D&AD 2023 opens for entries today

LONDON, Today: D&AD has opened entries to its 2023 awards this morning (Wednesday 2 November) – its first in-person show after three years of covid-induced remote coverage.

The D&AD Festival will be hosted at The Truman Brewery in London 8-10 10 May 2023.

Entries from Russia were banned this year, while entries from Ukraine were free – a practice that will continue in 2023.

D&AD has introduced a suite of category changes.

The Gaming category has become Gaming & Virtual Worlds and added three new subcategories: Use of Avatars, Use of Blockchain and Brand Experience. 

Photography in focus will be a new category in 2023. The Photography category has evolved to include personal style, where you can now share your portfolio to be judged.

To reflect the rise in fashion films D&AD has added Fashion Film to six categories – Film, Art Direction, Cinematography, Direction, Editing and Production Design. 

Creatives submitting work into the Product or Packaging Design categories, will be able to provide a short statement about how sustainability was considered in the design, selection of materials and manufacturing process.

“The Photography category has evolved to include personal style – Photography in Focus will be a new category in 2023.”

D&AD has also announced two new subcategories: Packaging Design / Plastic Free, for packaging that has been designed or redesigned to eliminate the use of plastic; and Impact / Climate Solution, for work that’s taking action to combat the impact of climate change by driving the success of sustainable development goals.

Following a consultation with leading design agencies, D&AD has re-structured the Branding category so that work is grouped according to the size of the client.

Type Design has been renamed Type Design & Lettering, with subcategories arranged by font family instead of genre and dedicated subcategories for Lettering, Symbols and Variable Fonts. Book Design has undergone a restructure with new subcategories including Young Adults, Photographic Books, Exhibition Books, Promotional Books, Anthologies and Revised Editions.

Craft subcategories have been reintroduced to music videos, including Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design and Visual Effects.

KEY DATES

• Awards Launch: Today (2 November)
• Super Early Bird Discount Deadline: 7 December – 40% off
• Early Bird Discount Deadline: 8 February 2023 – 20% off
• Deadline: 15 March 2023
• D&AD Awards Judging (final live rounds): 7-10 May 2023
• D&AD Festival: 8-10 May 2023, at the Truman Brewery
• D&AD Shortlist Announced: 11 May 2023
• D&AD Awards Ceremony: 24 & 25 May 2023

D&AD launched the awards with creative work from M&C Saatchi’s design agency, Re.

• dandad.org
• re.design