The archive · Design & Visual · Marketing decision · 2024
Citra Pariwara 37's 'Guts Must Be Crazy' gives Indonesia's ad awards 37 shocked masks
For its 37th edition, Citra Pariwara's 'Guts Must Be Crazy' identity is 37 unique shocked masks drawn from Indonesia's traditional mask heritage.
Citra Pariwara · Ou Creative
What it had to solve
Citra Pariwara, Indonesia's annual awards for bold creatives in advertising, media and digital, needed a theme and visual identity for its 37th edition. The show exists to honour work that disrupts expectations — creativity that feels crazy at first — and the identity had to make that value feel both daring and Indonesian.
How it works
Big ideas often feel crazy at first. That observation became the theme of Citra Pariwara 37, the Indonesian awards that celebrate bold creatives in advertising, media and digital who dare to challenge norms — and the identity had to show the idea instead of just stating it.
Ou Creative designed 37 unique masks, one for the show's 37th edition, each wearing a shocked expression. The masks drew on traditional Indonesian masks, symbols of eccentricity and rich cultural heritage, so the surprise in the design was rooted in the culture the awards come from.
Each shocked face embodied the thrill, fear and awe of a groundbreaking idea that disrupts expectations. The D&AD awards archive keeps the work under Illustration; the page records no attendance or entry figures.
Why it lands
- Thirty-seven masks for thirty-seven editions turns the anniversary number itself into a design system rather than a one-off key visual.
- The shocked expression pictures the exact moment a big idea arrives: it looks crazy before it is proven, which is the feeling the awards celebrate.
- Traditional Indonesian masks root the celebration in local heritage, giving an imported awards format a face that could only come from this industry home.
- A single recurring face made an abstract value portable across posters, stages and screens, so the whole event spoke with one visual voice.
What it did
The shocked mask became the face of Citra Pariwara 37, turning the theme Guts Must Be Crazy into something visible: creativity that leaves the world positively shocked and inspired. D&AD keeps the work in its awards archive under Illustration; the page records no attendance or entry figures.
What you can take
When an event celebrates rule-breaking, the identity should prove it: an awards show that honours crazy ideas can give them one unforgettable face and still feel culturally its own.
Since then
The 37th Citra Pariwara was held in Jakarta in December 2024, and the identity was later shortlisted at the D&AD Awards 2025 in Illustration. The D&AD archive page records no attendance or entry figures, so the work stands on its device: a cultural form — the mask — recast as the expression of creative courage.
Sources
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