South Africa’s D&AD results are in, here’s the work.
South Africa picked up a handful of shortlist recognitions at this year’s D&AD Awards, with a Wood Pencil awarded to Accenture Song for Allan Gray’s ‘A Seat at The Table’. Love this work, go team! And while it wasn’t the country’s biggest year at D&AD, getting shortlisted here still means the work stood out among some of the best creative entries in the world.
D&AD Awards remain one of the industry’s toughest benchmarks for creative excellence across design, advertising, craft, and production. Here’s a quick look at the different D&AD Pencil levels:
Shortlist: Work that demonstrates merit, worthy of recognition and in the top echelon of entries. It’s awarded in all categories in the first instance.
Wood Pencil: The best of the year in advertising, design, craft, culture and impact.
Graphite Pencil: For stand-out work that rises above the rest, worthy of consideration for a Yellow Pencil.
Yellow Pencil: The iconic D&AD Yellow Pencil, awarded only to outstanding work that achieves true creative excellence.
White Pencil: For exceptional projects that use the power of creativity to drive behavioural, environmental, societal or policy change.
Black Pencil: The ultimate creative accolade, reserved for ground-breaking work. Only a handful of these are awarded each year, if any.
If you or your company worked on any of these projects and your credits aren’t listed, it’s probably because you’re not an IDIDTHAT member… which feels like a bit of a miss, considering you’re clearly doing some of the best work out there. Don’t pull a Van Gogh and wait to get famous later. Get seen now, by the people who matter. Take a look at our membership options or drop us a line [email protected] to get signed up and we’ll make sure your work gets the spotlight it deserves.
D&AD AWARD WINNERS
AWARDED
Shortlist: Impact
Shortlist: Sports Entertainment
IDIDTHAT Directory
Quickly find the right people to work with by searching through our curated Directory. We make the process of sourcing South African companies to work with easy, simple and downright sexy. Basically, if you’re not listed on IDIDTHAT.co, you simply don’t exist, like Bruce Willis in that movie with the kid that sees dead people, except nobody will see you…#Shame
IDIDTHAT Featured Stories
Find out who we’re talking about. Read the latest advertising, production, and creative news. We write it so it’s not kak. Let us know if you’d like us to feature your big stories.
Thandeka Gilbert Said That. How the Work Gets Made: Inside the Creative Process
Thandeka Gilbert is an award-winning creative known for shaping culture, championing Black women in leadership, and making work that lives beyond the brief. Recognised at major shows and a jury member at Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, Loeries, Creative Circle, Bookmarks, and Pendoring, she pairs sharp instinct with serious craft. In this conversation, she shares what really happens between brief and final work, what she won’t compromise on, and why backing an idea, and each other, matters.
LittleBig director Rob Smith on big storytelling with restraint for ‘Safely Home’ campaign
Last year, more than 700 mothers in the Western Cape lost a child to road-related incidents. ‘Safely Home’, the campaign directed by LittleBig’s Rob Smith for Ogilvy Cape Town and the Western Cape Government, approaches that reality with restraint and care. While comedy may be Rob’s most visible calling card, this work shows his ability to handle big, emotionally complex stories with a measured, thoughtful approach.
Director Mark Strydom brings the lessons of Africa home to Robot
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, director Mark Strydom is making things official with Robot, joining the team for local representation and bringing experience shaped across Africa and international markets back home. For the past few years, Mark has deliberately been directing outside South Africa, leaning into work across Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana, India, the Middle East, and parts of Europe. Different pressures, different cultural nuances, but across every market one principle stayed the same for him, “If the work doesn’t feel real to the people watching it, it doesn’t land.”
IDIDTHAT Monthly Craft Awards
Find out who’s doing the best work in South Africa. Every month we team up with industry leaders to award South Africa’s best in Production Craft. Huge thanks to our recent guest judges who’ve taken the time to judge IDIDTHAT Craft Awards. Look how sexy they are in these black and white pictures we put up – FYI we used the ‘Inkwell’ filter.
IDIDTHAT Craft Awards: January 2020
We’re sliding into 2020 with the first IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards for the year. And who better to kick things off than Black River FC’s Executive Creative Director, Roanna Williams. With over twenty years of industry experience and the trophy cabinet to back it up, we couldn’t think of anyone more suited for the position. Thank you Roanna, as always, we are not worthy!
IDIDTHAT Craft Awards Rankings 2019
Every month I DID THAT team up with ad industry leaders to award the finest in South African film and production craft. It’s now our honour to share with you the Official I DID THAT Craft Awards Rankings 2019. These truly were the best of the best in the industry in Film Production, Post Production, Music & Sound, Animation & Special Effects. Congratulations you beautiful clever people you!
Best in Film Craft: December 2019
We’re not quite done with 2019 yet! December’s iDidTht Craft Awards were judged by the bearded beauty himself, Ryan McManus. Apart from being the Regional CCO at VMLY&R South Africa and on the Creative Circle EXCO, Ryan has been recognised at Cannes, D&AD, Loeries, One Show, ADC, Effies, NYF and often on the streets. Thank you, Ryan, you gorgeous clever creative you!
