Win One. Teach One.

D&AD Awards Ceremony 2016 — Opening address.

Tonight is about the work and the winners.

I believe D&AD to be the hardest won creative award in the world. Our process, our judges, our incredibly high bar.

If you win a Pencil here tonight — whether Wood, Graphite, White for Good, Iconic Yellow or the Rare Bird Beautiful Black — then you have won something worth shouting about.

Not that I think I need encourage you to shout — tell the world. And I for one will RT you. The first part of winning a D&AD Pencil is celebration.

The first part of winning a D&AD Pencil is celebration.

The second part of winning a D&AD Pencil is education.

D&AD is not for profit. I like to say it twice. D&AD is not for profit. Just for creativity. Everything we do, everything we make, we put right back in, to help create our industry. And our industry helps create the world.

At the heart of the D&AD Pencil lies a simple principle. Win one, Teach one.

If you are talented enough to win one then you hold knowledge enough to teach another one.

In winning you can help others also win. Beyond agency, network or personal gain, you can support the industry that supports you.

How you won your Pencil is a story to help someone else do likewise. It’s a handhold left for others in our industry’s collective journey upwards.

Your winning work raises the sky above, sharing your winning process raises the earth beneath.

Talk about it. Write about it. Shout not just about winning but also how you won. And make our industry as a whole, better.

Win one. Teach one.