D&AD 2025: Watch the 3 Black Pencils and 3 White Pencils Winners

The ad industry’s most coveted Pencils.

The 63rd D&AD Awards, held on May 22, 2025, in London, celebrated the year’s most powerful and purposeful creative work. With entries from a record-breaking 86 countries and over 30,000 submissions, this edition reinforced D&AD’s global relevance and influence.

This year, only 3 Black Pencils (the highest honor in the industry!) and 3 White Pencils were awarded. In total, 668 Pencils were awarded across categories, with an increased focus on ideas that not only look great but drive tangible business results and consumer change. This year’s winners set a high bar: creativity must not only inspire, but also perform, persuade, and endure.

Commenting on this year’s winners, D&AD Trustee Lisa Smith, Global Executive Creative Director, Jones Knowles Ritchie said: “​​It’s exciting to see so many brands and companies refreshing their identities. But judging has been challenging — too many entries follow the same established design codes and trends, making everything start to look and feel alike, regardless of category.”

“The work that stood out — and was ultimately awarded — was the kind that breaks away from the expected: inspiring, well-crafted, and truly fit for purpose.”

The total number of Pencils awarded for the D&AD Awards 2025:

• Black: 3 Pencils awarded.
• White: 3 Pencils awarded.
• Yellow: 48 Pencils awarded.
• Graphite: 176 Pencils awarded.
• Wood: 434 Pencils awarded.
• Future Impact: 4 Pencils.

Special Awards: 

• Advertising Agency of the Year: FCB, New York.
• Design Agency of the Year: Serviceplan Design.
• Production Company of the Year: DIVISION.
• Client of the Year: Apple.
• Independent Network of the Year: Serviceplan.
• Network of the Year: FCB.
• Recipient the President’s Award: Koichiro Tanaka, Founder of interdisciplinary creative boutique Projector.

The 3 Black Pencils of the D&AD 2025

• Music Videos Black Pencil: A$AP Rocky – “Tailor Swif” by Iconoclast, Los Angeles.

This year’s Black Pencil winner for the Music Video category emphasises an overarching theme seen in various works: the importance of narrative storytelling, which highlights the structure of the narrative arc across different mediums and artistic disciplines. In particular, narrative music videos, such as those like “Tailor Swif”, feature long-form storytelling where the music is integral to the narrative, rather than being an afterthought.

• Graphic Design Black Pencil: Paris 2024 – “Designing Paris 2024” by W Conran Design, Paris.

Judges from the Graphic Design category said that the campaign is a breakthrough for sports marketing and traditional sports marketing aesthetics, calling the design playful and scalable, with a unifying but distinctive feel that blends heritage and sport.

• Digital Marketing Black Pencil: Spotify – “Spreadbeats” by FCB, New York.

FCB New York have described their Black Pencil-winning work as, “Innovation through nostalgic technologies,” which is in line with the overarching theme across work this year that has seen brands hacking their way into events, sports, games with a cheeky idea.

The 3 White Pencils of the D&AD 2025

• Impact White Pencil: Apple – “AirPods Pro 2, Hearing Aid” by Apple, Cupertino.

Hearing Protection on AirPods Pro 2 is part of the world’s first end-to-end hearing health experience. Powered by the H2 chip, it minimizes loud noise exposure while preserving natural sound, actively reducing intermittent sounds 48,000 times per second. On by default, the multiband high dynamic range algorithm ensures that live events, like concerts, remain vibrant, so users can experience the full depth of a performance. A scientifically-validated Hearing Test feature and software-based Hearing Aid feature for mild to moderate hearing loss are also available on AirPods Pro.

• Impact White Pencil: Renault – “Cars to Work” by Publicis Conseil, Paris.

Cars to Work is an offer that provides cars for free to people during their job 3-month trial period. Cars that they only start to pay at affordable conditions once their job is secured. Cars made accessible to those who need them the most, in partnership with the French Public Employment Service.

• Sustained Impact White Pencil: Fortum – “FishHeart” by TBWA\, Helsinki.

A hydraulic fishway that uses AI and biometric data collection to identify and enable fish to migrate by bypassing dams, traveling safely up river streams to their natural spawning waters. The device produces an additional attraction flow that helps fish find their way up the river. A smart detection process collects the migration data in real-time. If the specimen does not belong to migratory species, the tunnel sends the fish back. If the specimen is a migratory fish, the underwater tunnel propels it safely and unharmed, to the other side of the dam.

“D&AD exists to stimulate, enable and celebrate creative excellence in the belief that great creative work creates better outcomes for all, and that creative excellence is achieved through a diverse, inclusive, sustainable industry, making work that’s relevant and representative of the communities it serves.”

D&AD 2025: The 8 Tracks, 44 Categories and Total Number of Pencils Awarded in each Category

• Advertising: 86 Pencil Winners (Digital Marketing: 25; Film: 24; Integrated: 7; Press & Outdoor: 22; Radio & Audio: 8).
• Branding: 31 Pencil Winners (Brand Identity Refresh: 10; New Brand Identity: 21).
• Craft: 198 Pencil Winners (Animation: 15; Art Direction: 25; Casting: 15; Cinematography: 13; Direction: 21; Editing: 8; Illustration: 26; Photography: 11; Production Design: 5; Sound Design & Use of Music: 15; Visual Effects: 14; Writing for Advertising: 11; Typography: 12; Writing for Design: 7).
• Design: 107 Pencil Winners (Book Design: 11; Digital Design: 12; Graphic Design: 23; Magazine & Newspaper Design: 13; Packaging Design: 18; Product Design: 9; Spatial Design: 6; Type Design & Lettering: 15).
• Entertainment: 54 Pencil Winners (Entertainment: 24; Gaming & Virtual Worlds: 8; Music Videos: 22).
• Engagement: 119 Pencil Winners (Commerce: 17; Creator Content: 9 – NEW CATEGORY; Direct: 28; Experiential: 20; Media: 18; Luxury: 11; PR: 16).
• Impact: 25 Pencil Winners (Impact: 18; Future Impact: 4; Sustained Impact: 3).
• Health: 48 Pencil Winners (Health & Wellbeing: 35; Pharma: 13).

Check out more winning campaigns from the world’s most prestigious advertising festivals: CREATIVE AWARDS 2025

Check out the Black Pencils and White Pencils winners from previous years: D&AD AWARDS