D&AD Awards has announced its winners at a ceremony took place on Wednesday May 22 2024 in London. 4 where Black Pencils were awarded in a total of 652 Pencils.
The Black Pencil winners are:
- Dentsu Tokyo claimed one Black Pencil in the Art Direction category for My Japan Railway, a campaign built around the idea to restore a sense of human connection with railways in Japan.
- Marcel (France) won a Black Pencil in the Digital & Social category for WoMen’s Football for Orange, a VFX led campaign highlighting gender bias in football, that went truly viral and became an educational tool.
- Apple won a Black Pencil in the Digital Design category for VisionOS, the design of its groundbreaking operating system.
- McCann Poland won a Black Pencil in the Experiential category for WhereToSettle for Mastercard, a smart-data platform aggregating multiple data points to help Ukrainian refugees map out opportunities for shelter and work across Poland.
Causes still in the limelight:
In a year of fierce debates about the value of ‘purpose’ in advertising and design, the results of this year’s D&AD Awards suggest that best-in-class work can still come from good causes.
Two of the four Black Pencil-winning work was rooted in ideas aiming to have a positive impact on society. Both entries used data and technology in novel ways – WhereToSettle by McCann Poland, helping Ukrainian refugees find work and housing, while WoMen’s Football by Marcel set out to challenge bias in sport.
The same can be said for winners of D&AD’s coveted Yellow Pencils too, for example Transparency Card by AKQA São Paulo for Congresso em Foco, which tried to help Brazilians identify potential corruption in public spending.
D&AD trustee Kwame Taylor-Hayford, commented, “The awarded work for me reflects our industry’s resilience and bravery. In the face of so much change, the creativity awarded at the show demonstrates beautifully how we are expanding our remit far beyond communication, creating products, services, initiatives that drive brand growth, societal change and human connection.”
The return of fun to craft:
Humour was also an obvious theme, with many of the judges celebrating the return of playfulness and fun to the advertising and design industries. This came through in Yellow Pencil winners, Michael Cerave by Ogilvy PR and Sammakorn by Choojai And Friends, Thailand.
Special awards:
- VML New York: Advertising Agency of the Year
- Raw Materials: Design Agency of the Year
- DIVISION: Production Company of the Year
- AB InBev: Client of the Year
- Serviceplan: Independent Network of the Year
- Ogilvy: Network of the Year
- Jessica Walsh: Recipient of the President’s Award
Chosen by this year’s D&AD President Jack Renwick, the 2024 D&AD President’s Award goes to Jessica Walsh CEO, founder, creative director at &Walsh. Walsh stated “I’m deeply honoured to receive the D&AD President’s Award. It’s humbling to join such a prestigious group of past award recipients—many who have inspired my path and continue to inspire me today. I’m grateful for this opportunity to reflect on the work that has brought me to where I am. The greatest joy for me is creating work that touches people, that is relatable, gives back, and that starts a dialogue. Design has the unique ability to shape perspectives and drive change, and I’m passionate about continuing to push boundaries and inspire others in our field. Thank you to D&AD for this prestigious honour and for supporting the transformative power of design.”
This year a near-record level of entries was received for the D&AD Awards, with the highest number of submissions since 2007. There were entries from 78 countries, and 30,000 individual pieces of work making up 12,387 total entries.
“D&AD is all about championing the universal language of creativity and elevating industry talent, irrespective of geography,” stated Jo Jackson, CEO of D&AD. “The fact that this year’s Black Pencil winners are spread across three continents, from Asia, to Europe and North America, shows that our Awards really do embody global excellence in creative craft. It’s an honour to celebrate truly international work.”
D&AD President for 2024, Jack Renwick, Founder Jack Renwick Studio, commented, “Jessica Walsh epitomises what a modern female creative leader can be. Her award winning work forms new conversations and pushes design and branding into new exciting places. With Jess as a role model, I hope to see more Bold, Unapologetic, Formidable women coming into the industry.”
The total number of Pencils awarded for the D&AD Awards 2024 by level:
- Black: 4 Pencils awarded
- White: 4 Pencils awarded
- Yellow: 66 Pencils awarded
- Graphite: 180 Pencils awarded
- Wood: 391 Pencils awarded
- Future Impact: 7 Pencils
Companies of the Year:
- VML New York: Advertising Agency of the Year
- Raw Materials: Design Agency of the Year
- DIVISION: Production Company of the Year
- AB InBev: Client of the Year
- Serviceplan: Independent Network of the Year
- Ogilvy: Network of the Year
- Jessica Walsh: Recipient the President’s Award
All the Pencil-winning work and shortlisted entries are showcased on the D&AD website.
The D&AD Awards Rankings will be released in conjunction with the digital D&AD Annual. Each year D&AD publishes their official table of the most successful companies, networks, countries and clients. The rankings are based on the results of the D&AD Awards, more info can be found here.
Winning work will receive a D&AD Pencil and be featured in the D&AD Annual and online archive – a definitive guide for emerging and established creatives worldwide, which is free to access. D&AD’s Annual highlights the most exceptional work from the past 12 months. Famously tough to win, there are no Pencil quotas for D&AD Awards, so the number of awarded entries fluctuates yearly; in some years, no Black Pencils are awarded. The highest ever awarded in one year currently stands at seven.
Pencils per category are:
Design: 139 Pencil Winners Branding 28 Book Design: 9 Digital Design: 10 Graphic Design: 36 Magazine & Newspaper Design: 17 Packaging Design: 12 Product Design: 12 Spatial Design: 6 Type Design & Lettering: 9 Entertainment: 45 Pencil Winners Entertainment: 22 Gaming & Virtual Worlds: 8 Music Videos: 15 | Craft: 165 Pencil Winners Animation: 13 Art Direction: 12 Casting: 18 Cinematography: 10 Direction: 6 Editing: 9 Illustration: 18 Photography: 10 Production Design: 8 Sound Design & Use of Music: 13 Visual Effects: 14 Writing for Advertising: 14 Typography: 11 Writing for Design: 9 Engagement: 141 Pencil Winners Commerce: 22 Creative Transformation: 6 Direct: 35 Experiential: 24 Media: 25 PR: 29 | Advertising: 104 Pencil Winners Digital & Social: 41 Film: 28 Integrated: 8 Press & Outdoor: 14 Radio & Audio: 13 Impact: 32 Pencil Winners Impact: 24 Future Impact: 7 Sustained Impact: 1 Health: 19 Pencil Winners Health & Wellbeing: 14 Pharma: 5 Luxury: 7 Pencil Winners Luxury: 7 |
New categories Luxury, Health & Wellbeing, Pharma & Sustained Impact receive a combined total of 27 Pencils.
- With thanks to our 2024 category partners:
Film, sponsored by TikTok - Branding, sponsored by Frontify
- Impact, sponsored by HP Industrial Graphics