The new D&AD Annual launches this week, featuring design from artist Bob & Roberta Smith.

Smith was chosen by outgoing D&AD President Paul Brazier to perform the task of designing the annual for 2010, alongside Keith Sargent from Immprint. Writing in the introduction, Brazier comments: "One of the many good things about being President of D&AD is you get to choose who designs the annual. I've always had a bit of a secret ambition to do it myself. But I put the megalomania on hold and asked one of my favourite artists instead: Bob & Roberta Smith."

Subject divider pages from the D&AD Annual 2010

Smith follows British artists Peter Blake and Allen Jones, who have designed the book in the past. Despite being best known for his fine art work, his graphic style and pithy way with words make him an ideal candidate for D&AD. He introduces a central theme, 'Everything is Made', to this year's book, a slogan that appears on its cover in a script typical to the artist. "I love that sentiment," continues Brazier in the intro. "To me, it sums up what being a creative is all about. It's not just coming up with an original idea, it's about crafting it, nurturing it, doing it justice."

Alongside the cover and intro pages, Smith's main contribution is the divider pages, which feature a mixture of found imagery and artworks by Smith, as well as witty anagrams of each category title. The rest of the design is, by contrast, clean and functional, with the emphasis placed on the winning work. One quirky extra addition by Smith is an audio intro - a la annoying greeting cards - that is housed in the front flap of the book, and states 'Hello, I'm Bob & Roberta Smith, welcome to the D&AD Annual. Everything Is Made.' The first time you hear it it's fun, but by the 20th it will undoubtedly induce howls of irritation. Perhaps the battery can be removed.

This year's D&AD Annual is a little lighter than in recent years, with just over 550 works making it in. Forty-two Yellow Pencils were awarded, and five Black Pencils, for Diller Scofidio + Renfro's High Line in New York, TBWAHuntLascaris Johannesburg's Trillion Dollar Flyer for The Zimbabwean, the Apple website, and SapientNitro's integrated campaign for Tourism Queensland. The book includes commentary from jury members on why the work won.

More divider pages

The D&AD Annual is published by Taschen and will be available for general release from mid-November, priced £34.99. To preorder a copy, visit taschen.com.