Octopus&Whale Philippines Founder & Chief Executive Officer Joey David Tiempo, Akae Wang, Head of Creative at Banana Balloon China and Kinya Tagawa, Chief Executive Officer at Takram Tokyo will represent Asia as Jury Presidents for the 2025 D&AD Awards.
Tiempo will lead the D&AD Gaming & Virtual Worlds jury. Her agency, Octopus&Whale, is a game and experience design agency based in Manila. Tiempo’s body of work has been recognized at D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio, AWARD, LIA, and Webby, among others. She is a regular juror in the global awards circuit and has recently been invited as Jury President for Spikes Asia Entertainment, Gaming, and Music, and the ADC 103rd Annual Awards Gaming. She was part of the inaugural juries for LIA Evolution and Creativity in the Metaverse and Entertainment Lions for Gaming.
Wang, the highly awarded co-founder of Banana Balloon in Shenzhen, will lead the Digital Design jury. Wang consecutively topped togetherbe’s China Creative Rankings from 2019 through to 2021. He is one of the few Chinese creatives to receive the D&AD Yellow Pencil. In 2022, he founded his own agency Banana Balloon.
Tagawa, an award-winning design engineer experienced in a wide range of products including hardware, software and interactive art, will lead the Product Design jury.
D&AD Awards are judged solely on merit, from 300+ judges globally, with no quotas. Independent and anonymous voting, strict abstention rules, and a strong emphasis on eliminating bias ensure the integrity of the judging process.
The 2024 D&AD Awards saw record participation, with over 12,000 pieces of work submitted from 78 countries, culminating in 651 Pencils awarded, including four prestigious Black Pencils. See this year’s full list of Jury Presidents.
Says Dara Lynch, D&AD CEO: “We’re excited to announce our 2025 Awards with new changes which reflect the evolving creative landscape. As we continue to embrace new technologies which drive forward the art and craft of creativity, we have introduced for the first time a new Creator Content category. We are committed to celebrating all forms of creativity and the D&AD’s awards continue to be recognised globally as the ultimate creative prize. Each year, they are entered and respected by the best creatives from around the world, and we’re proud to continue to drive this forward.”
D&AD also recently announced the briefs for its 2025 New Blood Awards, which champion, educate and nurture aspiring creatives from around the world as they enter the workforce, giving them the opportunity to develop their skills and bolster their portfolios by working on client briefs.
This year’s briefs span disciplines such as UX/UI, animation, advertising, typography and PR, and have been set by brands including Depop, On, giffgaff, Xbox, Yahoo!, Google Cloud, Suntory Global Spirits, Hellmann’s, HSBC and more.
New Blood Award entrants will also have the chance to showcase their work and have it judged by leading industry figures, alongside the chance of winning a prestigious Pencil, a place in the D&AD New Blood Academy, and being featured in the iconic D&AD Annual.
Key D&AD Awards 2025 Dates:
Super Early Bird 30% Off Entry Fee Deadline: December 4, 2024
Early Bird 20% Off Entry Fee Deadline: February 5, 2025
Final Entry Deadline: March 12, 2025
Judging: May 18-21, 2025
D&AD Festival & Awards Ceremony: May 21-22, 2025
