How Are Entries Judged for the D&AD Impact Awards 2026?
Judging process, criteria and nominations.
Summary: Learn how judging works, what criteria are used.
What are the Judges Looking For?
Judges are looking for innovative and inspiring uses of creativity to stimulate change and benefit society. This means that work must be responding to one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. You will be asked to specify which one(s) the work is responding to as part of your submission. You can find out more about the Goals here:
In the Impact category, judges will award work that has stimulated change in one of four areas - behaviour, environment, society or policy. Winning work must be able to prove that any change is a direct result of the work submitted. The work must be fit for purpose, that is, it must do the job it was designed to do.
In the Future Impact category, judges will be awarding work that demonstrates its potential to make an impact once commercially released. Work must have proof of concept and demonstrate it's both scalable and commercially viable.
In the Sustained Impact category, judges will award work that drives at least one of the UN SDGs and has tangibly resulted in increased behavioural, environmental, social or policy change over time.
When assessing the work, Judges will consider a set of criteria specific to the category. For details, please see page 6 of the Entry Kit.
When Does Judging Take Place?
Entry and judging for D&AD; Impact happens at the same time as the D&AD; Awards. Shortlists will be announced 19–20 May 2026