation. Apart from this hands-on training, students also had the opportunity to join a three-day workshop that prepared for the D&AD New Blood Awards. The workshop conducted by Weiwen Tu, an outstanding Taiwanese advertising designer and educator with more than 18 years of professional experience.
Ken-Tsai Lee who has also organized typography exhibitions of the New York-based Type Directors Club (TDC) on Taiwan Tech for eight consecutive years at Taiwan Tech is convinced of the importance of this kind of international exchange:
“The D&AD UK awards include a wide range of diverse creative aspects, they give creative energy and will inspire and stimulate the viewers. While it is important to get familiar with developments in Western design circles, we also want to draw attention to the work that is done in Taiwan. Our exhibition fulfils this purpose: We are introducing international design to Taiwan Tech, and we are gaining international recognition for the design of our exhibitions, both for Taiwan Tech and for the design community in Taiwan.”
Text by Dr. Stefanie Eschenlohr
