D&AD
Encyclopedia
Design and Art Direction (D&AD, formerly known as British Design & Art Direction) is a British
educational charity
which exists to promote excellence in design
and advertising
. Their logo includes the words "Benchmarking and rewarding great ideas that are well executed and appropriate".
The annual D&AD Awards are highly respected, and regarded as a major event in the world of design and advertising. Two kinds of awards are given out, a Yellow Pencil (formerly known as a silver award) and a Black Pencil (formerly known as a gold award), in various categories ranging from environmental design to billboard adverts and animation shorts. The Black Pencil is particularly coveted as they are given for 'outstanding' work and usually only one or two given out each year although in 2003 none were awarded.
Their main offices are in Vauxhall
in London
.
and Alan Fletcher
and Colin Forbes (who designed the original D&AD logo). The group was dedicated to celebrating creative communication, rewarding its practitioners, and raising standards across the industry.
A panel of 25 judged the 2500 entries to the first awards in 1963. They awarded one Black Pencil (to Geoffrey Jones Films) and 16 Yellow Pencils. In the early years, winners received an ebony pencil box designed by Minale Tattersfield, which contained a pencil with silver lettering. It was a thing of beauty but very delicate, so in 1966 Lou Klein designed the more durable Yellow Pencil. Its education programmes in their infancy, D&AD launched Graphic Workshops in association with the Royal College of Art
in the mid-60s – they ran until the mid-1970s.
Designer Michael Wolff
became D&AD’s first elected president in 1970. Six years later, then-President Sir Alan Parker gave the first D&AD President’s Award for outstanding contribution to creativity to [Colin Millward] of Collette Dickenson Pearce.
Initiated by Sir John Hegarty, the Student Awards were launched in 1977. Bridging the gap between college and work, the awards present students with real world briefs to tackle. D&AD’s education programmes continued to grow in 1978 when [Dave Trott] set up the D&AD Advertising Workshops. They aim to inspire and broaden understanding of advertising and help prepare participants for their first jobs. Howard Milton
and Brian Webb
initiated the first student Design Workshops.
D&AD ushered in the Eighties with the first video showreel of moving image work to accompany The D&AD Annual – it would take until 1987 for the book to be produced in full colour. The Awards had already started to recognise a wider range of categories through the 60s and 70s and Photography, Retail Design (now Environmental Design), Music Videos and Product Design became part of the Awards in the 80s. The Awards also opened up to international entries for the first time in 1988.
Controversy surrounded the decision to hold separate advertising and design awards in 1986 and 1987 – a decision made for practical reasons based on the chosen venue was seen by Members as a split between industries. The ceremony did come back under one roof – where it has remained.
D&AD moved to its current location in (appropriately) Graphite Square. The 90s were a busy time for education; the first Student Expo (now New Blood) and the University Network – D&AD's membership programme for university and college courses – launched in 1993. The first session of Xchange took place in 1996 – described as a ‘summer school’ for college lecturers; creative practitioners update participants on the latest industry trends.
D&AD entered the digital age with the launch of www.dandad.org in 1996 and introduced its first digital categories to the Awards in 1997. Not only was the media landscape changing, by the end of the decade, 50% of entries to the Awards came from outside of the UK.
D&AD celebrated its 40th birthday in 2002 with Rewind, a retrospective exhibition and book of some of the most iconic work since the 1960s at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
A new benchmark was set at the turn of the century when a double Black Pencil was awarded to AMV.BBDO’s ‘Surfer’ for Guinness
. This was matched 5 years later by ‘Grrr’, Wieden + Kennedy London's work for Honda
UK. In 2006 another milestone was set as leoburnett.com won the first digital Black Pencil. Developments in the industry meant that two new categories were added in 2008 – Broadcast Innovations and Mobile Marketing.
Design Workshops were relaunched in 2006 and D&AD North, its first regional network, in Manchester the same year. The Student Awards have become an increasingly international event – entries in 2007 came from colleges in over 40 countries. Italian design group Fabrica
designed The Annual outside of the UK for the first time in 2007 and the showreel moved online that same year.
Further information on the history of D&AD and advertising and design can be found in Rewind: 40 years of Design and Advertising by Jeremy Myerson & Graham Vickers; Publisher: Phaidon Press
; ISBN 0-7148-4271-0
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
educational charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
which exists to promote excellence in design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. Their logo includes the words "Benchmarking and rewarding great ideas that are well executed and appropriate".
The annual D&AD Awards are highly respected, and regarded as a major event in the world of design and advertising. Two kinds of awards are given out, a Yellow Pencil (formerly known as a silver award) and a Black Pencil (formerly known as a gold award), in various categories ranging from environmental design to billboard adverts and animation shorts. The Black Pencil is particularly coveted as they are given for 'outstanding' work and usually only one or two given out each year although in 2003 none were awarded.
