D&AD Awards is a annual industry award recognizing excellence in Creative. Organized by D&AD, it covers the Global region.
The D&AD Awards, judged in London since 1962, are among the most respected honors in design and advertising. Work is judged by practicing creative leaders, and the famous Pencil hierarchy — Wood, Graphite, Yellow, and the exceptionally rare Black Pencil — is deliberately stingy: some years, categories award no Yellow Pencils at all.
That scarcity is the point. A D&AD Pencil is a portfolio-defining credential for creatives and a benchmark agencies use in new-business pitches. Entry categories span design, advertising, craft, digital, and impact work.
Proceeds fund the D&AD Foundation's education programs, including New Blood for emerging talent — which also runs its own awards for young creatives.