D&AD’s New Blood 2018 winners have been announced

As any keen It’s Nice That reader knows, D&AD’s annual New Blood Awards are a celebration of what happens when young, upcoming creatives get a chance to showcase their talents on real briefs, set by real clients. Last night saw 194 of the group’s ever-prestigious pencils handed out by the panel of judges.

The much clamoured for Black Pencil was picked up by School of Communication Arts 2.0 graduate Naomi Taylor for #DrMrHousingMinister, a mixed-media project described by D&AD as "a powerful, emotive and relevant piece grounded in humanity and hardship.” The group’s CEO Tim Lindsay noted that Taylor’s work “embodies what a New Blood Pencil is all about. It also speaks to the important role of creative thinking as a powerful tool for change.”

Talking exclusively to It’s Nice That, Marie Dryden, the project manager of the New Blood Awards programme said that, “from thousands of entries, we awarded only the top 194 pieces this year. Of those 194 entries, only 29 made it through to the ultimate accolade, the Yellow Pencil. Also, by entering the New Blood Awards you really put yourself on a global scale. We had entries from over 54 countries this year, so by winning you’re not just showing that you’re an outstanding young creative from your own country, but from across the world.”

She’s proud of how “tough” the briefs are that students and graduates get set. “D&AD don’t do any preselection or judging ourselves, instead we find judges at the top of their game in their field to judge the awards, and we bring them together here at D&AD HQ to look through every single entry in their jury,” Marie says. “We also bring in at least one judge from the brand itself, and usually someone from the brand’s agency, to bring in the client’s perspective.”