LONDON, UK – D&AD today launches the 58th D&AD Annual for free, in an exclusively digital format. Continuing to showcase the best creative work from across the design and advertising industry, the digital Annual offers additional interactive features that provide a deeper, more contextualised exploration of the best creative work produced in the last year.
Following an exceptionally challenging year for the creative community, D&AD decided to publish the 58th Annual as a free digital platform in a move to transform the publication into a more widely accessible resource for the global creative community. The digital Annual enables the organisation to better fulfil its top priorities of reaching more diverse audiences, inspiring emerging talent in new ways and contributing to a more sustainable future by reducing its carbon footprint.
Free to access via the D&AD website, the Annual showcases over 1000 pieces of winning and shortlisted work, explorable by award level, category, discipline and location. To replicate the serendipity of flicking through a physical book, the main interface surfaces creative work randomly and democratically, facilitating the discovery of new work. The digital format also features video and more images of the winning projects, including the 2020 New Blood Awards winners, than was possible in the previous printed editions.
To delve deeper into the work, understand how it was made and why judges considered it representative of creative excellence, the Annual includes 46 videos of jury panel discussions, judge interviews and behind the work sessions with the creatives behind some of this year’s most talked about work. D&AD also worked with cultural insight agency Neighbourhood to create theme reports that explore running threads throughout this year’s work, examining the context of the past year and drawing out key learnings from the creative approaches employed. These new features offer unique insights into what makes Pencil-winning creativity, designed to educate and inspire both established professionals and aspiring creatives.
The digital Annual still includes all the industry’s most-loved features, such as letters from D&AD Chairman Tim Lindsay and the 2019/20 D&AD President Kate Stanners, as well as an enhanced showcase of the D&AD community of trustees, past Presidents and members. Creatives will also be able to read an interview with the 2020 President’s Award recipient Yuya Furukawa, CCO at Dentsu, and explore the Hall of Fame of past President’s Award and Black Pencil winners.
Following their creative partnership throughout the 2020 D&AD Awards programme, Studio Dumbar have collaborated with D&AD to craft a digital experience that captures the evocative, timeless quality of the physical Annual and translates it into an agile and easily accessible online resource. Utilising the unique possibilities that the digital form offers, such as dynamic content and interactive features, Studio Dumbar have designed an Annual that enables D&AD to continue offering a bible of inspiring projects to creatives across the world during the pandemic. Through this innovative digital platform, D&AD are able to fulfil their mission of stimulating creative excellence and nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers.
Kate Stanners, 2019/20 D&AD President, commented: “It has always been a huge badge of honour to appear in the D&AD Annual, and this year is no different. In its digital format, the 58th Annual will be the most accessible Annual ever, creating an exceptionally rich experience for the global creative community. This year’s work can be enjoyed in more formats, brought to life by Studio Dumbar’s interactive design which invites readers in to explore and discover the work in interesting and engaging ways. The digital platform also offers rare insight into the discussions that are had in the jury rooms, alongside a behind the scenes look of how the work was made. All of these new features combine to create the most useful Annual ever, designed to inspire us all to raise our own creative bar.”
Studio Dumbar commented: “Turning the Annual into a digital platform opens a lot of possibilities compared to a print publication. You can provide so many more ways to navigate and explore all the great work. Our aim was for the platform to be a source of inspiration, showcasing great design, but also enticing visitors to explore and discover new work. All in the spirit of Imagine Everything.”
