• Jury presidents announced
• Two new Award categories introduced
• D&AD Festival set to return from 24 to 26 April 2018
The 56th Annual D&AD Awards are now open for entry, with two brand new categories
announced to celebrate the very best work in an ever-evolving creative landscape.
The 2018 Awards continue to support D&AD’s 56 year long purpose of stimulating,
celebrating and enabling creative excellence in design and advertising, in the firm
belief that great work always creates better outcomes. And as a not-for-profit
organisation D&AD put all its surpluses back into the industry it serves, helping new
talent prosper and campaigning for a fairer, more diverse, more sustainable industry.
This year, two new Award categories will be launched for entries. The first being
Collaborative, which will award continued creative executions achieved from a long-
standing relationship between an agency and a client. The second new category is
Experiential, which will highlight the importance of brilliant all encompassing brand
experience and activation. The category will recognise work that succeeds in
demonstrating the interaction between consumers and brands through experience-led
activations.
Tim Lindsay, D&AD CEO, said, “In a media environment that encourages the short-
term and tactical it’s never been more important to stand up for craft and creativity.
Why? Because the good creates better outcomes than the bad – commercially,
socially, sustainably, culturally and politically. D&AD’s role in this is stimulation, not
congratulation. There’s too much backslapping when what is needed is a focus on and
enablement of creative excellence in advertising and design. We are engaged in a war
against mediocrity and you are an important ally. Get involved!’
Donal Keenan, D&AD Awards director, adds, “For the second year running we’re proud
to achieve a 50/50 gender split across our global jury presidents. This year we have
actually surpassed that with over 50% of our jury presidents’ identifying as female. At
D&AD, we strive to ensure we have a true gender-balanced representation across
every category and judging panel, it’s important to achieve a true diversity of voices
in the room to identify the best creative work of the year.’
The Awards ceremony will be held on 26 April 2018 during the D&AD Festival, which
returns from 24 to 26 April 2018 at The Old Truman Brewery, Shoreditch. As ever, all
awarded work will appear in the D&AD Annual, released in the autumn, which is
available to purchase exclusively through D&AD. Winning work will also be on display
in an exhibition at the heart of D&AD Festival in addition to a packed three-day
programme of talks, debates, briefs, hacks, workshops and parties, culminating in the
56th annual D&AD Awards.
Entry Details
Work entered into D&AD Awards 2018 must have been commercially released
between 1 January 2017 and 18 March 2018 and been produced in genuine response
to a client brief. It must not have been entered in previous years. Submissions should
be made by 14 February 2018. The Awards cost from just £75 to enter this year. All
entries received by 6 December 2017 will save 10% on the cost of entry. Freelancers
and sole traders that are members of D&AD are eligible to receive a 20% discount.
Jury announcements will be made later in the year, full information on categories,
pricing and dates can be found on the D&AD website.
