Five Yellow Pencils awarded to Asia on first night of the D&AD Awards two presentations

At last night’s the first night of the D&AD Awards in London five Yellow Pencils were awarded to Asia. Japan picked up three Yellow Pencils with India and Korea winning one each.

Yellow Pencil winners from Asia were:

13865 Black Dots and 2 Red Dots by Dentsu in Press & Outdoor

Hair Album for Animation by Hakuhodo Tokyo

The Unfiltered History Tour by Dentsu Webchutney India in Direct. (This campaign also won 3 Graphite and 3 Wood Pencils)

Shot on iPhone – Life is But a Dream for Direction by Moho Film Korea

Find Your Own Way for Production Design by Dentsu Tokyo

VIEW THE 5 YELLOW PENCIL WINNERS HERE

Two rare Black Pencils were awarded last night.

Tribal / DDB Group Aotearoa took home New Zealand’s second ever Black Pencil for Samsung iTest.

One of only two awarded globally at last night’s ceremony, the Black Pencil is a highly coveted awarded and is recognised as the ultimate creative accolade. The other Black Pencil went to Leo Burnett Chicago for Change the Ref ‘The Lost Class’, which has also scored a further three Yellow Pencils, four Graphite Pencils and one Wood Pencil.

The Black Pencils were announced amongst winners from across the Craft categories, including Visual Effects, Editing, Sound Design & Use of Music, Direction, Casting, Cinematography, Art Direction, Animation, Production Design, and Writing for Advertising; Advertising categories including Experiential, Direct, Media, Digital, Radio & Audio, PR, E-commerce, Film, Press & Outdoor, and Integrated; and the Collaborative Awards which celebrate long-lasting relationships between clients and their design, advertising and/or production companies that have led to the creation of noteworthy work in recent years.

AMV BBDO London was awarded the Collaborative Pencil for its work with Essity.

Since 1962, D&AD’s mission has been to stimulate and celebrate creative excellence with the belief that creativity is a key driver in commercial, economic, social and cultural success. Now in its 60th year, the Awards has grown to incorporate more than 40 categories judged by a cohort of nearly 400 of the world’s leading creative minds. The Awards recognise work that has made a significant impact and will inspire seasoned talent as well as the next generation.

This year, D&AD saw a record number of entries to the Awards and the standard of work submitted reached the same exceptional level.

Says Donal Keenan, awards director at D&AD: “Based on the first round of judging, it is clear this year has been another outstanding one for global creativity. With a record-breaking number of applicants in 2022, it was a particularly challenging one to judge, so we are delighted to have been able to award two Black Pencils to DDB New Zealand and Leo Burnett Chicago, who have astounded us with their unique creative approaches. We are grateful to have been able to celebrate, learn from, and be inspired by the immense talent that our industry has to offer alongside the rest of the global creative community at part one of the D&AD Ceremony and look forward to the second with anticipation.”

D&AD this year continues to platform the most exceptional work from the past 12 months, following the same rigorous judging process. Famously tough to win, there are no quotas for D&AD Awards, meaning that the number of awarded entries fluctuates each year. In some years, no Black Pencils – the highest creative accolade – are awarded. The highest ever awarded in one year currently stands at seven.

Winning work will not only receive an esteemed D&AD Pencil, it will also be featured in the digital D&AD Annual and online archive – a definitive guide for creatives all around the world.

The Pencil winners for the remaining Craft, Side Hustle, Design, Impact and Culture categories alongside Black Pencils and Companies of the Year will be announced in the second virtual ceremony tonight.