D&AD New Blood Award
Graduating GMD student Sarina Chen, along with collaborator Han Ni Lin (BA Advertising 3rd year), has been awarded a D&AD New Blood pencil for their project addressing stigma around menstruation for young girls. Sarina describes the project experience, process and outcomes:
Project Experience: When I was browsing through all of the briefs for D&AD New Blood 2026, I was really interested in tackling a brief that had a social issue at its core. The Canesten brief really resonated with us, where the challenge was to tackle a female intimate health taboo. This brief meant that we were researching all the various female intimate health taboos and the consequential weight that these hold in everyday life. During the process we both learned a lot through research and honest conversations with each other. The research process was one of my favourite stages, the feeling of finding an insight that sticks and resonates with the brief was extremely fulfilling.
Collaborative Process: My collaboration with Han Ni Lin was unexpected. We met each other at the UAL Careers Fair while I was manning the booth for UAL Creative Entrepreneurs Society. We had a quick conversation where we decided to exchange contacts, and shortly after that arranged to get coffee together. During our initial meeting, we discussed how we were interested in doing D&AD New Blood, and that’s when we decided to join forces and tackle this year’s briefs together. Our collaboration taught me a lot, especially in regards to the importance of communication and comprise. It taught me to not personally attach myself to my ideas, and that the power of collaboration is in how ideas are able to evolve between people. I’m so happy that I got to collaborate with someone that I clicked so well with, and it reaffirmed the importance of saying yes to opportunities, trying new things, and getting out of your bubble in university!
Project description: ‘Unapologetic Ruby’ is an educational blind box series made in collaboration between Canesten and Popmart. This project was based on the insight that “73% of teens who menstruate feel the need to tough out their menstruation symptoms”, and because of this, many feel shame surrounding their periods, a shame that is frequently carried on into adulthood as well. We wanted to break this stigma surrounding period symptoms by targeting younger girls. The educational blind box series turns a subject that is usually seen as taboo and provocative into something playful and cute, allowing for honest and unapologetic conversations to be sparked.
See the full submission: https://www.dandad.org/work/new-blood-archive/unapologetic-ruby
Sarina and Han Ni Lin