Individual and company membership of D&AD is open to all professionals and students working in or around the creative industries. Awarded membership, however, retains the pickiness of the founding fathers and is only available those whose work has been recognised at the annual D&AD Awards.
Shaped by numerous talented, idiosyncratic professionals with wildly varying approaches but a shared commitment to excellence, D&AD is headed by an executive committee and President, all elected from the membership.
2011 and British Design & Art Direction has grown mightily, but slimmed down its name. Now D&AD, its members represent the creative, design and advertising communities, not just in Britain, but worldwide.
Amongst the group are David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Alan Fletcher (yes, it was that cool). They call themselves British Design & Art Direction and the following year they organise their first Awards event. And they are picky. From 2500 entries they select just 16 pieces of work to receive the soon to be coveted Yellow Pencil.
1962. A group of designers and art directors come together to celebrate creative communication and raise standards within their industry.
WHO Are GBH?
// GBH stands for the surname initials of the founder members Gregory, Bonner and Hales. The presentation was made by down to earth Jason Gregory and Mark Bonner, two truly passionate individuals who after 7 years of debating about an agency set up, finally dragged themselves away from their existing and successful careers at other companies to form GBH. // GBH, currently based in the pristine Chiswick Station House in London, formed 12 years ago and after the usual financial spluttering beginning with any start up company, they soon found themselves achieving what they had always set out to do - to be working on the type of creative briefs every designer aims for but few rarely achieve.
D&AD – home of the talented and skilled, the imaginative and the curious, the restless and the bloody-minded. Commercially savvy, sometimes romantic, often cynical and occasionally rather weird. A source of information and ideas: of professional development, support and inspiration, interesting people to talk and nice things to look at. All creative life is here.
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