Three Black Pencils awarded at 2018 D&AD Awards!

A total of 721 pencils were awarded during D&AD Judging 2018, as follows:

• 3 Black Pencils. The ultimate creative accolade, reserved for work that is ground-breaking in its field. Only a handful of Black Pencils are awarded each year, if any.
• 74 Yellow Pencils. Awarded to the work that is judged to be the best in the world, selected from projects that receive a Graphite Pencil during judging. The Yellow Pencils are one of the most-recognised and coveted awards for creativity anywhere in the world.
• 156 Graphite Pencils. Equivalent to a silver award. Standout work, beautifully executed with an original and inspiring idea at its core.
• 488 Wood Pencils. Equivalent to a bronze award. The best in advertising and design from the year, worthy of a place in the D&AD Annual.

D&AD Awards Pencil winners - Day 1

23 Apr 2018

D&AD Awards Pencil winners - Day 2

24 Apr 2018

The three Black Pencils were awarded as follows:

In the branding category, Palau Pledge by Host/Havas for the Palau Legacy Project, which requires visitors to Palau to sign a passport pledge to act in an ecologically responsible way on the island.

In the film advertising category: It’s a Tide Ad by Saatchi & Saatchi NY for Procter & Gamble, which took over the airwaves during this year’s Super Bowl.

In the outdoor advertising category, Fearless Girl by McCann New York for State Street Global Advisors, the bronze statue of a defiant young girl facing the iconic ‘Charging Bull’ on Wall Street, commissioned to highlight State Street Global Advisors’ gender diversity index fund.

Fearless Girl.

State Street Global Advisors was also the most awarded client, followed by Burger King and Apple.

BBDO New York was the most awarded advertising agency, taking home 26 Pencils including three yellow, 12 graphite and 11 wood. They were followed by McCann New York and AMVBBDO.

Jones Knowles Ritchie was the most awarded design agency, taking home five Pencils including one yellow, one graphite and four wood, followed by The New York Times Magazine and The Guardian.

MJZ was the most awarded production company, taking home six Pencils including three yellow, two graphite and one wood. They were followed by Riff Raff and Somesuch.

The United States topped the country tally of Pencil numbers for the second consecutive year, bringing home 194 Pencils, with the United Kingdom in second spot at 165 Pencils and Japan third with 49 Pencils.

D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay commented:

This has been an outstanding year for creativity. We received entries from 50 countries across all continents, attesting to the truly global nature of our programme and the impact of D&AD in stimulating and celebrating talent from around the world.

Three Black Pencils have been awarded, two of which use creativity as a means to create a better world. But we’ve also seen a marked focus on humour and playfulness. Design and advertising can be used to encourage debate and engender social discourse, but it can and should also entertain. Also, sell stuff. In the current social and economic climate, we need all of the above.

D&AD President Steve Vranakis commented that DeCourcy and Hoffman serve as this year’s much awarded and respected creative heroes for their excellence in co-chiefing and creative-directing one of the world’s finest creative agencies.

Guardian Media Group and D&AD creates global festival of creativity

26 Apr 2018

All the D&AD 2018 winners!

Click here for a gallery of the 2018 D&AD Awards judging.