It’s hard to know where to begin a review of 2020 – the year when the world paused in a way that was unimaginable – until it happened. Smarter people than me will be better placed to judge whether it is a massive punctuation point, presaging a better way for humanity to conduct itself, or whether we will scramble back to the old normality as soon as we are able. To paraphrase Zhou Enlai’s verdict on the French Revolution: it’s probably too soon to say.

What we do know is that we shared a global experience that was tragic in too many cases, but transformative in many others. All businesses have had to adapt, improvise, change, and accelerate into their futures. Many of the things we have been forced to do we now want to do. But we all had to make tough decisions and invidious choices. People suffered as a consequence.

Of course D&AD was no exception. In fact, with much of our programme based on, in and around physical events, it quickly became clear that we were going to lose at least half of our income. The furlough scheme gave us a welcome respite, but the bitter truth is we had to let half our people go in order to survive. This included our recently appointed CEO Patrick Burgoyne who, recognising that the company couldn’t afford the size of  the senior team we had going into the pandemic, selflessly and stylishly stepped down. We thank him profusely – and all the other D&AD-ers who, through no fault of their own, lost their jobs.

We asked ourselves whether, in a year when everything had been turned upside down and people were dying from a deadly virus, it was right to have an awards show at all. But then we concluded that if creative excellence and creating better outcomes was important before, it would be important again and was actually at a premium now; and that the work created during the pandemic, in uniquely difficult circumstances, was also worth celebrating. So we judged online, preserving the integrity of the process and the high standards expected of D&AD thanks to the sacrifices of our jurors and a monumental effort by the D&AD team. And delivered a very lively virtual awards ceremony, hosted by our President Kate Stanners, that was actually as rich, surprising and emotional as the ‘real thing’.

We were also determined that this year’s graduates would not be a forgotten generation – as they sometimes seemed to be as far as their universities were concerned. In another massive effort our Foundation and New Blood team judged the New Blood work, held a virtual ceremony and delivered an Academy programme to more people than in previous years, that was actually a better product than its predecessors. Our thanks to WPP for helping make it happen.

What else. Ah yes, the Annual. This will not be news to you because you’re interacting with the new, improved, digital version at this very moment. We agonised about this as well – of course we did. The printed Annual is a 58-year-old D&AD icon, has inspired generations of talent, birthed some of the craziest and most wonderful cover designs of all time, been a reference book where you can reliably find the best of the best and enticed talent into our wonderful business by showing us in our best light. But it’s also a terrible way of showcasing work in the 21st century; expensive to print, ruinous to ship, inert, unsustainable and static at a time when perhaps 80% of our entries and Pencil-winners are film or digital. Now was the right time to make the move. In fact, as some of our senior supporters said, we should probably have done it awhile ago. And those concerned about the historical document will be pleased to know that the UK Web Archive will be archiving the digital Annual in its collection.

But the main reason for making the Annual digital, in fact the driving force behind all our planning in this pandemic year, is this: D&AD has ambitious and multifaceted goals. Standing up for creative excellence. Campaigning for a fairer, more diverse, more ethical industry. Helping our creative practitioners be the best they can be and ushering fresh talent into the business. Encouraging our business to align itself with the imperatives of climate change. And, more generally, helping the industry make the right decisions at a time when we will have to decide which side of history we want to be on. To be effective in this we have to engage the whole of the global creative community with the entirety of our programme. So not just the Pencils and not just London. This means making the Annual, the awards, all our content, our learning programmes, Shift, New Blood, everything as widely available as possible at the most accessible price possible. That’s our challenge now. That and surviving the next, uncertain cycle.

If the last six months are any indication, we will be ok. And if we are, then it’ll be down to the efforts of our brilliant Board of Trustees, our COO Dara Lynch, our senior management group and their depleted, hard-working teams. And of course all of you in the creative community who support us in so many ways so that we, in turn, can support you. Thank you. And here’s to a very different 2021.