Asia's young creatives

1 Prangthip Praditpong Creative director Creative Juice\ G1 Thailand

Prangthip Praditpong was no stranger to awards before 2005 -- she had already hit gold at AdFest and Media's Spikes, while work for Wrangler and ICI was shortlisted at Cannes in 2003. However, some outstanding executions moved Prangthip into a different league last year -- notably print and poster ads for Tamiya Assembly Toys, tagged by the Gunn Report as the single most successful print campaign of 2005, as well as a TV Yellow Pages campaign. Prangthip's big break came when she joined BBDO as a junior creative, a post she was asked to take on the strength of her portfolio alone. It was at BBDO that Prangthip says she realised she knew nothing about how to make a great ad, but under the tutelage of Anurak Junsanji, she honed her skills there for five years, directly under ECD Thirasak Tanapatanakul, while he was still at BBDO. Along with her whole team, Prangthip transferred to Creative Juice\G1 in 2004.

2 Nutchanun Chiaphanumas Copywriter Creative Juice\G1 Thailand

Copywriter on the world's most awarded print campaign of last year for Tamiya Assembly Toys, Nutchanun Chiaphanumas rose steadily up this year's rankings into Media's top 10 on the back of a Cannes gold, a silver Pencil at The One Show and a bronze Clio prize, as well as a major haul of metal regionwide and nationally. A D&AD silver for the 'Police' TVC for Teleinfo Media, Thailand's Yellow Pages, plus Best of Show at the Bangkok Art Directors awards show for a TV campaign for Bangkok Insurance, capped a stellar year, boosting him squarely into the top echelon of the region's most successful creatives. Nutchanun began his career at Ogilvy in 2004, where he was mentored by Korn Tepintarapi-raksa. He moved on for a brief stint at BBDO before joining with the team at Creative Juice\G1 and global creative renown in April 2004.

3 Kittitat Larppitakpong Art director Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand

Kittitat Lappitakpong joined Saatchi & Saatchi Bangkok late last year, capping a fruitful 18 months for the copywriter at Creative Juice\G1, where he was mentored by ECD Thirasak Tanapatanakulas and CDs Pranthip Praditpong and Jon Chalermwong. At Creative Juice\G1, he flew the flag for Asian creativity worldwide, contributing to the Tamiya Assembly Toys print and poster ads, which claimed recognition at the Spikes and then went on to garner critical acclaim worldwide with gold at Cannes and silver at both One Show and the Clios. That by no means marked the end of Kittitat's award tally, going to win a prestigious D&AD silver for one of the TVCs in the highly-decorated TV campaign for Teleinfo Media, Thailand's Yellow Pages. Kittitat's ability to garner international acclaim began early in his career -- he bagged a gold student Clio prize in 2002.

4 Passapol Limpirisan Creative director (now ECD) Euro RSCG Flagship Thailand

Together with co-creative Wiboon Leepakpreeda, Passapol Limpisirisan took home Media's Best of the Best for the second year running, following last year's globally-renowned ads for electronics retailer Soken with a series of striking images for 11 News 1 Channel in 2005. The work struck silver at Cannes and picked up best outdoor at AWARD with the Soken follow-up and ads for the Thai Office of Knowledge Developmemt and Management, winning approving nods and trophies to boot regionally. A communication arts graduate from Bangkok University, Passapol worked at Lintas, Prakit and FCB before starting a tenure at Dentsu Young & Rubicam, where he started to build his award collection with a strong showing at local shows. Passapol left DY&R in 2000 to join a new start-up -- Flagship Advertising. Here, his work for Krungthgai Bank achieved international renown, with further global fame for his Soken work, the third most-awarded ad of 2003 according to Gunn.

4 Wiboon Leepakpreeda Creative director (now ECD) Euro RSCG Flagship Thailand

Through his partnership with Passapol Limpisirisan since their early days at Lintas in the 1990s, Wiboon Leepakpreeda's portfolio is filled to bursting with a series of world class ads. His Krungthai Bank work raised the flag for Thai creativity at Cannes and the Clios, while the smash series of Soken ads for the electronics retailer were judged by the Gunn Report as the third most-awarded campaign of 2003. But his best work is far from done, judging by the honours heaped on 2005's 11 News 1 Channel print ads, which swept the board at last year's Spikes. The work also hit silver at AdFest and best outdoor ad at AWARD, helping lift Wiboon into Media's top 10 of the year for the second year running. Work for the Thai Office of Knowledge Management and Development, and follow-up TVCs for Soken scored respectably, too. Since partnering Passapol, Wiboon has nurtured several creative teams, helping lift Flagship Euro up the Gunn Report's global rankings from 44th place in 2004 to 13th last year. As a result, both were promoted to executive creative director earlier this year in recognition of their contribution.

6 Jon Chalermwong Associate creative director Creative Juice\G1 Thailand

It was Ketchai Parponsilp, currently a film director with Phenomena Bangkok, who started the young Jon Chalermwong on his career path, when both were at Saatchi & Saatchi -- Ketchai as the boss and Jon as the trainee. It wasn't long before Jon's talent started to shine, landing a Bronze Clio for a Pampers press ad, 'Grass', in 2002 and collecting a clutch of bronze trophies from AdFest. Last year was another story, however, with metalwork from all the world's major award shows bolstering a stellar performance regionally and nationally. The big winner, the work on Tamiya Assembly Toys, became the most awarded print ad of last year according to the Gunn Report, but Jon also won both plaudits and major awards for his TVCs for the Teleinfo Media as well as work for Wrangler and the Thai Don't Drive Drunk Foundation. Having developed a style Jon describes as inspired by the music of "king of grunge -- Kurt Cobain", his winning streak in 2005 places him among the world's most highly regarded creative talent.

