2015 was the most awarded year in D&AD history with 847 Pencils from 44 countries handed out in total.
Graphite and Wood Pencils made their debut, replacing Nomination and In Book respectively.
207 entries received Graphite Pencils and 587 entries received Wood Pencils.
Yellow and Black Pencils (the latter reserved only for creative perfection), have been more difficult than ever to win this year, with just 44 Yellow and 5 Black Pencil winners.
Tim Lindsay, chief executive of D&AD commented, “The introduction of our new Pencil levels – Wood and Graphite – has clearly made an impression. Our judges were happier to award brilliant work, and we’re going to have our thickest ever Annual as a result. Inversely, they now regard Yellow as an even tougher accolade. Personally I’m delighted that White Pencil work is now a central pillar of the awards.”
Australia won 39 Pencils, all but one were Wood or Graphite. We won 1 Yellow Pencil.
New Zealand won 1 Black and 4 Yellow Pencils.
Australia’s and New Zealand’s Pencil wins detailed here.
Five Black Pencils were awarded:
‘#LikeAGirl’ by Leo Burnett Toronto, London, Chicago, and Holler (Creativity for Good – White Pencil) – Canada, UK, US. [This was the second year in which a White Pencil entry was awarded a Black Pencil.]
‘Film4 Idents’ by 4creative (Channel Branding & Identity) – UK
‘G . F Smith’ by Made Thought (Branding Schemes/Medium Organisation) – UK
‘Inglorious Fruits & Vegetables’ by Marcel Worldwide (Direct Integrated Campaigns) – France
‘K9FM’ by Colenso BBDO (Radio Advertising Campaigns) – New Zealand
White Pencil entries more than doubled this year, and four White Pencils were awarded by the White Pencil jury – the highest in the awards’ history, doubling last year’s figure of two and signaling a bumper year for creativity for social good.
The four White Pencil winners are:
‘LEGO: Everything is NOT awesome’ by Don’t Panic London (Advertising & Marketing Communications – Not for Profit) – UK
‘This Is Wholesome’ by Droga5 (Advertising & Marketing Communications – Brand) – US
‘Nazis Against Nazis – Germany’s Most Involuntary Charity Walk’ by Constanze Spross (Advertising & Marketing Communications – Not for Profit) – Germany
‘Human Traffic Sign’ by Lowe China (Advertising & Marketing Communications – Brand) – China
Most Awarded
- Most Pencils were won by ‘#LikeAGirl’ by Leo Burnett Toronto, London, Chicago, and Holler: 2 Yellow Pencils, 3 Graphite Pencils, 2 Wood Pencils and 1 Black Pencil.
- R/GA was Most Awarded Advertising Agency with 2 Yellow Pencils and a string of Graphite and Wood Pencils for its work with clients including Beats By Dre, Google, Hammerhead Navigation and Equinox.
- Design Bridge was Most Awarded Design Agency.
- Procter & Gamble was Most Awarded Client
- Somesuch & Co. was Most Awarded Production Agency with 1 Yellow Pencil for ‘The Otherside’ for Honda.
Results by Country. Full list here: D&AD Awards Ceremony 2015 – Pencils by Country
- The United Kingdom with 229 Pencils: 7 Yellow Pencils & 2 Black Pencils
- The US with one Black Pencil and 7 Yellows.
- Japan led in Asia (again) with 47 pencils including 5 Yellows
- Brazil won 44 Pencils including 3 Yellow Pencils
- Germany won 44 Pencils
- Australia won 39 Pencils
- France won 37 Pencils.
- China won 21 Pencils, up 300% from just five awards in 2014
Results by Category. Full list of Pencils by Category here: D&AD Awards Ceremony 2015 – Pencils by Jury Title
President’s Award
Margaret Calvert, the co-designer of Britain’s iconic motorway signs and RCA tutor, was honoured with the President’s Award. She was selected by the incumbent D&AD President, Mark Bonner.
Calvert moved from South Africa to Britain in 1950 to study at the Chelsea College of Art. In 1957 she was hired by Jock Kinner to redesign the road sign system. She came up with simple, easy-to-understand pictograms, including the signs for ‘men at work’ (a man digging), which revolutionised public signage in the UK.
Margaret taught many generations of designers at London’s Royal College of Art. Alumni who studied under her include founders of some of Britain’s best-known design studios – Graphic Thought Facility, Why Not Associates, GBH, Jonathan Barnbrook and Daniel Eatock.
D&AD president, Mark Bonner, commented, “Margaret perfectly embodies all that is important to D&AD; combining excellence with education to inspire young creatives across the disciplines.
“I know, because she taught me. Thank god I listened! She has inspired a who’s who of young, fortunate, and now successful creatives from all over the world during her 35-year association with The Royal College of Art. Her legacy is some of our industry’s greatest talents.”
Next Photographer and Next Director Awards are 2 new awards, separate to the Professional Awards.
The Next Photographer Award: created in partnership with Getty Images to find the best new photographers and promote them back to the creative industry, was won by Brooklyn-based photographer Jeff Brown.
Sarah Thompson, Head of Art Production at Fallon and the Next Photographer Award Jury Foreman, said:
“Jeff is a worthy winner of D&AD’s first Next Photographer Award. Amongst some stiff competition his work stood out from the beginning of our judging – and withstood many hours of discussion to the end of the day. Big congratulations to Jeff for being D&AD Next Photographer 2015.”
The Next Director Award: created in partnership with YouTube and MOFILM to unearth the best new directorial talent, was given to Jerusalem born Vania Heymann for his music video Mayokero.
Sean Thompson from the Next Director Award Jury, said:
“He isn’t afraid of doing the ridiculous. I love that. It’s so nice to see a simple fresh idea brought to life in film. The director does well to not add anything unnecessary and executes with excellence in this beautiful music video.”
