Ukrainian Creative Agencies Decline Red Dot Awards to Support Armed Forces of Ukraine

In a collective letter to the organisers of the award, Ukrainian creatives stated that they consider it more appropriate and right to donate over €20000 to help their country and army than to purchase won awards.

This year Ukrainian creative agencies Bickerstaff.228, IAMIDEA, Taktika, Fedoriv, Grape and Mozgi Group refused to pay for Red Dot international design festival awards in order to donate funds to the United24 presidential charity fund. The website of their initiative states that the total contribution of all participants will amount to €23687. This money will be donated to the fund by the end of 2022.

The Red Dot is an annual design award presented by the North Rhine-Westphalia Land Design Centre in Essen, Germany. Unlike other design and creative festivals, where participants have to pay only for submissions, the Red Dot system charges payment both for submission and for redeeming their award in case of victory. The cost of submission starts at €195, and the cost of the so-called Winner Package is from €1,700, depending on the level of the award. This year, the Red Dot granted all Ukrainian agencies with three free submissions but did not cancel the winning fee.

"These days, when the families of our employees are in uncertainty, when soldiers die on the front, buying the statuettes seems like a rather strange investment. This is not a whim or a rebellion, it's just that now Ukrainian business is going through rough times. If available finances appear, it seems logical to direct them to the safety of employees and loved ones, to the army and charity foundations. In my opinion, investing in peace is the best investment right now, with all the value and importance of industry awards" — founder and creative director of Bickerstaff.734 Ilia Anufrienko.

"We participated in Red Dot for the first time and, to be honest, these victories are extremely important to us. But when it came to purchasing the awards, we thought: "Is it right under current circumstances?" There were worries that clients whose cases won might not be thrilled. But as a result, each of them expressed not only agreement, but also a huge support for such a decision. After all, the Red Dot jury has spoken. We know it, our clients know it. And this is already a victory. But the opportunity to support our country now is a victory that is more important than any awards” — adds founder and creative director of IAMIDEA Ihor Finashkin.

The creatives pledge to report for all the funds donated to the presidential fund. Also, according to the rules of the award, without paying for the Winner Package, they must remove the branded Red Dot label from their own resources and social networks. 

Therefore, a red pixel circle will now be placed on the websites of all agencies participating in the initiative, as an additional reminder to all foreign clients about Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.