The D&AD Awards Showcase is a platform to celebrate the years winners of the D&AD student briefs. Common Curiosity created a display system based around D&AD’s iconic pencil. Pegboard panels are populated with colour coded pencils denoting the level of award each student has won, along with a number of playful ways to utilise the humble pencil, including a big pencil of pencils!

Studio Sutherl&’s design for the 2017 D&AD Annual cleverly reinstates the Annual as the Design Bible needed in everybody’s lives. Simple covers and multiple ribbons, which the reader can use to bookmark projects they admire, keeps the design both elegant and functional. Copy, written by Nick Asbury, repeatedly uses ampersands (in reference to the & in D&AD) to give the Annual an additional element of personality and ownability.

The great Lance Wyman has designed a pin to help raise money for Mexico. A lovely subtle reference for graphic design fans makes for a beautiful pin design. Pins can be purchased here.

The perfect name for a boring company. Playful, simple and memorable.

Staple, designed by Christopher Doyle and Co. is a small, Sydney based sourdough bakery focussed on producing a limited number of wholegrain, naturally leavened breads using 3 simple ingredients — flour, salt and water. Hence Staple is a great name! The symbol and logotype both suggest the handmade craft in a perfectly imperfect way. The symbol can be hand drawn with a finger aligning with the final step of the baker as they initial their creation before it goes into the oven.

Following up from their superb Agatha Christie stamps for the Royal Mail, Studio Sutherland has done it again. Problem solving and clever hidden ideas lend themselves perfectly to a new visual identity for media agency and production company Agatha Christie Limited (ACL). The identity aims to reflect how “intelligently crafted” Christie’s novels and characters are, says Studio Sutherland founder Jim Sutherland.

Orchestras, symphonies, ballets are all dream jobs for graphic design agencies around the world. So many have been done so well it’s hard to come up with something original and memorable. However lg2 boutique managed to achieve it. This is such a simple, clever, elegant solution, combining the shapes of the instruments with a bold ‘O’. Vibrant, lively, timeless and flexible. Everything you’d want for a symphony orchestra identity.

The AGDA Awards finalists have just been announced in Australia and there is a load of excellent work on show, like this wonderful identity for Hiker, a hiking podcast, by Ed. Such a lovely, simple idea based in a truth. I also love the vertical lockup. Minimum moves, maximum impact.