Corbis : Creativity Award for Social Justice

Corbis and the Art Directors Club (ADC), today announced the professional and student winners of the 2nd annual Corbis Creativity for Social Justice Award & Scholarship, part of the 87th Annual ADC Awards program recognizing the best in advertising and design from around the world.

The Corbis Creativity for Social Justice Award & Scholarship honours the best work created by professionals and students on behalf of non-profits on a pro bono basis. Agency creatives receive the prestigious ADC Cubes, and Corbis donates $20,000 to the non-profit cause and awards the student winner with a $5,000 scholarship. This year, Corbis is inviting the creative community to join the “Search for Justice” and increase Corbis’ donation to the social justice causes just by searching for images at www.corbis.com/searchforjustice.

TAXI Canada was awarded a Gold Cube for a community initiative it conceived and launched called The 15 Below Project (http://15belowproject.org) to mark the agency’s 15-year anniversary TAXI executive creative director, Steve Mykolyn, developed the idea for the high-concept, low-cost jackets to help the homeless who can’t get off the streets to survive extreme winter conditions. Stuffed with newspaper it’s a winter coat. Stuffing removed, it becomes a raincoat. When not being worn, it converts into a backpack that can be used as a pillow. On behalf of its clients and staff, TAXI Canada donated 3,000 15 Below jackets to the homeless throughout Canada and the U.S.

Vitruvio Leo Burnett Spain was awarded a Gold Cube for its pro bono work supporting the Prodis Foundation (www.fundacionprodis.org), which helps those with Down syndrome achieve a more independent lifestyle. Vitruvio Leo Burnett responded to a brief from Prodis to create a public awareness campaign communicating that children with Down syndrome can be active participants in society. The agency conceived a campaign called “Let Us Do It,” whereby children with Down’s created and shot an ad and movie trailer themselves to address misconceptions about those with Down syndrome and illustrate their capabilities and skills.

James Yang, a student of New York-based School of Visual Arts (SVA), was selected as the Corbis Creativity for Social Justice Scholarship winner for his project based on the Darfur Genocide Campaign (www.savedarfur.org), an organization dedicated to raising public awareness about the atrocities in Darfur. James' poster campaign expressed the loss of life in Darfur through graphic symbolism and a slogan ‘400,000 killed and still growing.’ The artwork consisted of a long succession of posters featuring red check marks, which visually expressed the number of lives lost. The red check marks also became the campaign’s logo. While the project was done on behalf of a real non-profit organization, it did not require the participation or consent of the organization.

The creative community can learn more about the benefiting causes and help raise money for them by participating in the Corbis “Search for Justice” initiative. Corbis will donate a dollar every day for each person’s first image search conducted at www.corbis.com/searchforjustice starting today through July 31st, 2008.