Godfrey Dadich Partners is pleased to announce that founder and co-CEO Scott Dadich is the recipient of the 2020 National Design Award for Communication Design, the industry’s highest honor. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum announced the winners of the National Design Awards in nine categories at a virtual gala celebrating design excellence and innovation on Thursday, October 1, 2020.
With the belief that every choice is an act of design, Dadich’s award-winning body of work spans documentary filmmaking, magazine editing and creative direction, digital publishing, book and experiential design. At GDP he has led storytelling projects with Nike, The Obama Foundation, IBM, and National Geographic. He is a creator and executive producer of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated docuseries Abstract: The Art of Design, and directed an episode on interactive design in season two. Dadich was editor in chief of WIRED (2012-2017), where he previously served as creative director and was the only person to ever win three consecutive National Magazine Awards for Design along with three consecutive Society of Publication Design “Magazine of the Year” awards (2008, 2009, and 2010). In 2011, Fast Company named Dadich one of the "50 Most Influential Designers in America.”
This year’s National Design Award recipients are Kickstarter, Sponge Park, Studio One Eighty Nine, Snøhetta, Design I/O, TELFAR, OJB Landscape Architecture, and Catapult Design.
“From shaping our parks and buildings to transforming the creative infrastructure and the ways we tell our stories, the remarkable work of this year’s winners demonstrates the power of design in everyday life,” said John Davis, interim director of the museum. “Last night’s virtual gala welcomed viewers from around the world and launched the first of a suite of programs during National Design Month aimed at broadening access to the vision of these leading designers and connecting people of all ages with the importance of design.”
The National Design Awards were launched in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, with the goal of increasing awareness and understanding of how design improves everyday life. Organized by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the Awards are bestowed annually in recognition of design innovation and impact. Nominations are made by the general public and a diverse jury of design leaders and educators select winners based on the level of excellence, innovation and public impact of their body of work. Throughout October National Design Month will present opportunities for people everywhere—from practicing designers and design enthusiasts to students, educators, and families—to learn from NDA winners and guest designers. Dadich will participate in the Design Career Fair Oct. 13 and the Design Salon on Storytelling Oct. 22. All National Design Month activities require registration to secure a virtual spot.