The objectives of the project was to develop an idea that conveyed the extraordinary tenacity and perseverance required when creating the world’s best work.

Creative determination is a tireless pursuit, which is personified in the ‘ASCEND’ concept.

The concept takes five of the iconic D&AD pencils and visualizes them as individual mountains, each constructed from the materials represented in each award.

From the Wood through to Yellow and Black pencils, we see the range depicted in varying heights, mirroring the levels of challenge associated with winning each one of these coveted accolades and ensuring that the ideas work across multiple touch points.

The aim was to capture the obsessive nature of creative pursuit. In an almost meditative like film, the noise is stripped out and alongside it, the distraction that comes with our industry.

The team worked in close collaboration with D&AD to develop all animated and static design elements for this year’s show including; the opening title sequence, tickets, direct mail, digital assets and book of the night.

The work ran via an online teaser two weeks before the awards ceremony and was showcased online via both the website and across various social platforms.

The D&AD 2015 title sequence then ran over a series of 4 bespokely created projector screens at a full size of 30m x 5m taking over the awards show so as to reflect the scale of winning a D&AD pencil.

The aim was to capture the obsessive nature of this creative pursuit. In an almost meditative like film, the noise and distraction that comes with the industry have been stripped back, leaving the viewer contemplating the monolithic form representing the single-minded focus on the award.

The work ran via an online teaser two weeks before the awards ceremony, showcased online via both the website and various social platforms of relevant parties involved within the awards, and throughout the D&AD 2015 awards show itself over a series of 4 projector screens at a full size of 30m x 5m enjoyed by all the awards attendees.

Mill+ designers created a bespoke headline font based on the classic Times typeface, as well as constructing the mountain graphics using Cinema4D, in conjunction with custom textures created by the Mill+ matte painting team.

These print elements were then paired with a dynamic moving image title sequence, in which we see the mountains of creativity brought to life, paired with a gripping and emotive soundtrack designed by Grand Central Studios.

This leaves the viewer contemplating the monolithic form representing the single-minded focus on winning an award.

D&AD represents global creative, design and advertising communities and celebrates brilliance in commercial creativity.

Every year, a design team are tasked with creating the opening title sequence, title slates and idents for the prestigious D&AD awards.

The brief is continually open, allowing design teams to flex their creative muscles and develop something truly inspiring.

This year the brief was bigger than ever, enabling the initial creative concept to flow through into the 2015 show via tickets, direct mail, digital assets and and the book of the night.