London: D&AD has announced the Pencil winners for the 2026 edition of the D&AD Awards 2026, marking the highest number of participating countries in the awards’ history.
This year, entries were received from 89 countries, surpassing the previous record of 86 countries in 2025. A total of 573 Pencils were awarded across 46 categories from more than 50,000 submitted works, highlighting the growing scale and diversity of global creative excellence.
The United States emerged as the top Pencil-winning country with 235 Pencils, followed by the United Kingdom with 184 Pencils, France with 59, Germany with 45, and Brazil with 42.
For Yellow Pencils specifically, the United States led with 27 wins, followed closely by the United Kingdom with 25. Canada and Singapore secured five Yellow Pencils each, while France earned four.
Singapore recorded one of its strongest performances to date, winning 11 Pencils overall, including five Yellow Pencils, positioning the country joint third globally for Yellow Pencil wins alongside Canada.
The Craft discipline emerged as the most-awarded discipline with 153 Pencils, while Magazine & Newspaper Design became the leading category with 28 Pencils, including four Yellow Pencils. Film and Art Direction categories followed closely with 25 Pencils each.
The Culture discipline registered the strongest year-on-year growth, witnessing a 49% rise in entries. New categories introduced this year included Sport Entertainment, Cultural Influence, and Brand Transformation, which collectively awarded 27 Pencils.
The total Pencil tally for D&AD Awards 2026 included two White Pencils, 52 Yellow Pencils, 149 Graphite Pencils, 368 Wood Pencils, and two Future Impact Pencils. Additionally, 557 entries were shortlisted.
Commenting on the awards, Lisa Smith, D&AD President and Uncommon Global Chief Design Officer, said, “What stood out most was the sheer creative bravery and excellence on display. Across disciplines we saw teams pushing into genuinely new territory, from storytelling and traditional craft to emerging technologies and new forms of expression. Creativity is very much alive and the work that won did so because it moved the standard of creative excellence forward.”
D&AD CEO, David Patton added, “64 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.”
He further said, “Entries were received from 89 countries this year, up from 86 in 2025 and the highest ever in D&AD Awards’ history. Significant growth in submissions from the UAE, India, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia signals that world-class creative ambition is no longer concentrated in a handful of markets, D&AD’s standard for excellence is being pursued and met across every continent.”
Speaking about Singapore’s performance, Patton noted, “Singapore is perhaps the best example of that shift. Eleven Pencils, five of them Yellow, an achievement that signals where global creativity is heading.”
D&AD said all Pencil-winning and shortlisted entries are now available on its official website, while the D&AD Rankings and Black Pencil winners will be announced during the awards ceremony in September.
