LONDON, UK – The D&AD Awards, recognized worldwide as the ultimate benchmark for creative excellence, continues to inspire and shape the future of design and advertising across industries and generations.
This year, the awarding body celebrates creativity once again with Octopus&Whale’s Chief Executive Officer Joey David-Tiempo leading the Gaming & Virtual Worlds jury — a category dedicated to brand storytelling through games, immersive virtual experiences, and metaverse platforms, highlighting the innovative ways creativity is evolving in the digital age.
Joey spoke exclusively to adobo Magazine, sharing sharp insights into this year’s D&AD Gaming & Virtual Worlds category and how juries tend to favor certain creative approaches. She explained the ongoing “clash” between endemic work from game publishers who naturally dominate the space and advertising-led campaigns from agencies striving to break in.
“Judges have often leaned toward branded campaigns, as it takes a high level of creativity to be accepted by gamers, especially when a brand isn’t native to gaming,” Joey noted.
That’s exactly why last year’s D&AD Yellow Pencil winner, “Doritos Silent,” stood out: “It proved how a brand can genuinely tailor its products for gamers and win over the community,” she cited.
Filipino creative leaders have long made their mark at D&AD. Merlee Jayme, Chairmom and Founder of Jayme Headquarters, served as jury president for the Press category in 2017 and Radio & Audio in 2022, while Melvin Mangada, TBWA\SMP Chief Creative Officer and Partner, led the Press Advertising jury in 2018.
Joey herself is no stranger to the D&AD jury room, having served as a judge in this same category in 2018. When asked about her approach to leading this year’s panel, she expressed optimism, highlighting a notable shift she’s observed in the creative landscape.
“Brands are beginning to truly understand gaming, not just as a platform to ‘hack,’ but as a culture to collaborate with. As a result, there’s less opportunistic work and more authentic partnerships that serve the gaming fandom,” she emphasized. “I’m glad to see this evolution. This year’s jury is looking for exactly that: ideas that enhance the gaming experience and inspire the rest of the industry to invest in it with sincerity and respect.”
Joey will be leading a distinguished panel of jury composed of the following creative leaders:
- Jorge Calleja, Global Head of Creative, Meta & Reality Labs at Meta
- Vivien Chou, Executive Creative Director at dentsu Taiwan
- Kadine James, Global Director of Innovation & Founder of Artificial Rome | The Immersive KIND
- Claudio Lima, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of DRUID CREATIVE GAMING
- Manuel Reinher, Creative Director at Ubisoft
Joey’s work has earned recognition at top global awards like D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio, and Webby. A regular on the international jury circuit, she’s recently served as Jury President for Spikes Asia 2025’s Entertainment, Gaming & Music jury, the gaming jury at the ADC Annual Awards, and was part of inaugural juries for LIA Evolution, Creativity in the Metaverse, and Entertainment Lions for Gaming.
Launching Octopus&Whale during the pandemic is Joey’s proudest achievement to date. They are partners of some of the Philippines’ biggest brands, including Nestlé, SM, Meralco, NutriAsia, Unilab, and Philippine Airlines, to name a frew.
Joey is also deeply committed to nurturing young creatives. She pioneered the country’s first course on the Culture of Gaming and lectures at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Beyond work, she’s an avid gamer, mentor to young entrepreneurs, cat servant, and proud mom. Her latest passion project is Keri Kita, a podcast with her husband about raising responsible gamers.
Key Dates
The D&AD Awards judging will take place from May 18 to 21, 2025, culminating in the announcement of the shortlists for all categories on May 20 and 21, 2025. Following this, the D&AD Festival will be held from May 21 to 22, 2025 at the Southbank Centre, London. featuring keynote talks, judges’ insight sessions, networking events, and an exhibition celebrating the best in creativity. The awards ceremony will take place on May 22, 2025 where the coveted Pencils will be presented in person, marking the grand finale of this prestigious creative celebration.
About D&AD
D&AD exists to stimulate, enable, and award creative excellence in design and advertising, serving as one of the world’s most prestigious benchmarks for commercial creativity. The D&AD Pencil symbolizes rigor and integrity, embodying everything required to produce the very best creative work.
Since 1962, the D&AD Pencil has represented the very best in design and advertising. Winning a Pencil remains the pinnacle of many careers and the work it celebrates inspires others to study, debate, copy and reference its excellence, as the industry’s finest and most historic of treasures.
The D&AD Awards feature a hierarchy of recognition levels that celebrate varying degrees of creative excellence. The Shortlist acknowledges work that demonstrates merit and is worthy of recognition, placing it among the top entries in all categories. The Wood Pencil honors the best work of the year across advertising, design, craft, culture, and impact. Rising above the Wood Pencil, the Graphite Pencil is awarded to stand-out work considered for the prestigious Yellow Pencil. The Yellow Pencil represents the iconic symbol of true creative excellence, reserved for outstanding work that sets a high standard in the industry. At the pinnacle is the Black Pencil, the ultimate creative accolade, given only to groundbreaking work, with only a handful — if any — awarded each year.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of the D&AD Awards 2025.
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