7 Nucharat Nuntananonchai Creative group head Euro RSCG Flagship Thailand

Nucharat Nuntananonchai started her career in advertising at Flagship Advertising -- at the time a small, local independent agency, prior to the merger with Euro RSCG --after graduating with a degree in communication arts from Chulalongkorn University. Working under the guidance of Passapol Limpisirisan and Wiboon Leepakpreeda, and stewarded by Flagship's chief creative officer Chukiat Jaroensuk, Nucharat's first major haul came in 2003 for her Krungthai Bank work, which picked up metal at Cannes, AdFest and the Spikes. Last year proved even more successful, with ads created for 11 News 1 Channel hitting the jackpot at the Spikes, crowning a trophy collection amassed from all the regional shows, and a Cannes silver to boot. Locally, Nucharat continued to create winning ads, with her work for the Home for Handicapped Animals Foundation and Lunch Program for Children bolstering her already considerable tally of awards.

7 Taya Sutthinun Senior art director Euro RSCG Flagship Thailand

Another young talent groomed at the creative powerhouse of Euro RSCG Flagship, fine art graduate Taya Sutthinun embarked on his career in advertising as a junior art director in the days before the merger with Euro RSCG. Taya had already landed awards at a local level, but it was last year that his work gained recognition on the global stage with 11 News 1 Channel hitting it big -- the Gunn Report placed it as one of the 20 most-awarded pieces of print work in the world last year. The ads bagged a sliver at Cannes and Best of the Best at the Spikes in Asia, while also drawing in metalwork from AWARD and AdFest. Work for Positioning magazine, meanwhile, bagged more AdFest silver, while, locally, ads for the Home for Handicapped Animals Foundation and Lunch Program for Children added to an already overcrowded trophy cabinet for the year.

9 Hirofumi Nakajima Senior art director TBWA\Japan

Having topped the table last year on the back of his breakthrough 2004 'Vertical football' outdoor stunt for adidas, Hirofumi Nakajima continued to collect the metalwork through 2005 in his ongoing collaboration with the sportswear giant. Born in Shizouka, popularly known as 'Football City', and growing into a keen soccer fan, Nakajima found adidas an especially satisfying client to work on, under the tutelage of the agency's Tokyo-based chief creative officer John Merrifield. 'Vertical Sprint', a dash up the side of skyscrapers in Osaka and Hong Kong to build interest in last year's Olympic Games in Athens, was a worthy follow-up to 'Vertical football'. It went on to collect gold at OneShow and silver at Cannes. Meanwhile, 'Impossible bus pull' took silver regionally at Media's Spikes and AdFest. A graphic design graduate from Tokyo's Tama Art School, Nakajima began his career as a designer with CAP before moving after four years to Saatchi & Saatchi Tokyo as an art director. After three years with Saatchis, he moved to TBWA as senior art director, where he works on adidas, Pernod Ricard and Pedigree.

10 Ali Shabaz Associate creative director JWT Singapore

The best career move Ali Shabaz ever made was quitting his first job -- selling encyclopedias door-to-door -- after one week. On the recommendation of a friend already in the advertising business, Shabaz exchanged sales for copywriting, first at Lintas in Chennai, follwed by stints in Muscat, Dubai and Bangalore, before trying his luck in Singapore. Here he joined BBDO, where he went on to win a slew of international awards. Last year was no exception, with a print and poster campaign for Pizza Hut cleverly incorporating pizza delivery into famous scenes from old movies -- Shabaz takes inspiration from anything with a surprising twist or unexpected point of view -- winning big at Cannes, Clio and One Show, in addition to performing strongly regionally. However, after five years with BBDO, which Shabaz describes as the most productive of his life, he was tempted to move on again, this time to JWT in Singapore to work under regional executive creative director Tay Guan Hin.

10 Alex Lim Thye Aun Head of art BBDO Singapore

Alex Lim Thye Aun began his career on a high, clinching the best new art director award at the Singapore Creative Circle Awards two years into his career. He gained an even more impressive accolade in 2003, as the Gunn Report declared his Levi's 'Hugging' work for BBH under ECD Steve Elrick's guidance the most awarded print campaign of 2003. It picked up awards at all the major shows, including a silver nomination and two acceptances at D&AD; Best of the Best, two gold and five silver Spikes at the Media awards; two golds and two silvers at AdFest; a merit at The One Show and nine silvers and four bronzes at the Singapore CCA. The walks to the podium continued after his move to BBDO in the same year, scooping another silver nomination at D&AD for Simple Make-Up Remover. His recent work for Pizza Hut Delivery at BBDO Singapore, which boosted him into Media's Top 10, shows him in strong form. With silver at Cannes and Clio, silver and bronze at The One Show, silver at the Spikes, bronze at AdFest and gold and silver at the Singapore CCA, it was voted the eighth most-awarded campaign in the world in the Gunn Report.