D&AD unveiled the first round of Pencil winners spanning the Impact, Side Hustle, Next and Craft categories. Topping the honorees were three White Pencil recipients in the 2020 D&AD Awards’ Impact competition:

• Marcel/Publicis Conseil Paris for its “Act for Food” initiative on behalf of client Carrefour grocery stores. Addressing the challenge of this century’s ecological transition, the campaign focuses on an essential component--the food transition as conventional agriculture is identified as a  prime cause of global warming and biodiversity loss. As a leading retailer, Carrefour has been part of the problem, so it had to become part of the solution. It launched “Act for Food,” a worldwide program of actions for the food transition. Its campaigns became acts to improve consumers’ health, and make our food system better for farmers and the planet. It resulted in the biggest transformation of its history, an increase in worldwide sales by 3.1%, and 9% in stock value. 
• Scholz & Friends Berlin for “The Tampon Book: a book against tax discrimination” from client The Female Company, an online store selling female healthcare products designed by women for women. “The Tampon Book” shines a light on a financially onerous policy in Germany where female sanitary products are classified as “luxury goods” and taxed at 19%. This is 12% more than the tax applied to caviar, truffles and even oil paintings. In response to this economic injustice, The Female Company worked with Scholz & Friends to package 15 organic tampons inside a 46-page book, which was taxed at the lower 7% rate for daily necessities. In addition to the tampons, the book includes stories and illustrations about menstruation. The first printing of The Tampon Book sold out in a day, the second in a week.
• Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, for Daughters of the Evolution’s “Lessons in Herstory,” which entailed rewriting one of the most popular middle school U.S. history textbooks without changing the textbook at all, using AR technology.  Less than 11% of stories in U.S. history textbooks are devoted to women, which means children aren’t seeing the full picture of what’s possible. “Lessons in Herstory” tackles the power imbalance between men and women in society by getting to the root of the problem: how we’re conditioned as kids in school--which meant illuminating the stories of women in history that have been previously left out.

The D&AD White Pencil is reserved for exceptional and game-changing projects that have resulted in significant impact.

129 Pencils (White, Yellow, Graphite, Wood, Next) were awarded across the Impact, Side Hustle, Next and Craft categories, with Jung von Matt AG, Apple, Cossette Toronto, Dentsu, Inc., Mother London and TBWA\Paris among the top ranking companies at this stage. 

Across the Impact, Side Hustle, Next and Craft categories, the top ranking countries by number of Pencils are: 

• United States - 33 Pencils 
• United Kingdom - 31 Pencils
• Germany - 11 Pencils 
• Japan and France - 9 Pencils each

The Impact categories highlight work that explores some of the most important issues defining our world today and demonstrates how creative thinking can be a force for driving positive change, in the belief that purpose can enhance business success and value, alongside promoting collective responsibility for the global sustainability agenda.

Introduced last year, the Side Hustle category reflects the increasing number of creatives applying their skills and personal passions to side projects. From creating new businesses to developing initiatives to address social and environmental issues, this category aims to spotlight world class creativity beyond people’s day jobs.

The Next categories award emerging creatives, designers, directors and illustrators to recognize the next generation of creative talent. The platform seeks to recognize their work and showcase their ideas to creative influencers, mentors and agencies. 

The top ranking companies for the Impact, Side Hustle, Next and Craft categories, by number of Pencils are: 

• Jung von Matt AG - 6 Pencils 
• Dentsu, Inc. - 5 Pencils 
• Apple, Cossette Toronto, Mother London and TBWA\Paris - 4 Pencils each 

The total number of Pencils in each category are: 

Impact: 17 Pencil Winners 

• Impact: 3 White, 4 Graphite and 10 Wood

Side Hustle: 2 Pencil Winners 

• Side Hustle: 2 Wood 

Next: 5 Pencil Winners

• Next Creative: 2 Next Pencil
• Next Designer: 2 Next Pencil
• Next Director: 1 Next Pencil

Craft: 104 Pencil Winners 

• Animation: 1 Yellow, 6 Graphite, 9 Wood
• Casting: 2 Yellow, 1 Graphite, 1 Wood 
• Cinematography: 2 Graphite, 3 Wood 
• Direction: 2 Yellow, 2 Graphite, 6 Wood
• Editing: 1 Yellow, 1 Graphite, 4 Wood
• Illustration: 1 Yellow, 1 Graphite, 15 Wood
• Photography: 2 Yellow, 3 Graphite, 6 Wood
• Production Design: 1 Yellow, 1 Graphite
• Sound Design & Use of Music: 1 Yellow, 5 Graphite, 7 Wood
• Typography: 2 Yellow,4 Graphite, 8 Wood
• Visual Effects: 2 Graphite, 4 Wood 

For more on the D&AD winners in this first stage of the awards, click here.

Today’s Pencil announcement includes 16 out of the total 34 categories. Further Pencil winners announcements are scheduled for June 16, July 16, September 8 and September 10. 

While hosting a 2020 ceremony is not possible due to coronavirus, D&AD will be announcing this year’s Pencil winners via their website and in a social campaign designed by Studio Dumbar.

To celebrate the winners in the absence of a physical awards show, D&AD and Studio Dumbar have created a custom Instagram Stories augmented reality filter that reveals virtual Wood, Graphite, Yellow and White D&AD Pencils to the winners. While they can’t take to the stage this year to accept their Pencils, winners can enjoy a moment of celebration by being virtually awarded through the D&AD Pencil Unboxing filter, accessible through a private link that is being emailed to the winners.

Tim Lindsay, D&AD chairman, commented: “Judging by the first round of Pencil winners, it is clear that it has been another outstanding year for global creativity. At a time when the world is in crisis, it feels poignant to begin with a broad spectrum of categories and celebrate the craft, impact and potential our creative community has to offer. It is hugely encouraging to see the progressive and vibrant direction that our industry is heading towards, and D&AD are excited to announce further Pencil winners across the coming weeks.” 

D&AD this year continues to platform the most exceptional work from the past 12 months, following the same rigorous judging process that holds creativity to the highest standards. There are no quotas for D&AD Awards, meaning that the number of awarded entries fluctuates each year. In some years, no Black Pencils--the highest creative accolade--are awarded. The highest ever awarded in one year currently stands at seven. 

Winning work will not only receive a D&AD Pencil, it will also be featured in the D&AD Annual and online archive.