There’s an interesting debate going on at the moment about the future of the D&AD Annual – the weighty tome that is sent out to members of D&AD each year, worldwide, featuring all the best work (well, the best that’s been entered for the awards) in design and advertising from the preceding year.
The Annual has been produced… well, annually, since 1963. Recently though, it’s started to feel rather anachronistic. It collects together work from a huge variety of disciplines (TV & cinema ads, radio ads, websites, interactive media, books, posters, music videos, environmental graphics, and a stack more), but presents them all on paper (though there has in recent years been an accompanying DVD). Given that there are now other media available to showcase all that work, folk are asking if the Annual (in book form) is still appropriate.
The debate was kicked into gear by Mike Dempsey on his blog, and then refuelled by Creative Review, and D&AD have wisely picked up the conversation themselves.
As print designers, we hate to brandish nails and a hammer anywhere near print’s coffin, but this really feels like a situation where a book just isn’t the right format anymore.
