D&AD 2026: 2 White Pencils & 52 Yellow Pencils Winners

The ad industry’s most coveted Pencils.

The 64th D&AD Awards Ceremony, held on May 20, 2026, in London, celebrated the year’s most powerful and purposeful creative work. With entries from a record-breaking 89 countries and over 50,000 pieces of work, this edition reinforced D&AD’s global relevance and influence. This year, only 2 White Pencils and 2 Future Impact Pencils were awarded, while the Black Pencils winners (the highest honor in the industry!) will be announced in September.

In total, 573 Pencils were awarded across 46 categories. This year’s winners reflected a growing appetite for bold, boundary-pushing creativity, with standout work spanning traditional craft, technology and cultural influence. As the industry evolves, the benchmark for excellence continues to rise: the work awarded in 2026 didn’t just demonstrate exceptional execution, it moved creative standards forward on a global scale.

Commenting on this year’s winners, Lisa Smith, D&AD President and Uncommon Creative Studio’s Global Chief Design Officer, said: “What stood out most was the sheer creative bravery and excellence on display. Across disciplines we saw teams pushing into genuinely new territory, from storytelling and traditional craft to emerging technologies and new forms of expression. Creativity is very much alive and the work that won did so because it moved the standard of creative excellence forward.”

The 573 Pencils awarded for the D&AD Awards 2026 by level:

• White (Grand Prix): 2 Pencils awarded.
• Future Impact: 2 Pencils awarded.
• Yellow (Gold): 52 Pencils awarded.
• Graphite (Silver): 149 Pencils awarded.
• Wood (Bronze): 368 Pencils awarded.
• Shortlisted: 557 pieces of work.

The 573 Pencils awarded for the D&AD Awards 2026 by main category track:

The Culture discipline saw the strongest entry growth of any discipline in 2026, with entries up 49% year on year. Three categories, Sport Entertainment (Culture), Cultural Influence (Culture) and Brand Transformation (Brand), made their D&AD Awards debut this year, awarding 10, 8 and 9 Pencils respectively.

• Advertising: 63 Pencil Winners.
• Brand: 32 Pencil Winners.
• Craft: 153 Pencil Winners.
• Culture: 55 Pencil Winners.
• Design: 129 Pencil Winners.
• Engagement & Experience: 102 Pencil Winners.
• Health: 25 Pencil Winners.
• Impact: 14 Pencil Winners.

The 2 White Pencils Winners of the D&AD 2026

• Sustained Impact White Pencil: AnNahar – “Active Journalism”, by Impact BBDO Beirut and Dubai.

The Sustained Impact White Pencil awarded to the AnNahar and Impact BBDO recognised a powerful body of “active journalism” that transformed the Lebanese newspaper into a platform for civic action, with campaigns such as The New President, Newspapers Inside the Newspaper, and the Elections Edition, all using creativity to drive political engagement and social accountability in Lebanon.

• Impact White Pencil: AXA – “Three Words”, by Publicis Conseil, Paris.

AXA and Publicis Conseil earned an Impact White Pencil for “Three Words”, a campaign that highlighted how a simple change in insurance wording could offer stronger protection and support for women facing domestic violence.

The 2 Future Impact Pencils Winners of the D&AD 2026

• Future Impact Pencil: Other Matter – “OM Signage Film”, by Other Matter, Melbourne.

Other Matter received a Future Impact Pencil for “OM Signage Film”, an innovative algae-based alternative to PVC vinyl that reimagines temporary signage through renewable, non-petrochemical materials designed to reduce environmental harm across retail, exhibitions, and events.

• Future Impact Pencil: Hyro – “Hyro”, by Duy Huynh, Will Harris, Zayna Ahmed, London.

Hyro was recognised with a Future Impact Pencil for its natural soil additive, designed to restore soil health, strengthen climate resilience in agriculture, and improve the nutritional quality of food by addressing the long-term environmental damage caused by conventional farming. More info here.

The 52 Yellow (Gold) Pencils Winners of the D&AD 2026

Here are the case studies for the only eight campaigns awarded multiple Yellow Pencils this year, followed by the full list of these highly coveted “Gold” awards. In total, out of 50,000 entries, only 38 campaigns and creatives received at least one of the 52 Yellow Pencils.

David Patton, D&AD CEO, said: “64 years in and the D&AD Awards have never felt more global or more vital. The breadth of countries entering and the quality of work they’re producing tells you everything about where commercial creativity is headed. Entries were received from 89 countries this year, up from 86 in 2025 and the highest ever in D&AD Awards’ history. Significant growth in submissions from the UAE, India, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia signals that world-class creative ambition is no longer concentrated in a handful of markets, D&AD’s standard for excellence is being pursued and met across every continent. Singapore is perhaps the best example of that shift. Eleven Pencils, five of them Yellow, an achievement that signals where global creativity is heading.”

Check out more winning campaigns from the world’s most prestigious advertising festivals: CREATIVE AWARDS 2026

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