British Design and Art Direction (D&AD) is the professional body for the graphic design and advertising industries in the UK. Each summer they give out two sets of awards, the highly coverted Yellow Pencils, to professionals and students. Following a workshop introducing the student competition spearheaded by of the British Council and its partners in Sarajevo, we decided to run a series of workshops for students across central, southern and eastern Europe. Our aim was to introduce students to an international platform for their work and to the kind of professional briefs they would encounter after graduation but which were not part of their existing design education.

Between November 2004 and January 2005, D&AD’s indefatigable education director, Chris Thompson, travelled to six European cities, accompanied by some of the UK’s leading graphic design professionals and teachers. With Bryan Clark of Lewis Moberly in Riga, Harriet Devoy of the Chase in Tbilisi, Jonathan Ellery of Browns in Tallinn, Tony Brook of Spin in Belgrade, Martin Cox in Ljubljana and Timothy Ashton of Antidote in Sarajevo, Chris Thompson and his colleague, Ian Willingham, delivered 6 inspiring workshops to groups of hardworking, enthusiastic and talented students.

“There was a real impression that the workshops were well received and helped to inspire the next generation of designers and creatives in the region. There were lots of laughs and nodding heads. I hope that’s because the translators managed to convey our wit and intelligence!" Chris Thompson,  Programme Director - Education & Deputy Team Director - Education & Training, D&AD

“We started with about forty students and after lunch we came back and - they must have all phoned their friends because another forty turned up!” Ian Willingham, Student Awards manager, D&AD