How creativity and innovation drive impact

On 17th September we hosted a half-day deep dive into the ideas, innovations, and individuals redefining creative work driving both positive commercial outcomes and meaningful cultural change.

Donal Keenan, COO at D&AD, presented the emerging themes from the Impact awards.

A central theme emerged: moving from awareness to action. The most celebrated work went beyond raising issues to actively driving behavioural change and delivering tangible results. Importantly, this showed that creativity is a multiplier of impact - powerful outcomes don’t always require big budgets, but they do demand bold ideas.

Key takeaways:

• Think beyond awareness to action
• Dig deep to find the human truths and stories that will resonate
• Focus on showing us the solutions
• Be creative - budget is not always the most effective tool

Work that was showcased included Inployable, Ink of Democracy, The Unskippable Opening, Following Wildfire, The Pen to Right History.

You can read more insights in D&AD’s Trend Report — sign into your D&AD account to download it for free.

In this panel Kwame Taylor-Hayford, Founder, Kin (Host) was joined by Priya Prakash, Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Design for Social Change (D4SC), Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer, Design Council and Louise Skajem, Founder, Resting Reef (2023 Future Impact Fund recipient - £15,000 of the £25,000).

This panel underscored the role of creativity in restoring and renewing both people and the planet. Louise Skajem, Founder of Resting Reef demonstrated how design can merge human meaning with ecological restoration, transforming memorial ashes into artificial reefs that regenerate biodiversity while providing comfort for grieving families. Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer, Design Council highlighted how the “1 Million Designers” mission set out a bold vision: to upskill one million designers by 2030 to embed regenerative principles across industries, from fashion to infrastructure. Priya Prakash, Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Design for Social Change (D4SC) spoke of the need to embed systemic thinking in both education and industry if we are to address the climate crisis effectively.

The conversations also grappled with the tension between urgency and care. Regenerative projects like coral restoration take years to show impact, yet climate change demands immediate action. Investors often focus on quantifiable outcomes, but the panel urged recognition of value in the cultural, emotional, and sustainable worth of design work that goes beyond metrics. This reframing is essential if we are to create systems that respect creativity, community, and the natural world.

Key takeaways:

• Co-design with nature and embedding sustainability in education/industry are crucial.
• Urgency: climate change demands rapid innovation, yet regenerative solutions require time to mature.
• Systems thinking: regenerative design is not just about individual projects but requires a holistic, systemic approach. From pilot ideas to large-scale adoption, scaling requires collaboration across education, business, and government.
• Redefining value: current investment models focus on quantifiable metrics, but regenerative projects often deliver cultural, emotional, and ecological value that resists measurement. Designers must advocate for a broader definition of impact.
• Education and values: beyond technical skills, regenerative design requires instilling values of respect for nature, collaboration, and abundance thinking, starting from early education and continuing into professional practice.

Kwame was joined by Jacqueline Wilkinson, EP, DIVISION and Robin McNicholas, Co-Founder & Director, Marshmallow Laser Feast to champion storytelling as a means of building empathy, shifting culture and inspiring community action.

Jacqueline showed how music videos can connect audiences to issues. One example was a music video that Jacq produced ‘Chains & Whips’ directed by Gabriel Moses, that spotlighted systemic injustice and incarceration in America. Shot with real people in authentic locations, the videos emphasised truth, proximity, and emotional resonance. Another project explored childhood, illness, and resilience, blending music and narrative to humanise issues often left abstract. These examples underscored how visual storytelling can transport audiences into worlds they may not personally experience, fostering empathy and awareness in very different ways.

Robin, co-founder of Marshmallow Laser Feast, described how immersive project ‘Sweet Dreams’ explored humanity’s relationship with the natural world. By combining art and cutting-edge technology, their installations allow audiences to feel what it’s like to “become” part of an ecosystem, such as experiencing the perspective of a tree or a microscopic organism. This form of storytelling was framed as a way to dismantle distance between people and the environment, deepening care and connection.

Key takeaways:

• Storytelling is a tool for empathy: it enables audiences to connect emotionally with complex issues like justice, grief, and the climate crisis.
• World-building as impact: creative narratives give people proximity to experiences they might otherwise overlook, broadening understanding and compassion.
• Cultural shift through diversity: platforms like Shift are opening the creative industries to new voices, ensuring that stories reflect a plurality of lived experiences and perspectives.
• Panelists emphasised that stories drive culture, and culture drives action. For design to achieve its fullest impact, storytelling must remain central to creative practice.

This event reinforced that creativity is not just about ideas or awareness. It is about action, regeneration, and measurable change. By embedding values of respect, sustainability, and collaboration into our practice, the design community can continue to push boundaries and shape a future that benefits both people and planet.

Key actions to take forward:

• Move beyond awareness; prioritise ideas that deliver measurable impact and behavioural change.
• Embed regenerative design; co-create with nature and equip the next generation of designers with sustainability-focused skills.
• Redefine value; advocate for recognition of cultural, social, and ecological outcomes, not just financial interests.
• Harness storytelling; use narrative as a tool for empathy, cultural change, and mobilising communities.
• Collaborate across sectors; build partnerships between industry, communities, and policymakers to scale solutions.