Blood Transfusion.
Dispatches from D&AD New Blood Awards Night 2016.
A young lady quietly approached me at the New Blood Awards night. She had won a graphite pencil I recall. She wanted to tell me how happy she was. Thanked me for it. She didn’t believe it. That her work could win a Pencil. Her work, that she lacked confidence in no more. She thanked me for that new confidence. I think my heart burst on the spot.
‘I came all the way from Brazil for this’ screamed another at me holding his Pencil high. The tall drink of water at the back in floods of tears. The one who tried to steal my microphone to do a victory rap. Another in the crowd waved at me so much I stopped presenting just to ask him what he wanted — he wasn’t really sure. ‘We’ve won the first Pencil for Belgium, our CD paid for us to come’ said a very polite team from, well Belgium. The three bearded gents, who I swear were the Bee Gees reincarnate, who wanted me to pose for photos. That bloke from up Lancashire way with a top knot who jumped around so much receiving his Pencil that he spent more time in the air than he did on the stage. The one who had already dropped his pencil and claimed the chipped paint made it more personal. All the women up on stage winning. Every single person in the crowd cheering every single Pencil like it was their own.
Whilst waiting for the winners to press through the crowd up to the stage, I asked every sponsor / partner on stage ‘are you happy with the work?’ Without fail, without hesitation, super happy. Super proud. All of them. ‘I think we’re gonna run it’ said one. ‘We’re trying to run all three of them’ said another. ‘See you next year’ said a few.
I snuck out around 11. After Ben had hugged me 50 times, Craig kissed my ears again and the remain nameless had run off to draw cocks on the message wall. The free bar closed at one. The next day I saw an Instagram of someone sleeping with their Yellow Pencil.
It’s nights like this when I feel most proud of what D&AD can do. Feel most proud and privileged that I get to be the front man for such a powerful and positive force. I had opened the night telling the graduating students not to join us quietly. To take all the positive energy in the room and all the confidence they can muster and throw themselves headlong into our industry. To make us better. I said ‘It’s your industry. It won’t create you. You will create it.’
Our industry need this energy. This transfusion of new blood that can help revitalise us. We need new ideas, more ideas, broad diversity. And here that all was, at New Blood, smiling.
And so I go back to that young lady who now has the confidence to kick on. And how D&AD was able to help create that confidence. And I can’t wait to see what she does with it next. What all of them do with it next. Whoosh. I feel it rushing in my ears. I feel stronger for it.
