D&AD

24/08/2026

Want people to care about your stories? Try starting a fight. 😱

Not literally. But conflict is the engine behind stories that grab attention, build tension and make people care about what happens next. It creates tension, drives curiosity and gives audiences a reason to keep watching, listening or reading.

On 7 September, Executive Creative Director and filmmaker Jim de Zoete is getting into the good stuff: how to use conflict to turn an ordinary idea into a story people can’t look away from. It’s all happening in Transform Your Work with Storytelling, our brand-new D&AD Masterclass.

From pitches and briefs to films, strategies and brand stories, you’ll learn how to find the conflict hiding inside your work and turn it into stories that grab attention and stick. Expect D&AD archive deep dives, hands-on exercises and practical techniques you can put to work straight away.

We’ve already had a preview (and got so many ideas for sharpening up copy and scripts)...let’s say Jim knows how to keep a room hooked.

Ready to tell better stories? Swipe through for a sneak peek, and book your place now: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xPDyM0

20/08/2026

Some questions are designed to make you stop scrolling. This one asks something much harder: who are you to decide who lives?

Abby Johnson, Chase Harris and Miriam Zeidner from Brigham Young University took on the 21GRAMS brief at New Blood Awards 2026, with Who Are You to Decide Who Lives? In their response, they challenged people to think differently about vaccines by asking them to choose which of five people should live, before revealing that each image told the real story of someone who died from a vaccine-preventable disease.

Who Are You to Decide Who Lives? was then extended to print, billboards and social media, challenging audiences to look beyond the information overload and confront the human consequences behind vaccine hesitancy.

The judges were seriously impressed, awarding Abby, Chase and Miriam a Graphite Pencil for their idea.

Who else was a winner? Dive into the New Blood winners on D&AD and find the projects that made the judges stop and take notice: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xM0-G0

20/08/2026

You’ve read The Cost of the Shortcut, D&AD’s new AI & Creativity Report. Now it’s time to get practical.

Introducing AI for Creativity: Amplify Your Creative Practice, a brand-new D&AD on-demand Masterclass exploring what it really means to work with AI without losing what makes your creativity yours. We’ve brought together some of the best in the business to show you how they’re using AI to push their ideas further.

Indy Saha, Tey Bannerman, PJ Pereira, Laura Jordan Bambach, Valentina Culatti, Manon Dave, Leo Porto and Felipe Rocha are at the top of their game, working across creativity, technology, design, strategy and culture. They’ll give you the tools to use AI to stretch and stress-test your thinking as you explore new territory.

You’ll also build your own AI-augmented workflow and personal AI playbook, so you can take what you learn straight into your practice.

The AI & Creativity Report explored the big questions. This Masterclass helps you figure out what to do with them, without diluting what makes your work human.

Early-bird pricing ends on 23 August, so now’s the time to save £100 on your course. The Masterclass launches on 24 August and is fully on-demand, so you can learn at your own pace, wherever you are in the world.

Pre-order now: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xLw6-0

19/08/2026

Introducing a brand-new D&AD Masterclass: AI for Creativity: Amplify Your Creative Practice.

We’ve brought together some of the best in the business to explore how AI can amplify creative thinking. Now they’re sharing how they use AI to stretch creative thinking, explore new territory and build smarter ways of working.

Indy Saha, Tey Bannerman, PJ Pereira, Laura Jordan Bambach, Valentina Culatti, Manon Dave, Leo Porto and Felipe Rocha are at the top of their game, working across creativity, technology, design, strategy and culture. On the course, they'll give you all the keys to using AI to stretch your thinking, explore new territory and build smarter creative workflows.

You’ll learn practical frameworks for bringing AI into your creative process, from stress-testing ideas and expanding your thinking to building an AI-augmented workflow and your own AI playbook.

And the end goal? You'll learn how to use AI to amplify your creative practice without diluting what makes your work human.

Early bird pricing ends 23 August, so now’s the time to save £100 on your course. The Masterclass launches on 24 August and is fully on-demand, so you can learn at your own pace, wherever you are in the world.

Pre-order now: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xL0LY0

19/08/2026

A great conversation with D&AD CEO David Patton in Propmark, discussing his vision for D&AD, the changing creative landscape and why, through periods of technological, economic and social change, creativity continues to prevail.

Read the full interview with Propmark: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xKZbj0

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PT/BR: Uma ótima conversa com o CEO da D&AD, David Patton, na Propmark, abordando sua visão para a organização, as transformações no cenário criativo e as razões pelas quais a criatividade continua a prevalecer em meio a mudanças tecnológicas, econômicas e sociais.

