Light and Shade Photo Album Dubbed "Best of Show" in International PR Award
The community relations and communication projects of the Housing Authority (HA) have recently won a number of international and local awards. Among them, the photo album entitled "Light and Shade: life pass in old estates" was named "Best of Show" in the 2010 International Mercury Awards after scooping a Grand Award, two Gold's and a Silver.
The photo album, a collection of images featuring the historic Shek Kip Mei, So Uk and Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estates, was published following a roving exhibition which rendered a precious record of the historic vistas, unique architectural design, livelihood and culture of the early public housing estates in Hong Kong. It has excelled over 750 entries from around the world and won the highest honour of the year in the Mercury Awards. The "Best of Show" title was given to the finest among all the Grand Award winners in all the contesting categories, and the Grand Awards in turn were selected from the top scoring Gold winners in each category. The photo album has won the Grand Award in "Design: Custom Publications", a Gold Award in "Design: Custom Publications: Living/Housing", a Gold Award in "Design: Special Project" and a Silver Award in "Brochures: Special Purpose". Its soft copy will soon be ready on the HA/HD Web Site. Copies of the album are also available in public libraries.
The panel of judges, comprising over 100 public relations and communication professionals from around the world, found the work to be "very impressive - from the packaging to the coffee-table style book"; "very well designed; the tipped in postcards are really nice and added a valuable feature" and commended it for its "fantastic use of photography and imagery".
The "Light and Shade: life pass in old estates" project itself, which included a roving exhibition and several community events organised in the latter half of 2009, has also won a couple of awards, the latest being a Merit award in the category of "Reputation/Brand Management" in the Hong Kong Public Relations Awards 2010. This is the first award event of its kind organised by the Hong Kong Public Relations Professionals' Association. The judging panel was composed of celebrities and experienced professionals from the business, academic and media sectors. Strategic planning, effective execution, evaluation and results achieved are the major judging criteria of the awards. Winning entries in each category are either granted an award of excellence or a certificate of merit.
Two other communication projects of the HA are also winners in the 2010 International Mercury Awards. A video entitled "Revitalisation of Ping Shek Estate" was presented a Bronze Award in the category of "DVDs/Videos: Special Project" while the HA's Annual Report 2009/10 entitled "Towards a Green Future" was given an Honours Award in the category of "Design: Annual Report Interior (130-200 pages)".
