D&AD judging commences, YouTube channel to inspire viewers

Judging starts 19 April

The twenty-five specialist juries will trawl through 20 000 pieces of work entered into the D&AD Awards to vote for the best work of the year at London's Olympia from 19-22 April 2010 to acknowledge outstanding creativity in commercial communication internationally. Winners will be announced at the D&AD Awards Ceremony at The Roundhouse, London on 3 June. The D&AD Student Awards will be judged over the same week and announced on 29 June at the D&AD Student Awards Ceremony at Spitalfields Market, London.

In-Book and nominated results will be announced online throughout the week, along with commentary and interviews. Entries selected to go ‘In-Book' are considered the best creative work of the year and will be featured in the D&AD Annual, published in October. Nominated work may go on to win a D&AD Yellow Pencil for setting new standards of creative excellence. The D&AD Black Pencil will only be awarded to work that is truly groundbreaking.

The Student Yellow Pencil identifies the best new talent each year for the industry and kick starts careers for new graduates. Over one-third of last year's winners got their first job or placement as a direct result of their prize.

Upload your vision

The D&AD and YouTube collaboration, launched 7 April 2010, is to encourage uploading of the latest, inspiring, groundbreaking and otherwise remarkable videos in commercial creativity. Content uploaded and tagged will appear free for anyone to browse and view. Work featured on the channel has not been subjected to D&AD's judging standards or process, however it will be quality controlled to ensure the content stays relevant. Anyone can contribute to the channel, making it an ever growing, always changing online resource.

Regular and varied guest editors will be invited to select their favourites, starting with D&AD's CEO, Tim O'Kennedy. “It is a spot for self-initiated projects or your latest great ad,” he says. “Awards season is under way and it can be a stressful time for creatives as they wait for results. We hope this becomes a playground for the creative community and a source of inspiration and fun. The organisation's creative connections and YouTube's far-reaching online expertise make this an exciting partnership.” 

Both can be viewed through the website as a direct link from www.dandad.org/ or through a dedicated YouTube link, www.youtube.com/dandad.