New blood transforms maggots into award winner: Julia Lohmann has taken the inaugural John Gillard Award. (Newsmaker/Julia Lohmann).(Brief Article)

Julia Lohmann's work isn't all maggots, obviously, but that's what people tend to remember most. They certainly made a lasting impression on the judges of the John Gillard Award. Said panel convened recently to witness a presentation in which they (the maggots) were accompanied not just by Julia but also by a map of Ibiza and a jar of ink. She spread the map out across the table, deposited a handful of maggots bang in the middle and then poured the ink over them. The ink makes them go mad, wriggling frantically in all directions, dragging vivid ink trails behind them.

It's stomach-churningly beautiful, apparently; and while you're struggling to come to terms with the raw response, you can always forge a few conceptual connections between Ibiza and wriggling maggots. One of the judges, Tim Ashton, the creative director of Circus, was so impressed that he asked Julia to repeat the performance at his agency. We must assume that the other judges (the panel also included Graham Fink, Ced Vidler, Michael Peters, Tim Mellors and Mary Lewis) were similarly impressed because it didn't take long for them to decide unanimously in Julia's favour.

She becomes the award's inaugural winner and will receive her official accolades (and 1,000 [pounds sterling]) at the Milton Glaser D&AD president's lecture on 22 November. Her work will feature in The Lab section of the D&AD Getty Images Bloodbank (www.dandad. org/gettyimagesbloodbank) from the end of November.

Ashton says she is a fitting first winner. "Julia's was by far the best work and to have her there to implement some of it was amazing too," he states. "She is an extraordinarily talented person. When you think of the word `student' it immediately conjures up certain notions. Believe me, they are all completely inappropriate here. She is half-German and has obviously benefited from the perspective that can come from living in two different countries. She is also well-travelled and well-read. She has a vision and a maturity way in advance of her years."

Lohmann is now an ex-student. She graduated earlier this year from the Surrey Institute of Art and Design at Espom. Her work, along with that of more than 1,000 other graduates from 40 or so advertising and design schools across the country, was part of the annual D&AD New Blood exhibition -- which this year was used as the long list for the new award. In July, the judges drew up a shortlist of seven who were invited for interview and the chance to present their portfolios. Cue Julia's maggots.

The award is, ...