NEW YORK, USA — Following the first of two Award ceremonies taking place at BFI Southbank, London, UK on May 24 at 7:30 pm BST, D&AD has announced one Black Pencil amongst Craft, Advertising, and Collaborative winners. The remaining Craft, Side Hustle, Design, Culture, and Impact winners, alongside the Companies of the Year and President’s Award, will be announced the following evening, May 25.
D&AD celebrates creative excellence with the belief that creativity is a key driver in commercial, economic, social, and cultural success. The Awards incorporates more than 40 categories judged by nearly 400 of the world’s leading creatives, recognizing work that will inspire seasoned talent and encourage the next generation. As a charity, entries enable D&AD to fund educational programs such as D&AD Shift with Google, a free, industry-led night school for self-taught creatives from under-represented backgrounds.
This year, there were a record number of entries to the Awards, with nearly 30,000 individual pieces of work making up the 12,243 entries. At Wednesday’s ceremony, one Black Pencil, the creative industry’s most coveted accolade reserved only for truly groundbreaking work, was awarded.
Division received a Black Pencil in the Visual Effects/ Craft category for Pharrell, 21 Savage, and Tyler, The Creator’s music video, CASH IN, CASH OUT, using CGI animation to create avatars of the three musicians dancing in a magical environment.
Two Collaborative Pencils were awarded to celebrate innovative and long-lasting partnerships. These went to Iyama Design and Kamoi Kakoshi Co, Japan, for ongoing work with MT MASKING TAPE that started with the development of a logo through to a promotional exhibition still held around the world today; and Ogilvy UK and Unilever for A 66-YEAR PARTNERSHIP, a collaboration that began in 1957 when a certain David Ogilvy wrote the first print advert for the Dove beauty bar.
Donal Keenan, Awards Director at D&AD, commented, “This first round of winners reflects the strong standing of craft at the D&AD Awards with the first-ever Black Pencil for Visual Effects. An outstanding piece of work that swept the board in many other production craft categories this year. We can also see from the Collaborative Award how brands can successfully drive positive change in society and also build commercial brand success. Well done to the winners for setting that example.”
Total number of Pencils in the categories announced so far:
Craft: 124 Pencil Winners
● Animation: 10
● Art Direction: 9
● Casting: 15
● Cinematography: 5
● Direction: 34
● Editing: 7
● Production Design: 7
● Sound Design & Use of Music: 17
● Visual Effects: 9
● Writing for Advertising: 11
Collaborative: 2 Pencil Winners
Advertising: 250 Pencil Winners
● Digital: 28
● Direct: 37
● Experiential: 35
● Commerce: 20
● Film: 23
● Integrated: 9
● Media: 35
● PR: 35
● Press & Outdoor: 20
● Radio & Audio: 8
D&AD highlights the most exceptional work from the past 12 months, following a rigorous judging process. Famously tough to win, there are no Pencil quotas for D&AD Awards, so the number of awarded entries fluctuates each year. In some years, no Black Pencils are awarded. The highest ever awarded in one year currently stands at seven.
To view all Pencil winning and shortlisted entries, visit here.
