FCB Lisbon and Penguin Books scoop top design prize at Cannes

FCB’S work for Penguin Books which aims to reclaim past symbols of repression claimed the top design award at the 2022 Cannes Lions festival.

Returning this year to a physical format, the annual awards programme celebrates work in the creative industries, from brand experience to print and publishing.

The Design Lions awards span across five categories: brand-building, communication design, digital and interactive design, brand environment and experience design, packaging, and product. In the Design Lions, there were 1,058 entries and 38 Lions awarded by the jury: 6 gold,10 silver and 21 bronze prizes.

This year’s jury president was Jones Knowles Ritchie executive creative director Lisa Smith.

Lisbon-based agency FCB won Portugal’s first ever Grand Prix for its work with Penguin Books, titled Portuguese (Re)Constitution. The central idea was to reclaim the blue pencil, a symbol of censorship among the Portuguese artistic community.

FBC commissioned artists to use black-out poetry to create something new out of oppressive texts. This poetic form is created by selecting words from a text and blocking out the rest with illustrations.

With many projects making use of the technology and innovation of the modern era, the jury debated whether a publication should be a Grand Prix winner, according to Smith. However, she explains that the project is “not only the highest form of craft and execution” but also “a beautiful message of freedom of speech that many children in Portuguese schools will go on to learn for years to come”.

Ananas Anam took home a Gold Lion for in the design-driven effectiveness category for Piñatex – a natural textile made from waste pineapple leaf fibre.

Piñatex is marketed as a sustainable alternative to leather that can be commercially produced and maintain a low environmental footprint.

Ananas Anams’s partnership with The Dole Sunshine Company – which aims to bring attention to the impact of food waste – is meant to help with scaling up production and achieving its zero-waste goal.

Another gold winner in this category was Swedish agency Prime Weber Shandwick with The Billion Dollar Collection for H&M foundation – a virtual clothing collection where each item represents an innovation that you can back.

Other Gold Lion winners include Brazil-based studio Tatil Design for its creation of a new brand identity for the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro. The identity seeks to translate the creative force and tradition of the samba community.

Portugal also boasts another prize, with This is Pacifia and Stream and Tough Guy winning a Gold Lion in the promotional item design category for a garment that absorbs CO2 and releases oxygen.

BBDO is finishing the week with a Gold Lion for its work on the Para Expansion Pack – a 20-piece custom designed set of Lego avatars that seek to be inclusive of the disabled community.

The final Gold Lion goes to Nairobi-based agency Ogilvy Africa for its project Lesso Lessons, which merged Kenyan culture and tradition with modern lessons in post-natal nutrition.

Ukrainian creative agency Banda was awarded a Silver Lion for its vanishing branding of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.