D&AD just had its most global year ever, and the centre of creative excellence is shifting

It's one of the biggest dates in the design and advertising calendar, when thousands of creatives around the world hope to get their hands on a famous Pencil. This year's D&AD Awards proved to be the most international to date, with entries arriving from a record 89 countries and fresh creative momentum coming from far beyond the usual industry hubs.

During a special ceremony in London last night, 573 Pencils were awarded across 46 categories. The United States took home the most Pencils overall with 235 wins. Whilst the UK followed closely behind with 184 Pencils, not including the prestigious Black Pencil (which won't be announced until September).

Singapore had a brilliant year, claiming 11 Pencils in total, including five Yellow Pencils, nearly half of its overall wins. That makes it joint third globally for Yellow Pencils alongside Canada – an impressive achievement that shows the country's growing global influence.

Magazine and Newspaper Design emerged as the top Pencil-winning category, taking home 28 Pencils overall, including four Yellow Pencils. Film matched the number of Yellow Pencils, while Graphic Design and Art Direction also performed well.

At a time when AI, automation and shrinking attention spans dominate industry conversation, the results suggest there's still huge value placed on craft, storytelling and strong visual thinking. It was no surprise, then, to see that D&AD's top-winning discipline overall was Craft, which claimed 153 Pencils across the awards. A reassuring reminder, perhaps, that human creativity is still front and centre.

Elsewhere, Culture saw the strongest year-on-year growth of any discipline, rising by 49%. Three new categories also made their debut: Sport Entertainment, Cultural Influence and Brand Transformation, signalling that creative work is increasingly shaped by communities, identity and wider cultural conversations rather than by traditional advertising alone.

Lisa Smith, D&AD President and Uncommon's Global Chief Design Officer, believes this year's winners stood out for their "sheer creative bravery and excellence".

"Across disciplines we saw teams pushing into genuinely new territory, from storytelling and traditional craft to emerging technologies and new forms of expression," she said. "Creativity is very much alive, and the work that won did so because it moved the standard of creative excellence forward."

David Patton, D&AD CEO, added: "Sixty-four years in and the D&AD Awards have never felt more global or more vital. The breadth of countries entering and the quality of work they're producing tells you everything about where commercial creativity is headed."

All Pencil-winning work and shortlisted entries are showcased on the D&AD website. The D&AD Rankings and Black Pencil winners will be announced in September.