Lippincott’s Connie Birdsall to join the 2018 Cannes Lions Design Jury

This year’s juries are composed of individuals from 50 countries, including for the first time representatives from Georgia, Nigeria, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Continuing the drive for a more diverse mix within the jury room, this year includes 46% female jury members, as well as a wide mix of creative agencies, brands, media owners and production companies.

Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions said: “The job of the Cannes Lions jury is to act as the custodians of creativity and celebrate work that demonstrates the value of creativity in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring that our juries include a diverse range of people from across the branded communications ecosystem.”

Last year the Festival announced new Lions with the introduction of a new Awards architecture to better reflect and support the fast-moving creative industries. These Lions include Creative eCommerce Lions, Brand Experience & Activation Lions, Social & influencer Lions, Sustainable Development Goals Lions and the Industry Craft Lions. An overall reduction in the number of categories within individual Lions refined the focus, while new categories were introduced to reflect how creative companies are operating.

“Cannes Lions is now in its 65th year and in that time the industry, and the organisations operating within it, has changed dramatically. These new specialised Lions require a broader range of skills and experience which will ultimately help expand our perspective of creative excellence,” said Terry Savage, Chairman, Cannes Lions. “The Lions are constantly evolving, just as the industry is, and our jury members are fundamental to ensuring that we keep creativity at the core of what we do.”

The 2018 Cannes Lions Awards will be presented at ceremonies taking place each evening throughout the Festival from the 18-22 June.

The 2018 members are:

Design Lions 
Johnny Tan, Executive Creative Director, 72andSunny, APAC – Jury President 
Dominic Hofstede, Executive Creative Director, Maud Melbourne, Australia 
Giovanni Vannucchi, Partner, Oz Estratégia+Design, Brazil 
Vanessa Eckstein, Creative Director/Founder, Blok Design, Canada 
Julia Deshayes, Art Director, TBWAParis, France 
Katrin Oeding, CEO & Creative Director, Studio Oeding, Germany 
Thomas Holst Sørensen, Creative Director, Global Design Innovation, LEGO, Global 
Greg Quinton, Chief Creative Officer, Superunion, Global 
Connie Birdsall, Sr. Partner and Global Creative Director, Lippincott, Global 
Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor, India 
Yuri Uenishi, Art Director, Dentsu Inc., Japan 
Leonid Feigin, Creative Director, DDVB, Russia 
Carola Gerlach, Former Creative Director, FutureBrand, Singapore 
Vumile Mavumengwana, Designer, Creative Director, VM DSGN, South Africa 
Ali Rez, Regional Creative Director – Middle East and Pakistan, BBDO, UAE

The full press release can be read at the Cannes Lions website.