We popped over to Urbis yesterday to have a look at this year’s D&AD exhibition, and have to say, it gets two Thoughtful thumbs up. We really liked the way Urbis has laid everything out, it feels a lot fresher than last year’s exhibition.

Oddly, the first thing your eyes are drawn to when you arrive, isn’t the great work on show, but a collection of giant-sized stationery items.

We’re not sure why they’re there, but we’re guessing they’re meant to compliment the huge yellow pencils dotted around the exhbition.

Each of these pencils doubles as a workstation that lets children come up with their own designs through a set of small design briefs on each pencil. We like the idea of getting kids interested in design and ideas because from a kids point of view, design can be misunderstood, taken for granted, unachievable, not relevant, and maybe a bit boring. If exhibitions like this can spark the next generation of Beattie’s and Sagmeister’s, then we’re all for it.

It’s great to see work in the flesh too. You couldn’t appreciate how good the lenticular cover is on the Draft magazine until you see it for yourself.

The Artois campaign makes a good impact when placed together.

And here’s one of the fantastic posters by McCann Erickson Singapore seen through, you guessed it, the handle of a giant pair of scissors.

Wayne Rooney also makes an appearance. Is this how you feel when you win a yellow or black pencil?

As we were saying before, the exhibition feels fresh. We think this is due to the fact the work isn’t laid out in a consistant way. There are pieces framed, hanging, in lightboxes, pasted on big hexagonal stands and in cabinets.

Well, we had more pictures, but we didn’t want to spoil it for you. The D&AD exhibition is on until February 2008 so there’s plenty of time to see it for yourself before it closes, and it’s free entry.

Let us know what you think.