Judging
An insight into the judging process
Judging Criteria
When judging work, judges will consider three criteria. In order of importance, the work must be:
1) an original and inspiring idea
2) well executed
3) relevant to its context
In craft categories, like Editing or Illustration, work is judged first on the strength of the craft, then on how it contributes to the success of the idea.
How is work judged?
After an online round of preliminary judging, 180 of the world’s leading creatives gather in London to judge the work over one week. There are three rounds of judging. All voting is private, never by a show of hands. After each round, juries discuss the preliminary results before the final selection is made.
In the first round, In Book awards are given to pieces of work that receive votes from at least 50% of the jury. In the following rounds, Nominations, Yellow Pencils and Black Pencils are given to pieces of work that receive over 50% of the votes.
A judge abstains from voting if 1) they have worked on an entry, 2) the entry is from that judge’s agency/studio (not network), or 3) the judge has worked for that agency/studio in the past year. In these cases the judge is asked to leave the room to allow full and fair discussion.
Two new juries are formed for the Black Pencil round. They include the Foreman and one other member of each of the initial 24 juries. The two juries represent advertising and design.
Behind the scenes
What's it like to be a judge at the D&AD Awards? We'll let our Jury Foremen tell you.
These films were originally shown at the IMAX cinema on Results Night 2012, but we thought you might like to see them too.
Design
Advertising
Craft
