“We are delighted that the striking adverts from our World Press Freedom Day campaign have been acknowledged by the international design community,” said WAN-IFRA press freedom director, Alison Meston. “The award recognises a visually arresting design that highlights the importance of press freedom. We hope this international recognition will encourage other design teams to get creative around the theme of freedom of expression.”

The set of two adverts, commissioned by WAN-IFRA and designed by Dubai-based agency Expression, depict journalists in the form of puppets being manipulated under the slogan, ‘No press freedom, no democracy.’ The designs scooped a Silver award in the charity category at the Summit International Awards, a creative awards ceremony for small- to mid-sized independent agencies.

The adverts were offered as part of materials made freely available to newspapers and online sites for WAN-IFRA’s 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, the organisation’s annual campaign to commemorate the work of journalists worldwide in the defence and promotion of freedom of expression. The adverts appeared in publications around the world in a number of different languages.

The adverts can be viewed and downloaded from the WAN-IFRA website at www.wan-ifra.org/node/54351.

Design ideas for next year’s campaign are already being discussed and submissions can be sent to alison.meston@wan-ifra.org for consideration.