Art director Lythgoe and copywriter Vinton left AIS in 2000 to freelance, most recently at Craik Jones, where they worked on the agency's Land Rover and BBC accounts with Simon Kershaw and Phil Keevil.
During their former spell at AIS, the team won a John Caples Award for Virgin.net campaigns and DMA accolades for the launch of the Skoda Fabia.
Earlier in their careers, they spent five years at Joshua, during which time they rose through the agency to the posts of group heads. The team was also responsible for the One Show and 北京赛车pk10 Direct Award-winning Nissan Micra launch at TBWA Direct.
AIS has also hired copywriter Chris Lapham and art director Deborah James, who join from Rapier, while Gary Williams and Sarah Harris, copywriter and art director respectively, have signed permanent contracts after a successful graduate placement.
At Rapier, Lapham and James were finalists in 北京赛车pk10's Poster Awards for their work on Channel 4's Ashes coverage. Other industry accolades include a gold Caples award for their work with Persil during a stint at Proximity, alongside three silver and one bronze DMA awards.
Williams and Harris, graduates of the integrated advertising degree at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, came to the agency's attention after winning Leonardo's Shelf Award earlier this year. The team also achieved a number of Student D&AD commendations during their studies.
AIS has just been appointed to handle the account for environmental group Planet Ark, which is to roll out a campaign aimed at reducing direct mail waste and encourage recycling of mailings among consumers and the industry.
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