The first major exhibition of advertising and communication design in the NGV’s history, The Rigg Design Prize 2022 highlights the creativity underpinning the work of eight leading Australian-based agencies.
For the exhibition, each agency will develop a suite of campaign assets – including billboards, street posters and moving image – to celebrate how creativity can shape who we are and the world we live in.
Now in its ninth edition, the triennial Prize is Australia’s highest national accolade for contemporary design bestowed by an Australian public gallery and seeks to profile a different field of design practice every three years. In 2022, the Prize exhibition showcases the capacity of advertising and communication design to influence how we consume, act and behave as a society, while drawing attention to the creative minds behind the campaigns working across graphic design, typography, digital media, film, psychology and creative writing.
Including the Australian offices of multinational and independent creative agencies, the finalists invited by the NGV to compete for the $30,000 Prize are: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, DDB Group Melbourne, Frost* collective, Gilimbaa, Leo Burnett Australia, TBWA\Melbourne, The Royals and Thinkerbell.
The NGV’s design curators undertook national research to establish a shortlist that would represent and showcase the breadth of excellence in Australia’s advertising and creative communications sector. Participating agencies include long-established leaders and disruptors, and agencies that have carved out their own unique space through their focus and specific approach.
When exhibited together the eight agencies will provide a unique insight into the creative process and the motivations and aspirations of some of Australia’s most dynamic professionals working in the field.
For the exhibition, the NGV challenged each agency to create a campaign that articulated the potential of creativity to accelerate positive social, cultural, economic or environmental change. The eight exhibited campaigns represent a call to action for Australia to realise its ‘creative potential’.
Tony Ellwood AM, director of the NGV, said: “Australian advertising and communications agencies attract some of the most creative minds in the country. The 2022 Rigg Design Prize is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the extraordinary talent of this multifaceted design discipline, which is rarely examined within the walls of an art gallery. The NGV is committed to elevating all areas of Australian contemporary design, as well as challenging ideas about what design looks like in the twenty-first century.”
Ewan McEoin (pictured, right), senior curator, contemporary art, design and architecture, NGV, said: “We have challenged some of the most creative minds in our country to convince Australians that creativity is something to be valued and embraced as a powerful force capable of influencing and shaping a better future. We want them to highlight, clarify and amplify the extent to which creativity has the potential to shape who we are and the country we live in. We must elevate the value we place on creativity; it is a critical ingredient for a better, fairer and healthier tomorrow.”
The Rigg Design Prize is a generous legacy of the late Colin Rigg (1895–1982), a former secretary of the NGV’s felton bequests’ committee. Previously known as the Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award, the invitational prize was established in 1994 to recognise contemporary design practice in Victoria. In 2015, for the first time in the award’s twenty-year history, the Rigg included shortlisted designers from across the country. In previous years, the Prize has celebrated achievements in jewellery, furniture and interior design.
The Rigg Design Prize 2022 will be on display from 7 October 2022 to 29 January 2023 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Fed Square, Melbourne, Australia. The winning campaign will be announced on 13 October.
