JWT Shanghai’s Yang Yeo recognized by President of Singapore as Designer of the Year

JWT Shanghai Chief Creative Officer Yang Yeo has been recognized as one of the leading creative lights of his native Singapore, earning the prestigious President’s Designer of the Year award last week at an exclusive ceremony at the Istana, the official residence of the President of the Republic of Singapore.

The President’s Design Award, which is presented in two categories – Designer of the Year, and Design of the Year – recognises excellence across all design disciplines, including advertising design and visual communications, architecture and urban design, fashion design, furniture design, interior design, landscape design, product and industrial design. The award, which is conferred by the President of Singapore, is jointly administered by the Design Singapore Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Yeo won this award for a body of work, from advertising campaigns to design projects.

“Being recognised by the President for my talent in creativity is a huge honour and privilege,” said Yeo.

As Chief Creative Officer of JWT Shanghai, Yeo has helped set one new benchmark after another for the advertising industry. In 2008, he won China’s first-ever Gold Lion at Cannes with his Beijing Olympic campaign for Adidas.  A year later, Yeo won more international accolades with the beautifully crafted CEPF ‘Shan Shui’ campaign, and helping bring home the ‘Agency of the Year’ award at AdFest.   In 2011, Yeo and his team at JWT Shanghai raised the bar once more,  winning  mainland China’s  first-ever Cannes Lions Grand Prix with the ‘Heaven & Hell’ print campaign, for Samsonite. ‘Heaven and Hell’ dominated every awards show worldwide over the next 12 months, and went on to become the most awarded print ad in history. Under Yeo’s creative leadership, JWT Shanghai also won Campaign’s ‘2011 Agency of the Year’, and Yeo was named Greater China’s ‘2011 Creative of the Year’.

Yeo’s creative reputation and strong leadership earned him a place on the Cannes Chimera Committee, where he was in Seattle this year as mentor to the ‘Grand Challenges Exploration’ organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Yeo graduated in 1989 with a Diploma in Design & Advertising Arts from Baharuddin Vocational Institute. After working in Singapore’s creative industry for ten years, BBH Asia transferred him to their London head office in 1999, where he worked for advertising legends John Bartle, Nigel Bogle, and Sir John Hegarty. Yeo returned to sunnier weather to start-up the Asia operations in Singapore and Hong Kong in 2002 for Fallon.

Award Achievements (2011 – 2012):

Under Yeo’s creative leadership, JWT Shanghai not only reinforced its reputation as a center of creative excellence but also emerged as a mainland powerhouse on a global, regional and local level. Yeo has proven that Singaporeans around the world are not only fully prepared, but are in fact propelling Asia’s ascension on the advertising & design world stage.

Grand Prix (Press) Cannes Lion (June 2011, France)

Crème de la Crème (Advertising) WPPed Cream (August 2011, UK)

Gold Ad Stars (August 2011, Korea)

Grand Prix (Press) Spikes Asia (September 2011, Singapore)

Grand Prix (Outdoor) Spikes Asia (September 2011, Singapore)

Grand Prix (Craft) Spikes Asia (September 2011, Singapore)

Best of Show (Advertising) LongXi Awards (October 2011, China)

Best of Print LongXi Awards (October 2011, China)

Grand LIA (Press) London International Awards (November 2011, UK)

Grand Prix (Press) China 4A (December 2011, China)

Grand Prix (Press) Adfest (March 2012, Thailand)

Gold AWARD (March 2012, Australia)

Gold ANDY (April 2012, NY)

Yellow Pencil D&AD (April 2012, UK)

Gold ADC (May 2012, NY)

Gold NYFest (May 2012, NY)

Gold Clio (May 2012, NY)

Gold Cannes Lion (June 2012, France)

Gold Ad Stars (August 2012, Korea)

Gold Spikes Asia (September 2012, Singapore)

Gold China 4A (December 2012, China)