Speaking Images 2015
World Press Photo
Issue 36 | September 2015
Agency
serviceplan
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Alexander Schill Executive Creative Director/Copywriter Cosimo Moeller Creative Director Matthias Harbeck Copywriters Valerie Koch, Leonardo Assad Art Director Fabian Hupfauf
Production Team
Professor of Print and Media Technology Prof. Dr. Arved C. Huebler Producers Maxi Bellmann, Martin Mellendorf ,Katy Pergelt Creative Operations Manager Joana-Marie Stolz Graphic Design Franziska Stroehle Executive Creative Producer Florian Panier
Other Credits
Book Designer Cornelia Beate Ahnert Audio Production/Sound Studio Hastings Audio Network Sound Design Oscar Meixner, Thomas Kisser, Maurice Kraemer Music Composer Thomas Kisser Audio Producer Dennis Gunske Sound Engineers Maurice Kraemer, Oscar Meixner
Date
April 2015
Background
The World Press Photo awards had honoured the world's best photojournalism since 1955. The yearbook showcased all the winning photos. In 2015, to promote the awards and get greater press coverage, they wanted something special.
Idea
It was agreed that the new yearbook should have as little text as possible. But then the problem was how best to tell the stories behind each picture.
Using an innovative printing process pioneered by the University of Chemnitz, each printed image was also a loudspeaker. Thus each image was able to give the reader the full story behind it.
Results
The World Press Photo Speaking Images book inspired more than 300 articles within the first five days of launch, reaching 16 million people.
Our Thoughts
What exactly is a book? Is it an event? What media does it belong to? This idea is hard to categorise, which is probably why it got shortlisted in Design but got a big fat zero in Direct, Promo or Innovation.
This is a pity. While the print industry has been innovating merrily with its machines, no-one has been looking at print itself until recently. On the basis this really could be a first step in revolutionising an entire industry by bringing audio to the printed page, I'd have given it a Lion.