MUMBAI: Taproot India chief creative officer and co-founder Santosh Padhi will be joining the annual Adfest event as jury president for the Design Lotus and Print Craft Lotus at the 2013 Lotus Awards.

The event will take place from 17 March to 19 March in Pattaya, Thailand.

"The Asian region has had a love affair with craft for years. We have witnessed some wonderful marriages of the modern and the ethnic. Asians have a sea of traditions to delve into, and this region does not shy away from fearless experiments when it comes to art, craft and design," says Padhi.

Adfest president Jimmy Lam said, "Paddy‘s credentials as an art director and designer are formidable. He has been involved in some of India‘s most celebrated print campaigns, which makes him our undisputed choice as Jury President of Design and Print Craft in 2013."

Padhi, or Paddy as he is known in the advertising circle, started his career 18 years ago. After a 10-year stint at Leo Burnet, he started Taproot India, which ranked amongst the Top 20 Independent Agencies in the world in the 2010 Cannes Survey, and was the Best Performing Agency from India at ADFEST 2010. Taproot has to its credit campaigns for Pepsi (the Cricket World Cup campaign), Airtel (Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai) and the Bombay Times campaign (Born Glamorous).

Padhi also holds the record for the most number of Cannes Lions won by an individual Indian creative from India, and was also voted the 3rd Best Art Director in the World in a survey conducted by Campaign UK in 2009-2010.

"ADFEST is one of the oldest, most reputed and celebrated award shows this region has. It values all things uniquely Asian - be it Asian culture, traditions, insights or behavior. Its delightful venue near the beaches of Pattaya just adds to its charm. To have one‘s work applauded in such a vibrant atmosphere is amazing indeed," he says.