In the first D&AD awards since David Patton took over as CEO, the UK took home 25 Yellow Pencils, only just behind the US’s tally of 27. This year’s president is Lisa Smith, global chief design officer at Uncommon Creative Studio and both she and Patton are using their stellar reputations to build D&AD’s status as a boundary-pushing, international awards show.
Entries came in from 89 countries, up from 86 last year and the highest in D&AD’s history. Often a good indicator of what might win at Cannes, much of the Yellow Pencil-winning work (from the relevant time period for the Lions) will be familiar. Mother London’s controversial Super Bowl spot for Anthropic; adam&eve’s Expedition Impossible for Columbia; and Uncommon’s Periodic Fable for The Ordinary, for starters.
Here are a few more creative highlights that won Yellow Pencils and look destined for more awards this year.
New York Times: An agoraphobe goes to the grocery store
Uber Eats” Build your own super bowl commercial by Special US
Evil Ray’s new brand identity by ad agency Pembleton and design agency Seachange
Adidas’ Fowler’s Sports by Homeground
The Culture discipline saw the strongest entry growth of any discipline in 2026, with entries up 49% year on year. Three categories, Sport Entertainment, Cultural Influence and Brand Transformation, made their D&AD Awards debut this year, awarding 10, eight and nine Pencils respectively.
Lisa Smith 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.”
David Patton 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. 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.”
D&AD’s highest honour, the Black Pencils, will be awarded in September.