Their main offices are in Vauxhall
Vauxhall
-Demography:Many Vauxhall residents live in social housing. There are several gentrified areas, and areas of terraced townhouses on streets such as Fentiman Road and Heyford Avenue have higher property values in the private market, however by far the most common type of housing stock within...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
History
D&AD was founded in 1962 by a group of London-based designers and art directors including David Bailey, Terence DonovanTerence Donovan (photographer)
Terence Daniel Donovan was a British photographer and film director, best remembered for his fashion photography of the 1960s. He oversaw the music video to Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" and "Simply Irresistible".Donovan was born in Stepney in the East End of London to Lilian Constance V...
and Alan Fletcher
Alan Fletcher
Alan Fletcher is an Australian actor and musician, best known for his role as Karl Kennedy in long-running soap opera Neighbours. Fletcher was educated at Wesley College, Perth.-Career:...
and Colin Forbes (who designed the original D&AD logo). The group was dedicated to celebrating creative communication, rewarding its practitioners, and raising standards across the industry.
A panel of 25 judged the 2500 entries to the first awards in 1963. They awarded one Black Pencil (to Geoffrey Jones Films) and 16 Yellow Pencils. In the early years, winners received an ebony pencil box designed by Minale Tattersfield, which contained a pencil with silver lettering. It was a thing of beauty but very delicate, so in 1966 Lou Klein designed the more durable Yellow Pencil. Its education programmes in their infancy, D&AD launched Graphic Workshops in association with the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in the mid-60s – they ran until the mid-1970s.
Designer Michael Wolff
Michael Wolff
Michael Blieden Wolff is an American jazz pianist, composer, producer, actor, and jazz educator. He was the bandleader and musical director of The Arsenio Hall Show...
became D&AD’s first elected president in 1970. Six years later, then-President Sir Alan Parker gave the first D&AD President’s Award for outstanding contribution to creativity to [Colin Millward] of Collette Dickenson Pearce.
Initiated by Sir John Hegarty, the Student Awards were launched in 1977. Bridging the gap between college and work, the awards present students with real world briefs to tackle. D&AD’s education programmes continued to grow in 1978 when [Dave Trott] set up the D&AD Advertising Workshops. They aim to inspire and broaden understanding of advertising and help prepare participants for their first jobs. Howard Milton
Howard Milton
Howard Milton is a British designer who came to prominence during the 1980s UK design boom.Milton first studied Art at Emanuel School then Hammersmith College of Art under Ruskin Spear and under Tom Eckersley at the London College of Printing, graduating in 1974.He joined Michael Peters and...
and Brian Webb
Brian Webb
Brian Webb is a graphic designer and director of Webb & Webb Design Limited.Brian Webb initially trained as a technical illustrator at Liverpool College of Art but quickly discovered words as well as pictures and moved on to Canterbury with the intention of working in television...
initiated the first student Design Workshops.
D&AD ushered in the Eighties with the first video showreel of moving image work to accompany The D&AD Annual – it would take until 1987 for the book to be produced in full colour. The Awards had already started to recognise a wider range of categories through the 60s and 70s and Photography, Retail Design (now Environmental Design), Music Videos and Product Design became part of the Awards in the 80s. The Awards also opened up to international entries for the first time in 1988.
Controversy surrounded the decision to hold separate advertising and design awards in 1986 and 1987 – a decision made for practical reasons based on the chosen venue was seen by Members as a split between industries. The ceremony did come back under one roof – where it has remained.
D&AD moved to its current location in (appropriately) Graphite Square. The 90s were a busy time for education; the first Student Expo (now New Blood) and the University Network – D&AD's membership programme for university and college courses – launched in 1993. The first session of Xchange took place in 1996 – described as a ‘summer school’ for college lecturers; creative practitioners update participants on the latest industry trends.
D&AD entered the digital age with the launch of www.dandad.org in 1996 and introduced its first digital categories to the Awards in 1997. Not only was the media landscape changing, by the end of the decade, 50% of entries to the Awards came from outside of the UK.
D&AD celebrated its 40th birthday in 2002 with Rewind, a retrospective exhibition and book of some of the most iconic work since the 1960s at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
A new benchmark was set at the turn of the century when a double Black Pencil was awarded to AMV.BBDO’s ‘Surfer’ for Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
. This was matched 5 years later by ‘Grrr’, Wieden + Kennedy London's work for Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
UK. In 2006 another milestone was set as leoburnett.com won the first digital Black Pencil. Developments in the industry meant that two new categories were added in 2008 – Broadcast Innovations and Mobile Marketing.
Design Workshops were relaunched in 2006 and D&AD North, its first regional network, in Manchester the same year. The Student Awards have become an increasingly international event – entries in 2007 came from colleges in over 40 countries. Italian design group Fabrica
Fabrica
Fabrica is the name of several barrios in the Philippines, including in the province of Negros Occidental, in the Republic of the Philippines...
designed The Annual outside of the UK for the first time in 2007 and the showreel moved online that same year.
Further information on the history of D&AD and advertising and design can be found in Rewind: 40 years of Design and Advertising by Jeremy Myerson & Graham Vickers; Publisher: Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press is a British publisher of books on the visual arts, including art, architecture, photography, and design worldwide.As of 2009, Phaidon's headquarters are in London, UK, though they were in Oxford for many years, with offices in New York City, Paris, Berlin, Milan, and Tokyo...
; ISBN 0-7148-4271-0