Five award-winning projects, including two Golds in the Student category for the projects SPICY:AM by IED Milano and IRREGULAR ITALIC by IED Roma.
Date
07 November 2025
IED has triumphed at the ADCI Awards 2025, the initiative promoted by the Art Directors Club Italiano celebrating excellence in Italian creative communication. The school earned five Awards with projects created by students from the Communication Design programs at IED Milano, Roma, and Torino.
Every year, the award highlights ideas capable of inspiring, innovating, and generating cultural impact, rewarding projects that interpret the present with originality, strategic vision, and outstanding execution.
ADCI AWARDS 2025: WHAT IED WON
On the top step of the podium, two Gold Awards went to:
SPICY:AM (main image) by IED Milano for Heinz, a campaign presenting the Heinz Jalapeño Sauce as the perfect breakfast choice through an ironic reinterpretation of morning grimaces.
IRREGULAR ITALIC by IED Roma for Monotype, a communication project exploring identity and belonging through typography.
In the Student No Profit category, Silver went to SEI COMPLICE by IED Roma, a guerrilla marketing action in Rome addressing the issue of revenge porn and aiming to raise awareness and promote accountability among viewers, countering the normalization of digital violence.
Silver also for “THE FFFLOAT” by IED Milan (Master in Creative Direction), a prevention campaign for LILT that introduces the first lifebuoy–spirometer designed to help people understand the health of their respiratory system.
Students from the same Master’s program also earned two bronzes with APPLE GUARDIAN, which turns the Apple Watch into a discreet lifesaving device for women experiencing violence, and JUST IN EXTRA CASE, a phone case that stops endless scrolling and helps relieve anxiety, promoting healthier smartphone habits among young people.
IED Torino received two Bronze Awards in the Student Experience category with:
JUST PRESS X, an experiential campaign for Xbox celebrating the freedom of cloud gaming by turning every screen into an interactive gateway to play;
THE CHASE, an innovative campaign for giffgaff designed to overturn the traditional, aggressive approach of mobile operators.
GOLD — SPICY:AM
Project by Marco Basilico, Tommaso Stefani, Francesco Bica, Matteo Ferrara, Alessandro Bovi, Pietro Berti, Riccardo Beatrizzotti for Heinz.
Waking up is universally recognized as the hardest moment of the day — a small daily trauma that catches us by surprise, much like tasting something particularly spicy.
From this insight comes SPICY:AM, the campaign through which Heinz presents its Jalapeño Sauce as the ideal choice for breakfast — a true “wake-up call of flavor,” capable of awakening both body and mind instantly.
A series of close-up portraits capture the authentic expressions of people at the precise moment of waking: tensed faces, half-closed eyes, faint smiles suspended between sleepiness and the shock of Heinz Jalapeño’s bold taste.
Post-production and color correction recreated the soft, warm glow of the morning light, emphasizing the contrast between the muffled awakening and the sudden explosion of flavor.
SPICY:AM is an ironic reinterpretation of morning grimaces — a visual game that leaves an open question: what really startles the subjects? The sunlight, or the overwhelming kick of Heinz Jalapeño?
Either way, it’s a shock that awakens both senses and palate in an instant —
because if it’s tasty enough to wake you up, it has to be Heinz.
GOLD — IRREGULAR ITALIC
Project by Cesare Costanzo, Riccardo Frusteri, Elisa Fontana for Monotype.
A communication campaign for the company specializing in typographic design. Around 2.5 million people born in Italy to foreign parents still do not hold Italian citizenship. The students created a new typeface, Irregular Italic, which merges Titillium Web — the official font used by the Italian public administration — with glyphs from six writing systems used by major ethnic minorities in Italy.
This font has been applied in various communication materials to give a voice to those who live in Italy but are not yet officially recognized as Italian.
“Irregular Italic” will appear on posters distributed across Italian cities, used by second-generation artists to reinterpret iconic Italian objects, and made freely available for anyone to download and use.
