Celebrating creativity, impact, and innovation: DEPT® named 2025 Lovies Agency of the Year
For the fourth year running, DEPT® has been named Agency of the Year at the Lovie Awards — a recognition of the boundary-pushing creativity, innovation, and impact that define our work.
We’re also exceptionally proud to share that both our work with NVIDIA on Signs and our work with Just Eat X Netflix earned special recognition as Brand of the Year and Collab of the Year, respectively.
All together, our projects for brands including PepsiCo, Just Eat Takeaway, and the Government of Barbados earned a total of 24 wins across categories spanning AI, immersive, and impactful work.
Competing against nearly 1,200 entries from 35 countries, our recognition at this year’s Lovie Awards reaffirms DEPT®’s position as a global leader in blending creativity and technology to unlock tomorrow’s possibilities for today’s most ambitious brands.
“Four years in a row still feels a bit unreal. It all comes down to people who love to invent and clients who believe in growing through creativity and technology. We couldn’t ask for better partners.
”Dimi Albers, CEO at DEPT®
The winners
NVIDIA x American Society for Deaf Children: Signs
HELLO MONDAY/DEPT®
3x Gold, 1x Silver, 3x People’s Lovie
Signs reimagines language learning through technology. Built using advanced AI models and motion-tracking, it creates an interactive platform that teaches American Sign Language as naturally as a conversation. By bridging accessibility and innovation, it empowers both Deaf and hearing users to communicate visually and intuitively. It’s an example of how AI can remove barriers and make education more inclusive.
Talking Portraits: DOGSTUDIO/DEPT®
3x Gold, 2x People’s Lovie
Talking Portraits transforms static art into living, conversational experiences. Through generative AI, computer vision, and natural-language processing, DOGSTUDIO/DEPT® crafted emotionally responsive digital portraits capable of real-time dialogue. The project explores the intersection of creativity and machine learning, breathing new life into cultural heritage while demonstrating how immersive storytelling can humanize technology and redefine interaction with art.
Otrium: Ovatars by Otrium – DEPT®
2x Gold, 1x Bronze, 3x People’s Lovie
Otrium partnered with DEPT® to launch “Ovatars,” a suite of AI-generated digital models designed to showcase unsold fashion inventory more effectively. By combining basic product photography with generative AI, the platform brings previously overlooked SKUs to life in look-books, ad campaigns and product pages. It has reduced traditional model photography costs by around 40% and improved conversion rates for those items by up to 50%. The initiative shows how tech-driven creativity can power circular fashion economics.
Trainline: Bums on Board – DEPT®
2x Silver, 1x Bronze, 3x People’s Lovie
Trainline partnered with DEPT® to flip the sustainability narrative into something cheeky and memorable. With playful visuals, a hero voice-over narrated by comedian Asim Chaudhry, and the rallying call “Get your bum on board,” the campaign reframes climate action not as a sacrifice, but as a laugh-out-loud seat change. It drove a 10 % lift in ad recall and 2.3 M views, showing that serious impact can come wrapped in humour.
Netflix & Just Eat Takeaway: Squid Games – DEPT®
2x Silver, 1x People’s Lovie
DEPT® and Just Eat Takeaway tapped into pop culture momentum by pairing with Netflix’s launch of Squid Game 2 to deliver a clever, immersive blend of food order and gaming. A bespoke AI-powered “ELIMINATE” game turned the viewing ride into a literal seat-edge experience—ask users to bite, not get caught, and win up to £/€10K. The campaign mirrored the show’s tension, scaled across TV, social, and mobile, and centred on the link between watching and eating.
R.O.A.D To Barbados: Reclaiming our Atlantic Destiny – DEPT®
1x Silver, 1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
The R.O.A.D. (Reclaiming Our Atlantic Destiny) Programme reimagines how nations preserve and share history. In partnership with the Government of Barbados, DEPT® created the brand strategy, visual identity, and digital experience to digitise one of the world’s largest archives of transatlantic slave trade records. The result is a living digital monument that honors the past, safeguards cultural memory, and invites global participation in shaping a more inclusive future.
DEMO Festival: STUDIO DUMBAR/DEPT®
1x Silver, 1x People’s Lovie
For its 2025 edition, the festival launched by Studio Dumbar/DEPT® grew into a truly global celebration of motion design, taking over digital screens in 15 cities across seven countries. Curating over 600 motion works from more than 350 designers, the team turned everyday urban environments into immersive creative showcases. This initiative reframed public-space media, proving that design can command city-scale attention while spotlighting emerging talent and creative culture in motion.
Artis: DEPT®
1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
ARTIS, one of the world’s oldest zoological gardens, partnered with DEPT® to launch a new digital experience encompassing a content-rich website and companion app for ARTIS Zoo, ARTIS-Micropia, and ARTIS-Groote Museum. The solution includes a revamped CMS, interactive map, guided audio tours, and narrow-casting across onsite screens, bridging the micro and macro worlds of nature and providing visitors a seamless experience online and offline.
Icons Club: DOGSTUDIO/DEPT®
1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
DOGSTUDIO/DEPT® partnered with Icons Club to shape the first public expression of its AI-powered fitness platform featuring celebrity athletes. We built a bespoke WebGL particle system to visualize the app’s AI coach—an immersive preview of what’s to come. With the full app build underway, this project marks the beginning of a long-term digital collaboration.
Ricola: DEPT®
1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
Ricola enlisted DEPT® to rethink the structure and navigation of its global web presence, aiming to align the digital experience with its herbal-roots brand identity while improving usability across devices and markets. The redesign streamlined the site architecture, focused on clarity and simplicity, and created a mobile-first navigation system that reflects Ricola’s premium standing and botanical heritage. The refreshed website allows users to find information about ingredients, sourcing, and product variants with ease and confidence.
Pride & Seek: DOGSTUDIO/DEPT®
1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
Pride & Seek invites players into a vibrant, browser-based experience where the character Hue sets out to reunite with nine balloon friends across a colorful world. Along the way, players encounter interactive learning moments tied to each color of the LGBTQ+ flag, blending playful hide-and-seek mechanics with storytelling that emphasises visibility, inclusion, and joy. The project uses creative game design to deliver both delight and meaning, showcasing how digital interaction can reinforce cultural values.
PepsiCo: Extra Flamin’ Hot Temp Drop Shop – DEPT®
1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
During the chilly January gloom, the Walkers Temp Drop Shop turned up the heat. The campaign featured a live-action British corner shop pop-up that mirrored a timed TikTok drop of extra-flaming-hot limited-edition snacks. DEPT® teamed with PepsiCo’s in-house unit Sips & Bites to fuse influencer culture (featuring Ash Holme, Axel Blake, Oli Paterson, and Asim Chaudhry) with physical immersion, bringing the brand’s bold personality into real-world retail theater and seamlessly bridging virtual engagement with shopping.
Raleigh: The Boldest Brand on Two Wheels – DEPT®
1x Bronze, 1x People’s Lovie
When legacy cycling brand Raleigh partnered with DEPT®, the goal was to refresh its visual identity, brand film, and campaign to reflect modern mobility while honoring heritage. The new look centres around the e-bike ‘Raleigh ONE’ and captures diversity, urban energy, and motion across cityscapes. Through thoughtful strategy and striking design, DEPT® positioned Raleigh as a brand moving forward in cycling as well as experience, culture, and purpose.
A massive thank you to the Lovie Awards judges for recognizing our work, to our clients for trusting us to push boundaries, and to every Depster whose creativity made these wins possible. And, of course, to everyone who took the time to vote for the People’s Lovies.
