David, D&AD And Something Else Beginning With ‘D’. Maybe ‘Dogmatism’.
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As a slight addendum to the post about David’s leaving speech, I thought I’d mention what happened after he finished speaking.
The lights went down and a slide show began. It was a collection of all David’s D&AD entries set to the music of Local Hero.
How many do you think there were?
Go on, have a guess.
100? 150? 200?
Nope. There were 247.
Now, back in the days when I was obsessed with D&AD, I found that amazing (actually, I still do find that amazing). Think about it: that’s ten entries a year for 25 years (give or take). Or 25 entries a year for 10 years. And in those days there were far fewer categories (not many graphic design crafts: illustration awards for David).
What makes that even more impressive is that the number intrigued me enough to go and have a look at how many entries certain well-known creatives had.
Rather than name them, I’ll just say that about thirty entries (and at least a nomination or pencil) is enough to make you quite a famous copywriter/art director.
So does that make you feel heartened or depressed? Have you never been in the book? Have you been stuck on five entries since 2004? Do you feel crashingly inadequate because all your entries are in craft?
Well, never mind: it’s all bollocks anyway. A single campaign that gets in for Campaign and Singles in Consumer Magazines, Newspapers and a couple of crafts could give you fifteen entries in one go, far more than, say, Gorilla.
And besides, it’s unlikely you’ll ever reach the heights of David, or indeed Paul Belford and Nigel Roberts, who managed 49 entries, along with numerous pencils and nominations…in a single year (2001).
Practise your scales instead. It’ll be much more fulfilling.