DESIGN 21 Announces Winners of the Millenium Promise Competition

An Awareness Campaign for the Millennium Development Goals

New York, NY - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network, a joint-venture project founded by Felissimo and UNESCO to inspire and promote design for the greater good, is proud to announce the results of its Millennium Promise competition. The latest in a series of thought-provoking online competitions, designers of all disciplines were invited to develop a new, web-based media campaign for this non-profit organization with the mission to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) in Africa by 2015. These eight globally endorsed objectives address the many aspects of extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease. Close to 80 designers from 26 countries responded to this challenge. Millennium Promise selected “Eight Goals” by Jisuk Jung of South Korea as the Overall Winner. Jung will be awarded $5000. In addition, a DESIGN 21 jury, consisting of four members of its advisory board, selected winners for a prize of $1125 each. There was also an awareness-raising popular vote for a prize of $500, which generated hundreds of responses from around the globe.

According to Haruko Smith, director of DESIGN 21, “All the entrants spent hours and hours studying the Millennium Development Goals.  Many more, I’m sure, did the same and perhaps felt too overwhelmed to come up with one solution.  If you consider all of the people that voted as part of the popular vote, you start to get a sense of the far-reaching effects of our competitions. The point is, the competition itself did much to educate us all. Hopefully it motivated young designers to take action in whatever the way they could – even by simply discussing it with friends. The more people join in this shared goal of eradicating extreme hunger and raising awareness for the MDGs, the better.  We are so thrilled that we played a small part in it. It was indeed an extraordinary experience to work with Millennium Promise.”

Eight Goals, by Jisuk Jung of South Korea, Winner of the Judge’s Prize

Millennium Promise Overall Winner
Jung’s compelling animated version of each of eight goals serves as a message of hope and clearly illustrates all of the Millennium Promise’s objectives. This upbeat animation provides a strong public education platform for the Millennium Development Goals and will be featured prominently on the Millennium Promise website. According to John McArthur, CEO of Millennium Promise “We congratulate the winning campaign for capturing the spirit of hope and feasibility that inspires Millennium Promise’s work and is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We applaud our partners DESIGN 21 and all the participants in this initiative for such a terrific example of how everyone can contribute to the fight to end extreme poverty.”

Jeffrey D Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, author of Common Wealth and President and Co-founder of Millennium Promise adds, “We are thrilled to partner with DESIGN 21 on this exciting campaign. The bold creativity of these designs will inspire all who view them to do their part to achieve these shared global goals. Congratulations to the design community for their wonderful contributions.”

DESIGN 21 Awards
Jung’s well-thought-out campaign was also selected by DESIGN 21 judge, Dr. Peter Zec of Germany. The three other Judge’s Prizes included Dick Orlando Martínez Calderón’s “Happiness is Easy,” chosen by judge Marcella Echavarria; Sarah Spargo’s “U Develop,” chosen by Cynthia E. Smith; and Cemal Mutver’s “Millennium Promise Competition,” chosen by Susan Szenasy.  Finally, “HELP!” by Lana Sef was awarded the Most Popular Entry prize, by the DESIGN 21 public vote.


Judge’s Prize: Eight Goals, by Jisuk Jung of South Korea
Selected by: Dr. Peter Zec, Professor, ICSID Senator and former chairman of IDA

The Eight Goals campaign also won the admiration of Dr. Peter Zec, who is a recognized expert in the international design scene.  According to Zec,  “The fresh and active approach presents its statement very clearly. Its creative power is clearly visible from beginning to end. The message is translated into a dynamic visual language.”
http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/13/entries/3288/gallery


Judge’s Prize: Happiness is Easy, by Dick Orlando Martínez Calderón of Colombia
Selected by: Marcella Echavarria, Director SURevolution, contributing editor, writer and stylist

The message of this campaign is to find the easiest solution to a complex problem. Each slide features a tacit smile, which symbolizes the universal sign of happiness. Underneath each image is an inspirational call for action.  According to judge Marcella Echavarria, whose resume also includes co-founder of NEEM, a non-profit organization that promotes peaceful conflict resolution through an holistic approach to trauma healing, “I selected this project because of its simplicity and potential to reach many people in a visual, universal way. A very strong point is that the image summarizes the 8 goals in one universal message: the right to be happy. I see great potential in this logo to achieve the purpose of the campaign. It communicates a sense of urgency and a specific time frame in which these goals must be achieved. The fact that it is black and white makes it very versatile, thus more universal. It does not need words.”
http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/13/entries/3261/gallery


Judge’s Prize: U develop, by Sarah Spargo of the United Kingdom
Selected by: Cynthia E. Smith, industrial designer, Co-curator of Design Triennial 2010

U develop was designed as a social networking site that aims to empower individuals to get involved and help eradicate hunger.  This interactive platform was a standout in the eyes of judge Cynthia E. Smith, who is a strong advocate and activist on the issues of human rights and social justice.  She explains, “I based my selection on which proposal promised to be most effective and had the potential for the most far reaching positive impact. The U develop social networking site is designed as a ‘platform to facilitate the creation of a multitude of campaigns.’ Individuals are empowered to eradicate poverty working through this internet-based community partnering with local African communities on real projects. Not limited to experts in the field the democratization of the effort engages people with divergent skills, interests and levels of engagement. Using the well established tools of a social network site to target and empower individuals around the world there is no limit to what is possible.”
http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/13/entries/3282/gallery


Judge’s Prize: Millennium Promise Competition by Cemal Mutver of Turkey
Selected by: Susan Szenazy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis Magazine

This compelling campaign gives a face to extreme poverty, child mortality, gender equality and primary education. It was the campaign of choice for Susan Szenazy, who sits on the boards of numerous design and architecture associations.  She explains, “Its site specific and humanistic pictures, in contrast with the clarity of the type, make it a strong communication tool about a complex issue.”
http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/13/entries/3297/gallery


Most Popular Entry: HELP! by Lana Sef of Croatia

Simple and moving, the campaign is a call for help and is intended to sound like a final scream for food and education.  In addition to a series of compelling web banners, Sef proposed using grocery bags with a transparent hole cut out to symbolize the continent of Africa.
http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/13/entries/3281/gallery

For more information on all of the DESIGN 21 competitions and to see the winning projects as well as the honorable mentions, visit http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/13

About DESIGN 21: Social Design Network
DESIGN 21: Social Design Network is a joint venture of Felissimo and UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).  Functioning as an online community that brings together socially-conscious designers, non-profits, individuals and organizations, DESIGN 21 promotes better design for the greater good. To date, the network includes over 13,000 members from more than 170 countries and over 275 organizations from the non-profit, corporate, education and government sectors. Membership is free.  www.design21sdn.com

About Millennium Promise
The mission of Millennium Promise is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals – eight globally endorsed objectives addressing the multiple causes of extreme poverty- in Africa by 2015. To that end, Millennium Promise uses a holistic approach to work with impoverished communities, national and local governments and partner organizations to implement high-impact programs aimed at stopping the cycle of poverty. By engaging governments, corporations and the general public in this effort, our work is premised on the belief that, for the first time in history, our generation has the opportunity to end extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease. For more information, visit www.millenniumpromise.org