Last night D&AD New Blood revealed the winners of the 2016 New Blood Awards. The winners brought their A-game, wowed the judges with their creative prowess and received their very special prize: a New Blood Pencil. With entrants from 58 different countries, this year’s awards once again reflect the best in young global creative talent.
Emotive causes, higher purpose and Snapchat featured highly in projects this year. Whilst the latter may come as no surprise, the former proves that the wider industry trend towards connecting brands with consumers on an emotional level has stuck a chord with graduates. Also the power of ‘creativity for good’ continues to be a strong motivator with many campaigns focusing on world-changing creative ideas, resulting in four White Pencil wins across four different briefs.
Andy Sandoz, D&AD President and Creative Partner Havas Worldwide commented, “Our two Black Pencil winners are incredibly emotive pieces of narrative. ‘Bottles of Squash’ shows us a raw and honest time of life where the simplicity of execution belies the depth of craft that is going on. ‘Retro Serif’ wins its Pencil for the story of the censorship of language. Creating a typeface that makes a positive impact on the world is an incredibly difficult brief and they delivered a beautiful piece of work.”
Naresh Ramchandani, Partner, Pentagram Design added, “The New Blood Awards represent hope and idealism, showing older creatives how new creatives can do it better and showing us that there’s a new generation coming up who are more able to change the world.”
An impressive 24 young creatives were the recipients of a Yellow Pencil this year, with two receiving the ultimate accolade, a Black Pencil.
The full Pencil statistics are as follows: 2 Black, 4 White, 24 Yellow, 58 Graphite, and 111 Wood.
The New Blood Awards are a platform for students and other new creatives to test their limits on real briefs, set by real clients. No other programme offers such a comprehensive test, or a more accurate representation of the challenges that await on the other side. Brand representatives and industry experts decide what work wins a coveted New Blood Pencil, and the bar every year is extremely high.
Paul Drake, D&AD Foundation Director commented: “D&AD New Blood is all about inspiring the next generation, which is where our ‘Win One, Teach One’ mantra really comes to life. Winning a New Blood pencil is a huge turning point in a young creative’s career, not only are they recognised for being the best at what they do, but they get access to a wealth of contacts and advice from professional award Pencil winners and industry experts alike.”
All Pencil winners were eligible to apply for the WPP New Blood Academy, where 50 graduates from across the globe attend the ultimate two-week creative bootcamp. The Academy provides an opportunity to learn from the best in the business, with grads working across disciplines and alongside a WPP agency on a live brief in order to secure a foot-in-the-door with a series of paid placements up for grabs. Talks, hacks, workshops and live briefs all test the students to the limit and ensure that they hit the ground running when they enter the industry. This year students will be working alongside creative luminaries as well as working on a live brief in their final week that looks at improving the way we all move around London.
Meet the Class of 2016 here.
Winning Work:
The Black Pencil Winners
Dazed – Bottles of Squash
Winner: James Wuds
“Truly excellent stand out piece of work. Funny, poignant, cool and accomplished, proud to have on Dazed.” – Jonny Kanagasooriam, Creative Strategy Director, Dazed Media.
Monotype – Retro Serif
Winner: Polina Hohonova
College: Chelsea College of Arts
“Powerful. Political. Poignant. Rarely does a piece of work have the potential to inspire change and have such a profound impact on culture and society.” – Craig Oldham, Creative Director & Founder, Office of Craig Oldham.
The White Pencil Winners
Amnesty International/WPP – Every Minute Matters
Winners: Laurens Grainger, Matt Kennedy
College: School of Communication Arts 2.0
Ford – Ford Fu
Winners: Chloe Lam, Ryan Ho
College: Falmouth University
Monotype – Better Together
Winner: Kegan Greenfield
College: Chelsea College of Arts
WWF – Human Filter
Winners: Elisa Beretta, Rosita Rotondo, Alessandro Prestia, Massimo Mazzucca, Giulia D’agosta
College: Fondazione Accademia di Comunicazione
A Selection of Yellow Pencil Winners
Adobe – Turning Brand Identity Into User Experience
Winner: Julia Baulin
College: Westerdals Oslo School of Arts Communication and Technology
Amnesty International/WPP – Profuckation
Winners: Batara Bayu Soedarwanto, Kevin Wijaya
Colleges: Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Loughborough University, Miami Ad School San Francisco
Monotype – Protecting Pubs Campaign
Winner: Neil Bennison
College: University of Central Lancashire
Nationwide – Nationwide’s YouTube Stock Exchange
Winners: Ryan Leckie, Hana Ovčina, Aditya Sunilkumar, Lukas Bruhn
College: University of South Wales
WWF – Game On
Winner: Simon Eden
College: Portsmouth University
To see all the winners please click here.