SILVER — SEI COMPLICE
Project by Clara Vella, Pamela Marcelli, Gai Parmigiani, Carlotta Ardu, Martina Martucci.
A guerrilla marketing action carried out in Rome last March to raise awareness about revenge porn.
The campaign’s goal was to shift responsibility to the viewer, challenging the normalization of digital violence.
Through a direct visual language and digital tools, it urged people not to look away — moving the focus from the victim to the everyday actions of those who, even unknowingly, contribute to perpetuating harm.
SILVER for THE FFFLOAT
Project by Matteo Ferlin for LILT.
Breathe to protect those you love. Introducing the first smart lifebuoy–spirometer: it inflates only if your breath reaches a healthy lung threshold. An innovative idea that puts prevention at the heart of its message, reminding us that a healthy parent is the first shield for their children. Distributed at newsstands and seaside resorts, each lifebuoy includes a QR code to book a free spirometry test with LILT. Those who are unable to inflate it receive a discount on anti-smoking kits and priority access to screenings.
A simple gesture that can save a life.
BRONZE — JUST PRESS X
Project by Lucia Magon, Andrea Mammì, Marcello Bottaro, Thomas Bertone, Giada Ana Maria Carena for Xbox.
“Just Press X” is an experiential campaign celebrating the freedom of Xbox cloud gaming, transforming every screen — from billboards and bus stops to smartphones — into an interactive gateway to the world of play.
By overcoming the physical limits of traditional consoles and fixed spaces, Xbox redefines how and where we play, blending the real and digital worlds.
The city itself becomes a playground: each screen is an instant portal to Game Pass titles, accessible simply by pressing X — a direct, universal invitation to play anytime, anywhere.
BRONZE — THE CHASE
Project by Lucia Magon, Andrea Mammì, Marcello Bottaro, Thomas Bertone, Giada Ana Maria Carena for giffgaff.
Concept: The Chase is the first campaign to overturn the rules of the mobile industry: instead of chasing customers, it’s the operator being chased.
Starting from a universal truth — that mobile operators are often intrusive and pushy — giffgaff positions itself as the exception, becoming the most sought-after operator.
Through a playful guerrilla marketing strategy rich in puns and double meanings, the campaign scattered mysterious clues across the UK, turning users into participants of an urban treasure hunt for the “deal dealer.”
Each clue featured a call-to-action and a QR code allowing people to locate and follow the nearest dealer for exclusive offers.
An engaging, unconventional experience that reflects giffgaff’s ironic tone, sparking curiosity and redefining the role of the mobile operator.
BRONZE for “JUST IN EXTRA CASE”
Project by Michele Romitelli, Chiara Ruffini, and Federica Signoriello.
The phone case that stops scrolling and frees you from anxiety. In a world dominated by smartphones, Just in Extra Case offers a creative shift for young people: a phone case that stores chewing gum on the back of the device, turning the automatic gesture of picking up your phone into an invitation to rediscover simpler, more enjoyable habits.
The idea stems from the insight that, when reminded, young people are willing to choose healthier alternatives to endless scrolling. The campaign aims to go viral on TikTok, catching attention precisely at the moment users reach for their phones. Once the audience is hooked, the design of the case is revealed — a symbol of a new routine that reduces anxiety and promotes digital well-being.
BRONZE for APPLE GUARDIAN
Project by Marco Fazio and Federica Pizzolato. A silent gesture that saves lives: Apple Watch becomes an invisible ally against violence.
This revolutionary project transforms the Apple Watch into a discreet lifesaving device for women experiencing violence. With a universal and silent gesture, the watch automatically sends an alert to emergency services, activates audio recording, and notifies trusted contacts — all without arousing suspicion.
Those who receive the alert can locate the person in danger in real time, even via satellite, and take immediate action.
A technology that offers constant reassurance and protection — always on the wrist, always ready.
Project Just Press, IED Torino
Project The Chase, IED Torino
You may be interested in:
