Graeme Robertson Trust

About the Awards

The Trust was founded in 1991 in loving memory of one of the DM industry's greatest creative forces, Graeme Robertson, following his untimely death from cancer. Graeme was well known and respected within the industry for his ebullience and craftsmanship, enthusiasm and leadership, innovation and commercial awareness.

Graeme had the ability to recognise, encourage and nurture creative talent in a wide variety of people. And his creative department at Brann were a testament to his conviction that ideas are born out of a clash of opposites. Creative people from the industry contributed generously to the Trust, which is now administered by the DMA Creative Forum, and supported by Royal Mail and Photolibrary.

Every year, the GRT Award Scheme invites creative students from universities and colleges across the UK to enter this unique competition. The competition requires students to enter a direct mail piece based on the current year's exciting creative brief. It is free to enter and all entries are judged by twenty or so of the UK's top creative directors.

To view the creative brief click here

Entries are whittled down and the shortlisted students are invited to spend an afternoon with a group of leading creative directors who will critique their portfolios and offer help and advice. The winning person or team also wins £1000, funded by the GRT's sponsor Royal Mail and two runners-up prizes of £500 each, funded by Photolibrary. In addition, work placements may be offered to those entrants that most impress the judges.

Previous winners of the GRT Award include: Dave Mullen, now Creative Director at Story; Barney Cockerell and Nick Platt, Creative Partners at WWAV Rapp Collins; Paul Snoxell, Creative Director, DSJSW; Tristan Sellen; Nick Moffat at EHS Brann and Mark Whitehead who is now a copywriter at EHS Brann.

The Trustees are: Clive Colledge (Chair), Simon Kershaw, Lu Dixon, Stephen Chandler, David Harris and Janet Attwater (Secretary).

If you would like to support the GRT in any way, please email grt@dma.org.uk

For more a more in-depth look at what it is all about, please visit www.grtawards.org.uk.