D&AD in 2024
This year, D&AD’s Annual has once again been published as a freely available resource for the global creative community, providing insight and inspiration to more than 200,000 people. Of these, 42,000 are young creatives, 27% are based in the UK, and 73% are international.
Produced in-house by D&AD and designed by Studio Dumbar, the Annual shares perspectives on the winning work by experts, insights into how it was made by the creatives who made it, and explanations from the judges on why it was awarded. Whether you’re looking to hire or checking out the competition, you can also discover talent from the next generation as we continue to present the work from the New Blood Awards right here in the Annual.
D&AD Awards ceremony 2024
The 2024 D&AD Awards in numbers
A record number of participants from 78 countries entered over 30,000 individual pieces of work in 2024, making up 12,387 total entries. Out of these 768 made it to the shortlist. We awarded 652 Pencils, including 4 Black Pencils this year. The work was judged in-person at London’s Southbank Centre by over 300 judges from 47 countries.
Overall total – 652 Pencils
- Black – 4 Pencils awarded
- Yellow – 66 Pencils awarded
- Graphite – 180 Pencils awarded
- Wood – 390 Pencils awarded
- Future Impact – 7 Pencils
- White – 4 Pencils
New for 2024
The D&AD Awards are constantly evolving, so there’s a place for everyone to enter their best work. We frequently revise our categories and subcategories. In 2024, we introduced new categories for Health & Wellbeing, Pharma, Luxury, and Sustained Impact to reflect the growing focus on these areas.
Following the successful introduction of eight subcategories for Health & Wellbeing in 2022, we've now established it as its own discipline. Heading up the Jury this year was Tim Hawkey, CCO of Area 23, renowned for his record-breaking and award-winning healthcare campaigns.
The Luxury category, celebrating the pinnacle of creative excellence and innovation in one of the world’s most daring and crafted creative sectors was headed by Jury President Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock, Co-Founder of Soursop. Hitchcock brought his experience from leading initiatives such as Gucci Changemakers, the new scholarship program for creative students, and overseeing long-term creative campaigns for clients such as Nike and Maserati.
Another new category, Sustained Impact, celebrates long-term impact. The category moves to recognise work that not only drives one or more of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, but that generates increased behavioural, environmental, social or policy change over time. This complements the existing Impact and Future Impact categories, and was also judged by the Impact Council. This category was led by Jury President Harsh Kapadia, the Chief Creative Officer for MRM New York.
D&AD Festival 2024
D&AD Festival and ceremony
The D&AD Festival and Ceremony 2024 took place at the Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall Building. This year, on 21-22 May, the Festival gathered 350+ global creative leaders and featured 80+ speakers across two main stages, activations, Jury insights, networking, parties and a first view of some of the shortlisted work on display, closing the two day event with the D&AD Awards Ceremony.
Speakers included industry experts such as Malika Favre, Illustrator; Chaka Sobhani, Global CCO, Leo Burnett; Priya Prakash, Founder & CEO of Design for Social Change; Brian Collins, Founder & CCO, COLLINS; Verònica Fuerte, Founder & Creative Directress, Hey; Nils Leonard, Founder, Uncommon Creative Studio; and Andrew Sandoz, Global CCO, Deloitte Digital. You can watch the Jury Insight sessions right here in the Annual, and see more highlights from the festival talks on the D&AD Instagram and YouTube channels.
D&AD foundation
As a charity, D&AD puts funding back into the creative industry via educational programs such as D&AD Shift, a free, industry-led night school for self-taught creatives from under-represented backgrounds. For over 40 years D&AD has been championing the next generation of talent. Helping them to enter the creative industry and to have a positive impact once they are there. This remit has never been a bigger part of what D&AD does.
Shift London alumni at D&AD HQ
D&AD Shift
D&AD Shift is an award-winning free night school, for self-made creatives without a university degree. D&AD Shift is now run in six cities: London, New York, Sydney, Berlin, Hamburg and São Paulo, powered by our partners and industry volunteers who generously donate their time to teach on the programme.
New Blood Awards Ceremony 2024
New Blood Awards
New Blood Awards is open to advertising, design, digital and marketing students, recent graduates and emerging creatives worldwide. It's an opportunity to land a job in the creative industry by getting a head start while still at university or gaining the exposure needed to kickstart your creative career. Real brands set real briefs, and the work is judged by industry professionals, putting new creative’s work in front of the industry. This year, brands including Adobe, Bumble, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Durex, Universal Music and 21 Grams set briefs, which were answered by 6,000 emerging creatives from 72 countries.
D&AD Masterclasses at D&AD Festival 2024
Masterclasses
D&AD Masterclasses provide unparalleled professional development opportunities for creatives at all stages of their careers. With a focus on education, inclusion, and the highest standards of craftsmanship, quality, and originality, Masterclasses offer not just a step forward, but a whole staircase of learning.
Professionals in various fields related to creative thinking and skills create accessible content for fellow professionals. This year, we've run 67 masterclasses with 679 delegates, and worked with McCann, BBC, Britbox, Havas, Virgin Media O2, Gymshark, News UK and Media Arts Lab among others on team training.
Check out D&AD courses at dandad.org. Here, you’ll also find information about how to enter next year’s awards, and information about D&AD New Blood and Shift programmes, whether you want to enter, or support.