D&AD’s just released 56th Annual is two books in one. The front cover has been cut in half to make space for the Manual – a detachable exercise book featuring creative tasks and inspirational contributions from industry heavyweights, including Black Pencil winners, Michael Johnson, founder of Johnson Banks and winner of he 2017 D&AD President’s Award; Bjorn Stahl, executive creative director of INGO Stockholm; and Alice Tonge, head of 4creative.
Those who purchase an Annual this year are encouraged to pass the Manual on to up and coming creatives to support their rise through the industry.
The inventive design is by Magpie Studio, which won three Pencils this year and was chosen by D&AD President, Steve Vranakis. Vranakis’ brief to the UK studio was to reflect both the heritage of D&AD and its mission, as an educational organisation, to safeguard and promote creative skills for the future.
Ben Christie, creative partner at Magpie Studio, commented, “Steve came to us with the idea of creating a separate manual that would act as a creative handbook to help young aspiring creatives. We loved the concept. From then it was a case of expanding on the idea and thinking of the best ways to realise this, both in terms of format and style. Ever since college, the Annual has been a hallowed source of inspiration for me. While other awards schemes come and go, D&AD has always been the best of the best. Year on year it’s by far the greatest collection of creative work in the industry. It’s a vital way to spread the word of creativity and hopefully the Manual will help take that reach wider.”
Vranakis added, “There have been so many beautiful and interesting Annual designs over the years that I thought this year we use the book to give a bit more back to people just starting out. So when we first approached Magpie, they instantly gravitated to the idea, understanding its potential and really subscribing to the ethos of making the Annual much more accessible to everyone. They spent countless hours coming up with different designs to ensure that the Manual was an integral piece of the Annual as a whole and not just some insert you’d get as a promotion.
“My mission for my year as D&AD President was all about recognising people for their raw ability and not about who they are or where they come from. My personal background meant that I had to learn about the creative industries on my own without mentors or contacts, without schooling and accidentally getting into the industry, something we hear all too often. One of my predecessors, Andy Sandoz, was actually the first to introduce the idea of the D&AD Annual acting as a ‘manual’ for creativity and I thought what better way to deliver against my manifesto of opening up the creative industry to more people especially those coming from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds than to revive this.”
For the fifth year running, D&AD’s partners at Hogarth have provided the retouching, colour management and general reprographics for the Book.
The Annual is available to buy here.
