In 2025 he won a wooden pencil in the New Blood category, dedicated to students and emerging creatives, at the D&AD awards. Despite the recognition, he spent months looking for work, without finding it. His hope was to write more ads, but it turns out that pencil I didn’t write. So he decided to create a campaign in which he gave the utensil a new use to denounce the situation and open a conversation in the sector. Now he has a job in creativity and strategy and has won a new award at the competition.
It is the story of Manuel Fernández, who the industry now knows as “the one with the pencil.”
Winning a D&AD, does it help?
It all started when, still studying a Master of Creativity at the Brother Madrid school, he presented a project to the festival. “The 60 Day Wind-Up” proposed a solution to bring the products of the British watchmaker Christopher Ward closer to younger users. Fernández’s idea proposed a twist to the gesture of winding watches, so that the watches would be the ones that would help young people achieve their goals.
The case earned the young creative a prize in the contest, but it did not open the doors to new job opportunities. Until that moment he had completed internships at Accenture Song and Piel Creative Studio. In the latter, as we have been able to know since reason.Whychose to make an exception in their proposal for senior talent to provide them with an approach to the profession after being surprised by their portfolio and, especially, by the strategic thinking behind their ideas.
“Manuel’s work has depth, it is not just execution for execution’s sake, which is something that we sometimes miss among the new generations. That convinced us to offer you a training“, explains Juan García-Escudero, Founder of Piel Creative Studio. “When that period ended, we chose not to hire him, because we considered that what he needed at the moment was to be surrounded by young talent, to experience those initial stages in large agencies that are fundamental for a creative’s career. If we had been selfish, we would have hired him, but we didn’t want to deprive him of that experience”.
“Manuel’s work has depth, something that we sometimes miss among the new generations”
For his part, Manuel Fernández has added, in statements to reason.Why :“When I finished my master’s degree, I wanted to find something to continue learning while I was looking for a life.“, he tells us “Juan García-Escudero and Jesús Lada gave me that opportunity. I was able to contribute remotely from Pamplona and see how they work on a day-to-day basis. But at that time there was no room for me, due to the creative boutique model with senior expertise that they offer to the market.”.
Shortly after, as we have learned from this medium, Manuel joined the Play Your Brand team, which offers on-demand audiovisual production solutions, in the commercial and business development area.
And it was then when he decided to launch “Unemployed D&AD winner”, an action through which he shared his experience as winner of the award – one of the most recognized by the advertising industry internationally – but while still looking for a job in which to develop his creativity, beyond internships.
A pencil that doesn’t write ads
Manuel materialized his unemployment situation by breaking the pencil and incorporating a real lead to be able to write, a metaphor that the trophy was not fulfilling its mission. This was based on data that D&AD itself offered in October when announcing the briefings for the 2026 New Blood edition. They noted that 65% of the winners of said award currently work in the creative sector, which makes the awards “one of the most effective talent acquisition platforms in the sector, promoting thousands of professional careers and shaping the future of design and advertising“, according to the organization in a statement.
However, Manuel Fernández focused on that remaining 35% who cannot find employment, a statistic of which until then he was a part. “Last year I won a D&AD pencil, one of the most coveted prizes in advertising. I thought it would help me find a job where I could write ads.“, commented the young man when sharing his idea on Linkedin. “It turns out that the pencil neither gave me work nor wrote, so I have done what I could to put it to use.”.
“I wanted to show that recognition is supposed to validate that I have talent, but the reality is that I didn’t have a job.“, Fernández comments to this medium. His message, however, caught the attention of the sector, making the publication go viral on Linkedin with its interactions and comments.
Creative directors from agencies such as &Rosás, TBS or Dentsu Story Lab praised the work; Others invited Manuel to get in touch to evaluate collaboration possibilities. Furthermore, following the young man’s intention, the video also started a debate about the value of awards and whether they are really an indicator of the talent of professionals, but also about the working conditions of the sector.
From Brother Madrid, the school where Manuel trained, they say they are proud that the young man has resorted to creativity to open up to the market. “We work so that students understand that creativity is not only advertising, but that it is inherent to them, that they have to exercise it and that with it they can tell their story and go wherever they want.“, states Emilia Bertola, Academic Director of the school, in statements to reason.Why. “Manuel is using his creativity to move, which is the best thing a creative can do.”.
They also applaud the fact that creativity is at the center of the resounding message about talent management that it sends to the industry. “Nowadays there are new professionals who want to enter the sector, but who are pushed into eternal cycles of internships to prove their worth. That is something we have to review as an industry if we want to continue growing and being relevant.”, explains Bertola.
He assures that, as a result of the video, he has conducted interviews with agencies in the United Kingdom, the United States and Mexico.
The value of the prizes
The truth is that this second project has highlighted the profile of Manuel Fernández. He assures that, as a result of the video, he has conducted interviews and contacted creative agencies and companies in Milan, the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He has even entered into talks with Lego, in Denmark.
What’s more, he has submitted the work again to the D&AD awards, also in the New Blood category, and it has been selected in the Shortlist despite an approach that he considers critical of the contest itself. And you already know that you have won, although you will be revealed what type of pencil you have obtained on June 30 during the award ceremony in London.
Asked about the value he places on the awards after everything he has experienced in recent months, Manuel Fernández considers, from his “little experience“, which is a matter “with many grays. I don’t think I can say if all these festivals and awards are worth it or not. I believe that the value really lies in the relevance of what you do, in its impact, in whether people like it and talk about it. I’m too young to give an opinion, but I think we work so that everyone likes things, not just the industry.”, he maintains.
Beyond the award itself, Fernández values what he has done with it on a creative level and the consequences this has had. “I have received many messages from kids like me. They have congratulated me, and told me that they have felt a push, a motivation to create, that it has served as inspiration for them.“, says. “When I couldn’t find anything, the easy thing would have been to leave. So if all this has to teach a lesson, it is to encourage everyone who has a passion to fight for it until the end.“.
His pencil, however, has opened creative paths for him. For now, he has decided to continue at Play Your Brand, where he has been offered to build and lead the brand strategy. “They are giving me the confidence and freedom to be able to do what I like, without being tied down. It is a company that is growing a lot and fast, and I think that is a very interesting challenge. There is something risky and leaving the comfort zone that is very attractive to me.“, Manuel Fernández explains to us in statements to reason.Why. “I will be able to define and execute a strategy, and be dedicated to a single brand, which is what I really want“.
