LONDON, UK – The Asian region made a strong showing at the 2025 D&AD Awards following the announcement of the first round of shortlist. Out of 86 countries, 16 Asian nations had works shortlisted by the esteemed jury across various categories.
Asia secured a total of 125 shortlisted entries from countries including Japan, Indonesia, India, Singapore, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, among others. Leading the region, China stood out with a commanding 50 shortlisted entries. Another set of shortlisted entries shall be revealed on May 21, 2025.
The D&AD Awards revealed that a total of 11,689 entries were judged, consisting of over 30,000 individual pieces of work. To evaluate these, 330 international judges gathered in London, forming 44 juries across categories such as Advertising, Branding, Craft, Design, Engagement & Experience, Health, and Impact.
In terms of regional entry distribution, 5% of submissions came from the Middle East and India, 20% from Europe (excluding the UK and Ireland), 31% from the US and Canada, 4% from Southeast Asia, 20% from the UK and Ireland, 5% from Oceania, 5% from Latin America, 5% from China, 5% from Japan and Singapore combined, and 1% from Africa.
Check out the full list of shortlisted works from Asia below:
- China (50)
- Japan (22)
- India (11)
- Indonesia (9)
- Singapore (8)
- Saudi Arabia (4)
- Hong Kong (3)
- Macao (3)
- Malaysia (3)
- United Arab Emirates (3)
- Thailand (3)
- Philippines (2)
- Kazakhstan (1)
- Vietnam (1)
- Taiwan (1)
- Sri Lanka (1)
Access the full list of the 2025 D&AD Awards shortlist here.
Key Dates
The D&AD Awards judging will take place from May 18 to 21, 2025, culminating in the announcement of the shortlists for all categories on May 20 and 21, 2025. Following this, the D&AD Festival will be held from May 21 to 22, 2025 at the Southbank Centre, London. featuring keynote talks, judges’ insight sessions, networking events, and an exhibition celebrating the best in creativity. The awards ceremony will take place on May 22, 2025 where the coveted Pencils will be presented in person, marking the grand finale of this prestigious creative celebration.
About D&AD
D&AD exists to stimulate, enable, and award creative excellence in design and advertising, serving as one of the world’s most prestigious benchmarks for commercial creativity. The D&AD Pencil symbolizes rigor and integrity, embodying everything required to produce the very best creative work.
Since 1962, the D&AD Pencil has represented the very best in design and advertising. Winning a Pencil remains the pinnacle of many careers and the work it celebrates inspires others to study, debate, copy and reference its excellence, as the industry’s finest and most historic of treasures.
The D&AD Awards feature a hierarchy of recognition levels that celebrate varying degrees of creative excellence. The Shortlist acknowledges work that demonstrates merit and is worthy of recognition, placing it among the top entries in all categories. The Wood Pencil honors the best work of the year across advertising, design, craft, culture, and impact. Rising above the Wood Pencil, the Graphite Pencil is awarded to stand-out work considered for the prestigious Yellow Pencil. The Yellow Pencil represents the iconic symbol of true creative excellence, reserved for outstanding work that sets a high standard in the industry. At the pinnacle is the Black Pencil, the ultimate creative accolade, given only to groundbreaking work, with only a handful — if any — awarded each year.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of the D&AD Awards 2025.
