Students scoop six Pencils at D&AD Awards 2024
05 July 2024
Six student projects have scooped Pencils in this year’s D&AD New Blood Awards.
The prestigious annual D&AD awards are judged by some of the design industry's top creatives, with project briefs set by real-world clients.
In an awards ceremony on 4th July 2024, six projects were awarded the highly regarded Pencils, which are separated by colour according to the level of commendation. Pencil colours are awarded in order of merit, from Wood representing the best in the year, through Graphite for stand-out work, then Yellow for outstanding work, and finally Black for rare projects deemed groundbreaking. More information about the awards can be found here.
Students from our BA Creative Advertising, BA Graphic Design and MA Communication Design courses received awards, building on the success in the awards in 2023.
Read on to see the winning projects!
Meet Falmouth's D&AD 2024 New Blood Pencil winners
Connor Leggett, Mia Leggett and Ayanna Rowe
- Pencil award level: Yellow - Outstanding Work of True Creative Excellence
- Brief: Nando’s & NCA
- Project: Fortune Tellers
- Course: BA Creative Advertising
The team associated the Nando’s brand with optimism and hope by using a fortune teller-themed campaign. The campaign targetted younger generations with tarot cards, Snapchat filters and celebrity fortune-teller interviews.
Speaking on the project, Connor says “After some mental gymnastics, we came up with the audience insight that Gen Z is worried about the future, which led us to tarot card affirmations. We needed a highly skilled illustrator to help us out, and who better than my sister, Mia!”
Coel James, Millie Hindle and Neva Lilljequist
- Pencil award level: Yellow - Outstanding Work of True Creative Excellence
- Brief: Bumble
- Project: 10 Years of Making Boundaries Sexy
- Course: BA Creative Advertising
Coel, Millie and Neva won a Pencil for their response to a brief set by dating app, Bumble. In their work, the team sought to enhance communication on the platform to normalise setting boundaries in sexual relationships. Building on Bumble’s USP - where women communicate first - the project looked to stretch beyond this to be an app that prioritises communication.
As mentioned on their portfolio website: “Discussing boundaries with a new partner is scary due to fear of embarrassment or shaming. Our project helps Bumble normalise sexual boundaries for the next generation of daters”.
Coel and Millie's website.
Neva's website.
Jessie Collins
- Pencil award level: Graphite - Stand-Out Work
- Brief: Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
- Project: Many Hands Make Kites
- Course: BA Graphic Design
Jessie’s project used kite-making as a way to promote discussions on the climate crisis. Observing that some can feel overwhelmed with climate challenges, Jessie used kites as a symbol of joy and unity to inspire positive change.
“I wanted the kite symbol to be something visual, and also active, that encourages people to get involved in climate action. I felt so honoured to see my work next to so many amazing winners, it was very surreal” says Jessie.
Connor Leggett and Sam Shackleton
- Pencil award level: Wood - Best of the Year
- Brief: Twister & 1HQ Netherlands
- Project: Plot Twister
- Course: BA Creative Advertising
Connor and Sam sought to use a social media trend of doing things “for the plot” to shake up Twister’s advertising campaign. Using a play on words around 'plot twists', the team set up a big screen in Covent Garden and added dares to lolly sticks that become visible when the Twister is finished.
"We're both hyper-aware of new trends on socials and felt it was a perfect fit for a fun campaign." says Sam. "We were so excited to win - I ran over to find Connor after leaving him multiple missed calls!"
Alexis Over-Papatzaneteas
- Pencil award level: Wood - Best of the Year
- Brief: Google Fonts & The Typographic Circle
- Project: Silent Sea
- Course: MA Communication Design
Based on a poem by Rachel Boast, Alexis’s project aimed to educate and raise awareness of oil spills at sea. A scannable billboard campaign linked to a film of the poem being read by actress Ruth Wilson, with a connected mobile app that allows users to report small-scale oil spills that are often undocumented.
"I came across the poem as part of the UK’s poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s curation of climate change poems in 2015. I was drawn to the poem’s emotive message which led me to research more about oil spill data," says Alexis.
Alexis' website.
Jiahao Liu Du and King Wai Tai
- Pencil award level: Wood - Best of the Year
- Brief: HSBC
- Project: Behind the Bank
- Course: MA Communication Design
The team used traditional Chinese opera makeup to help convey the key values of HSBC. Using scannable billboards that link through to characters such as ‘The God of Wealth’, messages of prosperity and a bright future can be communicated in a traditional way.
“After a lot of research, Liu came up with the idea of incorporating “LianPu” (Beijing opera makeup) into our designs. I used my video editing and writing skills in the later stage to communicate our concept to the judges,” says King Wai.
King Wai's website, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Jiahao Liu Du's Instagram.
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