Historic night for Australia at D&AD: record two Black Pencils, seven Yellow Pencils awarded

Australian advertising history was made tonight at the D&AD Awardsin London, with a record two Black Pencils and seven Yellow Pencilsawarded to down under shops – which placed Australian third on thePencil tally just behind the United States – with two Black Pencils andnine Yellow Pencils – and the UK – with 10 Yellow Pencils (but noBlack).

CumminsNitro,Brisbane (now SapientNitro) was the most awarded agency in the world onthe night  – winning two of only five Black Pencils awarded – bothpredictably for the Queensland Tourism ‘Best job in the world’campaign – one in Direct, the other in Integrated. The campaign alsowon two Yellow Pencils on the way to being awarded the very rare BlackPencils, crowning a record run of awards the campaign has won at everymajor show in the world – including three Grand Prix at Cannes. Withoutdoubt, Best Job is now the most awarded ad campaign ever in the historyof advertising.

Droga5 Australia was the third most awardedagency in the world on the night – scoring an impressive three YellowPencils, two for the VB ‘The Regulars’campaign in TV & Cinema Advertising and also Writing forAdvertising. The agency’s third Yellow Pencil was awarded in Direct forV Australia ‘4230LA’ .

Publicis Mojo, Sydney won two Yellow Pencils, both for the Boag’s ‘Pure Waters’ commercial(which recently won the Clio Grand Prix), one in the TV & CinemaAdvertising category, the other for Direction, awarded to Steve Rogersat Revolver.

Colenso BBDO/AIM Proximity, Auckland scored New Zealand’s only Yellow Pencil, won for the Yellow Pages ‘Treehouse’ campaign in the Branding category that has been a huge award-winner over the last year.

TBWA\Hunt Lascaris, Johannesburg was the second most awarded agency interms of Pencils, taking home a Black Pencil in Graphic Design for the’Trillion Dollar Flyer’ – the campaign that turned money into a mediumto promote exiled newspaper The Zimbabwean. In addition to its BlackPencil, the agency was awarded threeYellow Pencils in Graphic Design, Outdoor and Integrated for differentelements of the agency’s work for The Zimbabwean.

‘The HighLine’, almost 2.5km of Inner City Park built on a section of a formerelevated freight railroad in New York City, was created by DillerScofidio + Renfro and awarded a Black Pencil in Environmental Design.Apple continued its winning streak at D&AD with a Black Pencil inWebsites for Apple.com.

SaysD&AD President Paul Brazier: “And there we have it. Proof, if itwere needed, that creativity shines in the face of global recession,and even political oppression. Over the last few years at D&AD,ever more ingenious creative work has been rewarded. Maybe the rise ofdigital has had something to do with it. That showed us you didn’t needto use traditional media to solve clients’ problems. And when a simplestamp on a useless bank note can make a statement for freedom of speechand a Barrier Reef tourist destination can become the biggest story onthe news, it really feels like times are changing.”

In total, only five Black Pencils and forty-two Yellow Pencils were awarded this year. All of the winning work can be viewed here