The annual D&AD Awards honour outstanding creativity, originality, technical excellence, and innovation in commercial creativity. Every year, thousands of entrants submit a host of crazy, beautiful, thought-provoking, sublime and, occasionally, winning entries. Panels of rigorous judges debate, sometimes for days on end, to decide on the best work, which all appears in the annual book; the best of the best get nominations, favourites receive a Yellow Pencil, and occasionally, there are entries that are so brilliant they receive the highest accolade: a Black Pencil.
For this special anniversary volume, each of the last 50 years is represented by a D&AD President or other key figure who shares his or her favourites from the year. Interspersed stories, biographies, and a timeline document the history and the development of the industry, through the experiences of the people who have been most involved with its evolution. From the birth of TV advertising in the sixties to the digital revolution of the 2000s, D&AD has lived through it all and helped to shape what it is today. This is the chance to explore the best from the world of creative communications over the past five decades.
D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay said: 'With this book we wanted to create something that captured the important moments, celebrated the important work and added up to a joyful history of the first 50 years of D&AD and the society design and advertising has helped shape.
Of course, we continue to look forward, and have exciting plans to make D&AD an even greater force for creative excellence and education in the world. Sometimes, however, it's important to also look back - to remember who we were and why, and to make sure that we live up to that legacy.'
D&AD is a membership organisation, awards programme and educational charity representing the global design and advertising community. It aims to promote, stimulate and enable creative excellence, with a view to generating sufficient funds to provide material support to creative people around the world.
