Michael Wolff

[From www.dandad.org]

The sixth and final of our judges

Michael Wolff, a co-founder of one of the world's most iconic design companies - Wolff Olins - is recognized today as a leader in thinking on brands. He lectures in many countries including Brazil, Mexico, Singapore and the USA. He's Patron of the Inclusive Design Challenge with the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the RCA (Royal College of Art), a member of the Government sponsored Design and Technology Alliance against crime, Chairman of the Legible London initiative with Transport for London and a visiting Professor at the University of the Arts in London and a Senior Fellow of the RCA He's a former President of both the D&AD (Design and Art Directors Association) and CSD Chartered Society of Designers.

Michael now runs Michael Wolff & Company in London.

Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan is senior editor (politics) at the New Statesman and a former news and current affairs editor at Channel 4. He is also our fifth judge.

His New Statesman blog is here.

Ian Anderson

Ian Anderson (Our fourth judge) was the founder of the original The Designers Republic (tDR for short) in 1986 and is the founder of its rebirth in 2010. The Designers Republic was known for its anti-establishment aesthetics, while simultaneously embracing brash consumerism and the uniform style of corporate brands, such as Orange and Coca-Cola. [From wikipedia]

http://www.thedesignersrepublic.com/

Willie Sullivan

[From Spin Profiles]

Willie Sullivan is campaign director for 'Vote for a Change', the campaign for a referendum on a change to the voting system. He favours proportional representation as part of the solution to the problem of politicians failing to put the interests of their constituents first.

According to Sullivan's biography on The Guardian's website:

He was an official with the Scottish Labour Party where he realised that the current electoral system gives Party Managers and politicians too much power. He worked for Fairshare, the successful campaign to get a proportional system to elect Scotland Councillors and worked on Social Cohesion projects in the Southside of Glasgow, particularly with Muslim communities.
Sullivan is critical of "the era of the hobby MP", when MPs give little attention to Parliamentary activities and their constituencies. He wrote in The Guardian:

"When some politicians are holding down what are effectively full-time jobs in between representing their constituents, scrutinising legislation and keeping the government in check, something has to give. And that, it seems, is the voters... Constituents will continue playing second fiddle until we see a voting system that obliges politicians to focus on what's really important – the interests of their voters."

Patrick Burgoyne

Second Judge announced.

Patrick Burgoyne started at Creative Review magazine, the leading monthly for the visual communications industries, as a staff writer and has climbed up to the position of editor which he has held since 1999.

Before joining the magazine he worked in marketing, first for the Body Shop and later for the University of Westminster, whilst also moonlighting as a writer for magazines such as The Big Issue.

Patrick has also tried his hand at being an author, with several books on design and visual culture to his name such as (with Jeremy Leslie) Bored: Surf, Skate, Snow Graphics, and he has also written for many publications, including The Independent, Scotland on Sunday, Graphis and La Repubblica.

Link to Creative Review Magazine

Michael Johnson

Thought it was time we started announcing some of the judges. First up.

Michael Johnson is an important figure in the design world, regularly asked to judge the work of students of design and that of his peers for design awards. He is creative director of Johnson Banks, the author of Problem Solved and also writes regularly for design and marketing journals such as Creative Review and Campaign.
More info about Johnson Banks here.

The Drum

The Drum magazine covers the creative industries outwith the M25. The Drum website gathers the latest industry news, views and analysis while every fortnight the magazine distills it into a single, easy-to-read informative package.