D&AD Hands Its Presidency to Uncommon's Nils Leonard
TL;DR: D&AD has named Nils Leonard, co-founder of Uncommon Creative Studio, as its new President, succeeding Lisa Smith, in an appointment announced on 15 October 2026 and framed around an expanded remit.
A high-profile appointment
Announced on 15 October 2026, Nils Leonard will become President of D&AD, the body that has championed design and creative excellence for decades. He succeeds Lisa Smith, stepping into one of the most visible honorary roles in the industry.
Leonard is a known quantity with a serious track record. He co-founded Uncommon Creative Studio, the agency behind the EA Sports FC rebrand and ITV's 'Britain Get Talking', and before that served as Chairman and chief creative officer of Grey London. In short, D&AD has chosen a maker, not a figurehead.
Why 'expanded' is the operative word
The appointment has been framed around an expanded remit for the organisation, and that single word carries the strategy. Industry awards bodies face a genuine relevance question as creativity fragments across AI, gaming, social and formats that did not exist when many of these institutions were built.
Choosing someone from Uncommon — an agency that made its name refusing to play by traditional agency rules — signals D&AD wants to broaden what 'great creative work' even means. It is a positioning move as much as a personnel one. An honorary president does not run the day-to-day, but they set the tone, and the tone an institution sets is precisely what decides whose work feels celebrated and whose feels overlooked.
The industry context
The timing matters. The agency world is in visible flux, from consolidation and leadership churn to the rise of independent studios challenging the holding-company model. A creativity body that wants to stay central has to be seen backing the energy, not guarding the past.
Leonard's Uncommon pedigree — work like 'Britain Get Talking' that blends commercial and cultural impact — is exactly the profile D&AD needs to argue that craft and effectiveness are not opposites. The appointment is a bet on creativity that does a job. That matters at a moment when marketers under budget pressure keep being told they must choose between work that wins awards and work that moves the numbers; the EA Sports FC rebrand and 'Britain Get Talking' are useful counter-evidence that the best work tends to do both.
Why this matters beyond the awards circuit
It is tempting to file leadership changes at awards bodies under industry gossip, but they are leading indicators. Who a profession chooses to represent it tells you what it currently values — and D&AD picking an independent provocateur over a safe pair of hands says the industry is rewarding nerve again.
What it signals for the wider market
For agencies and marketers watching, the message is that the definition of creative leadership is shifting towards builders who have proven ideas can move both culture and business. Honorary titles still shape whose work gets celebrated, and that in turn shapes what the next generation aspires to make.
It also lands against a noisy backdrop of agency upheaval, from senior leadership moves to independents being snapped up by larger groups. Against that churn, D&AD choosing a founder who built something distinctive rather than simply scaled it reads as a deliberate statement about where the discipline's energy is coming from, and where it thinks the work worth rewarding will originate next.
For smaller studios and independents, there is quiet encouragement here. Elevating an indie founder to the presidency of a storied institution suggests the centre of creative gravity is moving — away from scale for its own sake and towards distinctiveness. That is a healthy signal for anyone competing on ideas rather than headcount, and a reminder that the agencies setting the agenda are increasingly the ones willing to behave differently rather than simply grow bigger.
Quick FAQ
Who is the new President of D&AD?
Nils Leonard, co-founder of Uncommon Creative Studio and former Chairman and CCO of Grey London, named on 15 October 2026, succeeding Lisa Smith.
What is Nils Leonard known for?
Co-founding Uncommon Creative Studio, the agency behind the EA Sports FC rebrand and ITV's 'Britain Get Talking', and previously leading Grey London.
Why does the D&AD appointment matter?
It is framed around an expanded remit, signalling D&AD wants to broaden what counts as great creative work as the discipline fragments across new formats.
Who an industry picks to represent it is a tell. D&AD choosing an independent provocateur like Nils Leonard over a safe institutional choice says the business is rewarding nerve again. For any founder building on distinctiveness rather than scale, that shift in the centre of gravity is genuinely good news. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Who a profession chooses to lead it reveals what it values — and creativity is swinging back towards nerve over scale.
Is your brand competing on headcount and scale, or on the distinctiveness that's quietly coming back into fashion?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: MediaPost, More About Advertising
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
