The ADC 97th Annual Awards, this year with the theme “Where Craft Will Take Us”, continues the organization’s historic focus of honoring global work that exemplifies the very best in craft, design and innovation.

Big news for this year’s competition is a tiered pricing structure designed to make it easier for smaller agencies, studios and freelancers to participate.  Companies with 21 or more employees pay the standard entry fee; smaller shops with from 2 to 20 employees get a discount on entries (amount varies by discipline) and freelance creatives and one-person shops are eligible for an even greater reduction in their entry fee.

Other noteworthy changes to the ADC 97th Annual Awards include:

• Creation of the ADC Design for Good award for excellence in work that fosters societal or political change.  This new reduced-fee subcategory exists within each of the categories, with the winner selected from among the top vote getting Design for Good entries in each category.
• Once each jury has selected its ADC Gold, Silver and Bronze Cube winners, they will choose which Gold Cube winner stands out to receive an ADC Best in Discipline award.
• The ADC Black Cube, formerly a Best in Discipline award, is now elevated to represent the Best in Show overall.
• Freelancers can now enter for their contribution to a campaign or project created by an agency.  For example, a self-employed illustrator can now enter their work in the Design-Illustration category for illustrations they here hired to do by an agency for a brand’s print ad campaign.
• The Design discipline now consists of categories for Illustration, Photography, Typography, Brand Communications Design, Publication Design, Experiential Design, Product Design, Packaging Design, Motion and Film Craft, Innovation and Design for Good.  Entries in each category are judged by a jury that includes members who are professionals in that particular category.

The ADC and AIGA Detroit are happy to announce a special 10% Entry Discount for all AIGA Detroit Members!  Simply use the following code when submitting your entries: AIGADET97

Deadline for Entry: January 31, 2018. ENTER HERE
ADC 97^th Annual Awards Ceremony: May 7^th, 2018