D&AD announces its 2024 award winners
Four Black Pencils have been awarded this year to entrants from three different continents, with work that has “attempted to have a positive impact on society”
With over 12,300 entries, the highest number since 2007, a total of 652 Pencils were awarded as part of the D&AD Awards. Winners were announced during a ceremony in London’s Southbank on May 22, after judges examined over 30,000 individual pieces of work.
Four Black Pencils, the awards’ highest accolade, were given to entrants from three different continents: North America, Europe and Asia. The first went to Dentsu Tokyo in Art Direction for My Japan Railway, a campaign “built around the idea to restore a sense of human connection with railways in Japan”.
The second Black Pencil went to Marcel (France), in the Digital & Social category for WoMen’s Football, a VFX-led campaign highlighting gender bias in football that went viral at the time of its release.
The third went to Apple in Digital Design, for VisionOS, its groundbreaking operating system for its Vision Pro mixed reality headset, and the last was awarded to McCann Poland in the Experiential category for WhereToSettle for Mastercard, a smart-data platform aggregating multiple data points to help Ukrainian refugees map out opportunities for shelter and work across Poland.
D&AD Trustee Kwame Taylor-Hayford (co-founder of creative agency Kin) noted the awarded work reflects the industry’s resilience and bravery. “In the face of so much change, the creativity awarded at the show demonstrates beautifully how we are expanding our remit far beyond communication, creating products, services, initiatives that drive brand growth, societal change and human connection.”
Beyond social impact, craft and humour were also celebrated in this year’s flurry of Yellow Pencils. In total 66 Yellow Pencils were awarded, with highlights including Michael CeraVe for the Superbowl by Ogilvy PR.
VML New York was this year’s top ad agency award, while Raw Materials scooped Design Agency of the Year, despite only launching in 2023, with projects for Meta AI and NBC Universal.
Division won production company of the year once again, as did AB InBev for client of the year. Elsewhere, Ogilvy won network of the year and Jessica Walsh was the recipient of this year’s President’s Award. All the Pencil-winning work and shortlisted entries are showcased on the D&AD website.
