Augmented Reality company String picks up top prize at inaugural 120 Hours (Of Digital Display) event sponsored by DoubleClick Rich Media.
The IAB's celebration of digital creativity kicks off with a packed opening night.
String Augmented Reality & Bully! Entertainment picked up the Artvertising Award at the IAB's inaugural 120 Hours (Of Digital Display) event for their augmented reality art work Augmented Reality Dragon.
By using augmented reality, the piece - using a standard IAB MPU ad size as the canvas - shows the power available to brands by combining online and mobile in one step. Viewers can choose to view the work through a simple iPhone app and watch what initially appears as a static image of a dragon come to life.
Other work singled out for praise at the event included Smoke and Mirrors by Andrew Wragg, a half page ad consisting of an abstract self portrait composited in PhotoShop using five separate images. Also praised was Digital Plant by Will Samuel, an MPU video which attempts to marry traditional animation with digital elements.
Speaking at the event was Tom Eslinger, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide's digital creative director who explained why he loved the challenge of communicating a complicated marketing message within the confined space of a banner advert; and Brandon Paine, DoubleClick Rich Media's EMEA head of emerging technologies, who outlined why creativity is so vital in online display advertising.
The award marked the beginning of 120 Hours (Of Digital Display), an IAB exhibition celebrating creativity in digital advertising. As part of the initiative - the first of its kind in the online industry - the IAB offices have been transformed into an art gallery celebrating creativity in digital advertising.
The exhibition runs until the end of this week and showcases digital campaigns from brands such as Apple, EA, Emirates, Which?, Samsung and Starbucks created by agencies such as MediaCom, Lean Mean Fighting Machine, MCBD, Starcom Mediavest, Weapon7 and Dare.
For more information about the 120 Hours exhibition, click here.
Jack Wallington, head of industry programmes at the IAB and curator of 120 Hours, explained: "The 120 Hours exhibition marks a milestone for the future of online and mobile display advertising. Digital ads have come a long way in the last ten years and our aim was to shine the spotlight on the near £1 billion industry to celebrate the effort and creative genius that goes into the perfect ad.”
“The Artvertising Award in particular proves that you can be creative and even create beautiful works of art within the digital ad canvas. The top three entries were very impressive, with a deserving winner in the Augmented Reality Dragon.”
To view a slideshow of pictures from 120 Hours (of Digital Display), click here.
The 120 Hours exhibition is open between 9am and 7pm until Friday 7th April at the IAB offices, 14 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NF.
