At the 53rd D&AD Professional Awards Ceremony, five Black Pencils were awarded, the recipients being:
‘#LikeAGirl’ by Leo Burnett Toronto, London, Chicago, and Holler (Creativity for Good – White Pencil) – Canada, UK, US
‘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
And following a greater than 50% increase in White Pencil category entries, 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.
White Pencils were bestowed upon:
‘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
Overall, a record number of entries were awarded Pencils–847 in total, with only 5 Black and 44 Yellow Pencils being won.
'#LikeAGirl’ by Leo Burnett Toronto, London, Chicago, and Holler was the campaign that won the most pencils overall, with two Yellow Pencils, three Graphite Pencils and two Wood Pencils in addition to their Black Pencil.
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.’
R/GA was crowned Most Awarded Advertising Agency, with two 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 claimed Most Awarded Design Agency, Procter & Gamble was recognized as Most Awarded Client, and Somesuch & Co. walked away with Most Awarded Production Agency, winning a Yellow Pencil for “The Otherside” for Honda, one of the year’s most talked about campaigns.
The United Kingdom topped the tables again with 229 Pencils in total, including seven Yellow Pencils and two Black Pencils. The US followed up in second place bagging one Black Pencil and equalling the UK’s seven Yellows.
Across the world, Japan led in Asia once again with 47 pencils including 5 Yellows, while Germany weighed in with 44 Pencils and France with 37 Pencils to mark a great year for Europe. Meanwhile Australia celebrated another strong year with 39 Pencils, just beating its 2014 figure of 37.
Brazil, in fourth place overall and topping Latin America, bagged 44 Pencils including three Yellow Pencils. Perhaps the most exciting development was China’s 21 Pencils–up 300 percent from just five awards in 2014.
Margaret Calvert, the celebrated co-designer of Britain’s iconic motorway signs and RCA tutor, was honored with the President’s Award.
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.
Calvert taught multiple 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.
Next Photographer and Next Director Awards
Winners for two new awards, separate to the Professional Awards, were also announced.
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.
The Next Director Award, created in partnership with YouTube and MOFILM to unearth the best new directorial talent, was given to Vania Heymann for his music video Mayokero.
Sean Thompson from the Next Director Award Jury, said of the Jerusalem born and raised director: “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.”