Leia a entrevista completa na Propmark: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xKZbj0

Para o propmark, David Patton afirma que uma das suas prioridades à frente da organização inglesa é continuar investindo na geração mais jovem

18/08/2026

Exciting news: the War Child presents Secret 7” auction is now live 🎶📣

Artists and creatives from around the world - from household names to emerging talent - have each created unique vinyl sleeves for one of seven iconic tracks. And now all 700 sleeves are up for auction, with every penny raised going to War Child UK.

But there’s a twist: the artists’ identities and the track inside will remain a mystery until the record is in the buyer’s hands. 👀 And All the money raised will go towards War Child’s work helping children living through war.

Want to see all 700 sleeves in person? They’re on display at 180 Studios from 19 - 30 August.

7 musicians. 7 tracks. 700 unique records. Countless lives changed.

Get all the auction details here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xJxd10 🎵

18/08/2026

Want first dibs on getting your portfolio in front of Among Equals? 👀

On Wednesday 16 September, New Blood creatives get priority access to Among Equals for an exclusive, in-person Portfolio Review with their creative team.

It's your chance to get honest feedback on your work, ask questions, see behind the scenes at the agency and meet the people making work for some of the world’s fastest-growing brands. Then stick around to network with the team and fellow creatives.

The details:
🗓️ Date: Wednesday 16 September, 4–6pm
📍 Venue: Among Equals, 28 Cowper Street, London EC2A 4AS (please note that this venue does not have step-free access)

A pretty good afternoon for your career, we think.

Spaces are limited and going fast, so book your spot now: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xJDPw0

18/08/2026

“As AI becomes more accessible, taste becomes more valuable," says Lisa Smith, Global Chief Design Officer at Uncommon Creative Studio and D&AD President.

Introducing The Cost of the Shortcut, the second AI & Creativity Report from D&AD. Sponsored by Shutterstock Studios, this in-depth report goes beyond hype to address the critical reckonings that are reshaping our commercial landscape.

There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence is cementing itself in our toolkits. But as it does, our industry faces a critical tension: the trade-off between instant efficiency and enduring excellence.

We held 197 in-depth conversations with creative leaders across 30 countries, alongside an analysis of over 10,000 D&AD Award entries. The insights from the findings have now prompted six critical reckonings around AI:

- Originality: When anyone can make, what does it take to mean something?
- Speed: What are you doing with the time you got back?
- Pricing: And if speed is now standard, what are brands actually paying for?
- Talent: How do we protect the future of our craft?
- Governance: Who’s responsible for the policy you haven’t written yet?
- Leadership: The industry now has the tools, but who has the answers?

The report also warns that AI isn’t just replacing tasks; it’s replacing training. Junior creatives build judgement through drafts, layouts and research, and those are often the first jobs handed to AI. We may gain efficiency now, but do we also risk losing the creative judgement that makes AI useful in the first place?

The Cost of the Shortcut is now live. Six reckonings exploring what AI means for creativity, craft and the industry... and a call to action for what comes next.

Get the full story and download your free copy: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xJmZY0

16/08/2026

How much work goes into making a joke funny? Quite a lot, sometimes.

We’re diving into the D&AD Awards archives with Precision Engineered Comedy. It picked up a Wood Pencil in Writing for Advertising in 2011, with creative director Jim de Zoete on the team.

In this BTS film, ’s Peter Capaldi gives us a rare look at the research, thought and craft that goes into making great comedy. A lot of precision, preparation and serious thinking…before swearing for a laugh.

And if that’s got you thinking about your own storytelling, keep reading.

Jim is bringing his creative know-how to a brand-new D&AD Masterclass on 7 September in London. In Transform Your Work With Storytelling, you'll get inside the mind of an award-winning Creative Director and discover how to use conflict to create tension, build intrigue and keep people hooked, with practical techniques that you can put straight to work.

If your writing could do with more bite, this one's for you.

Head over to D&AD to find out more and book your place: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xG5mj0

14/08/2026

Not to be dramatic, but you’re going to want to see these... 👀

This year, D&AD's New Blood Awards judges handed out 24 Yellow Pencils to the ideas that made them look twice and wish they’d thought of them first. These are the entries that truly stood out from the crowd and earned one of New Blood’s most iconic accolades. ✏️

Got a Yellow Pencil with your name on it? Tag yourself and your team in the comments and tell us which piece is yours.

Meet all the New Blood Yellow Pencil winners of 2026 now and see their work: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xFzt90🔥