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.
Ko.Kreate, the women creating space for women of colour to lead
When two creatives from Retroviral, Koketso Masisi and Kgothatso Maditse, looked around the industry, they saw brilliant women of colour doing groundbreaking work, but too often, those voices weren’t in the rooms where change was being shaped. So they built their own. That’s the spirit behind Ko.Kreate’s ‘Women Shaping 2025’ event this November, a gathering that celebrates women redefining the industry.
[PODCAST] Bigger, Better, Awarded: How to build case studies that actually win. With Fran Luckin, Khensani Nobanda, Kabelo Moshapalo and Xolisa Dyeshana
When four South African respected jury presidents sit down together, you listen. Between them, they’ve presided over Cannes Lions, Loeries, Dubai Lynx, and the IAB Bookmark Awards - shaping what the world calls “award-winning work.” At this year’s IDIDTHAT HOUSE, inside the Nedbank Loft at Loeries Fringe 2025, this powerhouse panel brought together Fran Luckin (CCO, VML South Africa), Khensani Nobanda (Group Executive: Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Nedbank Group), Kabelo Moshapalo (CCO, Ogilvy), and Xolisa Dyeshana (CCO, Joe Public).
[PODCAST] Future Proof: what will a winning production company look like in the age of AI? With Jarred Cinman, Alexa Wilson, Stuart Stobbs, and Shane Jacobs
Budgets are shrinking. Deadlines are gasping for air. And AI? It’s not knocking on production’s door, it’s already moved in, rearranged the furniture, and started editing the showreel. At this year’s IDIDTHAT HOUSE (Loeries Fringe), inside the Nedbank Loft, we hosted Future Proof: a brutally honest panel asking the question everyone in production is quietly panicking about. What will it take for a South African production company to still exist, and thrive, in 2027?
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.
Best in Film Craft: December 2018
Welcome to January team – the Monday of months.😭To cheer you up here are this month’s iDidTht Craft Award results as judged by Juliet Honey, Creative Director at Net#work BBDO. Juliet’s eye for craft is like none other and in short, she memes business…and also means it. Juliet, honey, it's an honour!
Best in Film Craft: November 2018
Ke Dezemba Boss!😎 But first… November’s iDidTht Craft Awards have officially been judged by one of the biggest guns in the industry. Raise your craft gin glasses to the legend herself: former Chairperson of The Loeries, Creative Director at FCB and a leader we’d happily follow into any pitch, Suhana Gordhan! Massive congrats to all the sexy winners.
Best in Film Craft: October 2018
This month’s iDidTht Craft Awards are judged by the legend himself, Xolisa Dyeshana. If you don’t know who Xolisa is, well tbh, we don’t see the brightest future for you in advertising, but in short: Chairperson of the Creative Circle/Chief Creative Officer and partner at Joe Public/Former Chairperson of The Loeries/named one of the Top 6 People To Watch In Advertising by Finweek/Seriously, Google guys!
