To kick off its call for entries, D&AD president Simon "Sanky" Sankaraya addressed the world’s creative communities in as many languages as possible – 13 and counting.

As Sanky only speaks English there was a fair bit of translation and voice coaching required – hopefully we've got the message across. The idea behind this year?s call for entries is The President Speaks In As Many Languages As Possible.

D&AD?s current President, Sanky attempted to learn a tongue-in-cheek speech and deliver it as ?the President?.

He made it to 13 over two days however Russian proved to be a bridge too far.
In 2011 D&AD teamed up with WorkClub (creative), HungryMan (film production) and TAG (translation and print production) to produce the Award's call for entries campaign.

This tongue-in-cheek United Nations approach arose from a discussion between Sanky and Andy Sandoz, creative director of Work Club, about what presidents actually do.

“Well, one thing presidents do is give speeches. D&AD has a president, let?s use him like one and get him to talk to the world… and in every language,” said Sandoz.

"The idea, simple in essence, presented its own challenges in the making. We didn?t know if it could be done, we knew it was going to be hard, possibly risky; the campaign?s message telling people to be brilliant, make excellent work, is something worth saying.”

Sankaraya, is a founding partner of interactive agency AllofUs. He runs the team of visual designers in his role as art director. Previously, he studied information design at Nottingham, and joined Digit at its inception as an art director.

The speeches are available at www.youtube.com/dandad 

Campaign Credits:

Creative Directors: Andy Sandoz & Ben Mooge

Creatives: Ben Harris & Mathieu Cuvelier

Strategist: Niccolo Rigo

Producer: Tom Gardner

Director: James Haworth

Film Production: Hungry Man

Translations: World Writers