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The London-based D&AD Awards are widely regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious accolades in advertising and graphic design. In the winners’ announcement on 30 June 2026, only two submissions from Malaysia received awards in this highly competitive international competition.

A team of four students from The One Academy’s Diploma in Visual Communication Design programme – Sun Jia Yang, Amy Ding Zi Yi, Arviola Poa and Puteri Nur Mysarah Iskandar – won one of the most prestigious honours, the “Wood Pencil”, at the international D&AD New Blood Awards. The award recognises outstanding work by students and emerging creatives in design, advertising, illustration, animation, digital, branding, product design, and related creative disciplines.

This latest achievement marks another milestone for The One Academy, bringing its total to eight awards won in the five years it has participated in the D&AD New Blood Awards, underscoring the institution's consistent success on the international creative stage.

Participating in the competition was both an exciting and meaningful experience for the team. The journey was far from easy, as many of their proposed ideas were rejected during critique sessions with their lecturers.

“However, thanks to the guidance of our lecturers and our team’s determination to never give up, we eventually brought home the Wood Pencil. Winning this award made me realise that all the hard work, rejection and constant refinement were worth it,” said Sun.

Their winning submission, “Send Me Shifts”, was awarded as one of the best works of the year in its category. The team responded to a creative brief by giffgaff and The Big Issue to develop a solution addressing how mobile connectivity and data can be used as a force for social good to support people experiencing digital exclusion. Participants were challenged to create innovative ideas that help disadvantaged people access opportunities while using connectivity as a tool for education, employment and financial inclusion.

“Our idea is simple but powerful. There are around one million NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) in the UK. At the same time, many gig job opportunities are available online. Through our research, we discovered that some people owned smartphones but couldn't afford mobile data. So, we came up with a tagged SIM card that delivers gig job opportunities via SMS without requiring mobile data or Wi-Fi,” Sun explained.

Instead of trying to solve a huge problem, the team focused on identifying a specific issue they could realistically address. Once they understood the real problem and the needs of their target audience, developing a compelling solution became much more achievable.

Reflecting on their experience, the team shared that The One Academy has trained them to think more critically and empathetically as designers. They learned to prioritise solving real problems over creating work that merely looks visually appealing, and to let go of ideas they personally favoured if those ideas did not effectively address the client's objectives.

“If ?you put in the effort, do proper research, stay curious, and never give up, you’ll eventually develop ideas that genuinely solve problems. A great idea is important, but strong execution is what brings that idea to life. Don't be afraid to experiment, learn new techniques, enjoy the learning process, and keep improving with every project,” he concluded.

The One Academy is committed to providing the best art education programmes and continues to nurture its students passionately through its “Masters Train Masters” coaching philosophy, which has been practised for over 35 years, by providing diploma and degree courses in Visual Communication Design, Digital Animation, Digital Media Design, Interior Architecture and Design, Illustration, Fine Arts, and Paris Fashion Design & Pattern Making. For more information, visit or call 03-7875 5510 or e-mail your enquiries to [email protected].