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D&AD Awards
Be seen and celebrated by the best in the industry
If you’re already credited on a winning entry from any year, there’s a D&AD Pencil with your name on it.
Since 1962, the D&AD Pencil has represented the very best in design and advertising. Winning a Pencil remains the pinnacle of many careers and the work it celebrates inspires others to study, debate, copy and reference its excellence, as the industry’s finest and most historic of treasures.
For the past four years, D&AD has planted a tree for every Pencil awarded. This commitment has now expanded, and through our partnership with Everclime, we are planting an average of four trees per Pencil, amplifying the environmental impact of our awards program.
Planted an estimated 5,000 Seed Pods per awards cycle
Restored approximately 4,000m² of forestry per awards cycle
Sequestered 3–10 tonnes of carbon per awards cycle
Provided every Pencil winner with tangible evidence of the trees planted on their behalf
Offered real-time project updates via Everclime, including video content on planting, germination, and growth
In 2024 5,000 seedpods have all been planted in the Northern Rivers region. The unprecedented floods of 2022 triggered multiple catastrophic landslips in the Northern Rivers region, posing significant threats to homes and critical infrastructure. This resulted in widespread destruction of wildlife habitats and old-growth forests as well as crucial areas of refuge for local endangered species, including the koala. This upheaval jeopardised native biodiversity and severely impacted the resilience of the local ecosystem.
With the help of AirSeed Technologies and Border Ranges Landcare, our seed pods will contribute to restoring biodiversity and enhanced ecological resilience, safeguarding natural heritage for future generations in the area. Through this initiative, D&AD Pencil winners are directly contributing to long-term environmental impact. Everclime's dynamic profile pages track investment and ecological benefits, ensuring transparency and engagement for our community.
During our two-year partnership with The Other Dada, a recipient of $15,000 of the D&AD Impact Fund in 2019, we planted over 1,300 trees in Lebanon. Find out more about the Pencil for a tree initiative below.
Future Impact Pencil
Early-stage projects that demonstrate the potential to drive behavioural, environmental, societal or policy change through creativity. Awarded to work in the Future Impact category.
White Pencil
Exceptional projects that use the power of creativity to drive behavioural, environmental, societal or policy change. Replaces the Yellow Pencil in the Impact and Sustained Impact categories.
They're sealed, masked, sanded, primed, painted, sprayed, printed, glossed and packed.
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