London, 16 March. – Courtesy of The Beautiful Meme, the D&AD Festival 2017 creative was unveiled today, with an explosion of colours, textures and shapes representing the ever-shifting nature of the category, thinking and work.
This year, the D&AD Pencils are brought to life in animations (scroll down to see these) with tangible textures, bursts of activity and a flurry of shapeshifting. All the executions are designed to pay homage to the award levels or categories from the D&AD Professional Awards and using previous winning work as executional inspiration.
Ben Haworth, creative director, The Beautiful Meme, explains: “In advertising and design the D&AD pencil, the symbol of excellence, is ever-present. Around it the industry is weft and warp and flux. Nothing stays still and that’s as it should be. That’s what this year’s identity is about.”
26,000 pieces of work
D&AD ceo Tim Lindsay said: “D&AD is much more than an awards show and the festival is a fine example of this – bringing together 26,000 pieces of work, 250 jurors, speakers, exhibitions, events, parties and the awards ceremony itself in what is a slightly crazy, slightly chaotic evocation of the wonderful world of creativity and the dividends that excellence delivers.
“This year’s branding from the Beautiful Meme builds on their rich visuals and sharp statements from last year in a brilliant expression of what the festival and our business is all about at its best.”
Three days
This year the D&AD Festival has been organised into three distinct days, each with their own agenda:
- Tuesday 25 April: The Earth Will Shake: This is a day of responding to the big issues our world faces. D&AD want to inspire you to build a better, fairer and more sustainable future.
- Wednesday 26 April: Staring at The Sun: Shifts in technology, trends and work-styles are upending the creative industries. This is a day of leading innovators thinking, predicting and demonstrating how they are adapting to a transforming sector.
- Thursday 27 April: Outrageous Magic: This is a day of our industry’s leading designers and creators talking about what they do when crafting the big ideas.
Festival highlights include:
- Over 150 speakers across three days of festival and four stages.
- Insight sessions with D&AD Professional Awards judges, sharing their experience of the judging process.
- Bite-sized training sessions from some of D&AD’s most popular (and most exclusive) professional development classes.
- An exhibition of over 26,000 pieces of work including areas dedicated to Graphic Design, Packaging Design and Film Advertising.
- The Next Awards are putting on a show in the form of a Next Photographer Exhibition sponsored by Getty Images and a Next Director Showcase screening sponsored by Adobe.
- New Blood will be putting forward speakers and training sessions as well as having a dedicated area at the Festival where you can learn all about the D&AD Foundation projects.
- Festival Partners: Digital Catapult, Getty, Instagram, Microsoft, Shutterstock, Sky. The D&AD Awards Ceremony will take place during the Festival this year, with a new format to be announced soon.
Zane Lowe exits
“Unfortunately,” says Tim Lindsay, “due to unforeseen circumstances, Zane Lowe [NZ juror] has had to pull out of D&AD’s festival lineup.
About D&AD
Since 1962, D&AD has been inspiring a community of creative thinkers by celebrating and stimulating the finest in design and advertising. A D&AD Pencil is recognised globally as the ultimate creative accolade; the Awards entered and attended by the best creative decision makers from around the world. Set to reward, promote and enable creative brilliance in all areas of creative communication, a Yellow – or Black – Pencil remains the pinnacle in many careers. The introduction of the White Pencil- Creativity for Good category in 2012 was a resounding success. Since its launch it has grown from a single brief to an entire movement, producing a record four Pencil winners in 2015.
But it’s much more than just the Awards. Members join a vibrant global community, whilst creatives and clients are inspired by a world-class training and development programme. Students are supported with projects, awards and exhibitions, which give them a vital leg-up as they enter the industry.
As a non-profit, all of D&AD’s surpluses go straight into programmes that develop the next generation of creative talent while campaigning for the creative industries to help solve the world’s toughest social and environmental issues.
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