Cannes Lions 2026: Film Craft, Digital Craft, Industry Craft, and Design winners

DESIGN LIONS

Head Judge of the Craft Lions Greg Quinton, CCO Design Bridge and Partners, opened by explaining that “the standard this year was amazing. There was no weak work." It terms of trends, the macro trend was work that was human-made, and a micro trend was typography – that seems to be the new playground. He went on to add that they noticed an 'anti trend' of opposites. "When the world is moving, fast slow down. When it's going, digital go analog. We noted a lot of celebration of going local, in a time of globalisation. We looked for work that moved us, makes us feel the brand. “

This felt like 'Apple is back'. It makes people feel better about the brand – which is testament to the power of design.

Quinton said the Grand Prix winner, Apple TV Rebrand, was one of the most important rebrands of the year. It was also a simple idea – using movement, light colour sound, to evoke the magic of cinema. "The craft is exquisite, but most importantly, when it could’ve been made much quicker using technology, it was made by hand. It's gloriously human made. You can sense the love that was put into it. Apple shared ‘the making of’ at the time of the launch, so timing was important. If they hadn’t, might not have had so much recognition. It was launched at a time of backlash to AI, which was also important. This felt like 'Apple is back'. It makes people feel better about the brand – which is testament to the power of design.” 

Four Gold Lions were awarded, including; The Volvo Cars Safety Standard for Volvo by AKQA, with production by Happy F&B; Supernova Adaptive by TBWA\Canada, produced by Omnicom Productions; Dancebook Brazil for Bradesco, created by Lovely with production by Mauricio Nahas Estudio Fotografico and Notorious Films; and NPR: For Your Right To Be Curious, created by Mischief At No Fixed Address for American Public Radio Network. 

To see the full list of winners and shortlisted work, visit the Cannes Lions site.

FILM CRAFT LIONS

Pip Smart, EP and Partner, Revolver, kicked the discussion off by talking about the scale of the category, “The Film Craft Lions was this year's biggest category. We had 1429 entries, and it was the first time Iraq entered the category. We saw incredibly inspiring pieces of work.” 

The depth and the originality of the craft was what we couldn’t deny.

“We noticed a lot of in camera work, a lot of practical craft, lots of puppets, singing and dancing, which was fun. We noticed a general push towards a tone that was uplifting and kind of magical.“

The Grand Prix winner, Coinbase, Your Way Out, "naturally rose to the top. A lot of the judging came back to us focussing on direction. By the end we were clear and united after detailed analysis that there were so many visionary choices throughout the work. The depth and the originality of the craft was what we couldn’t deny.“

To see the full list of winners and shortlisted work, visit the Cannes Lions site.

INDUSTRY CRAFT LIONS

Rapheal Gil, CCO Artplan Brazil, and head of the Industry Craft Lions jury, explained how they “looked at how to define craft, execution remains crucial, we asked ourselves what really made a piece of work exceptional, and we thought craft is connection, it is interaction and reaction, we looked at it through the lens of craft but also as consumers, what does the work make us feel." 

Every craft decision had a clear purpose. We saw some great ideas and beautiful stories behind the execution.

De Longhi's Tiny Coffee Shops scooped the Grand Prix. "The work that stood out to us was where every craft decision had a clear purpose. We saw some great ideas and beautiful stories behind the execution.“

To see the full list of winners and shortlisted work, visit the Cannes Lions site.

DIGITAL CRAFT LIONS

Head Judge of the Digital Craft Lions, Andrés Ordóñez, Global CCO McCann, kicked off the conversation by emphasising the importance of looking "behind the scenes" in this category. "You have to see everything that made the idea possible. The work lives at the intersection of logic and magic, the idea and the tech, digital craft is the perfect expression of that."

We didn’t want tech for the sake of tech. How it empowers and served idea was important.

He adds that, "the logic is the craft, the tech is the system behind it, and the idea is the magic that makes us feel something. That was what we were looking for. There is a lot of tech out there, moving at an insane speed, and there's load of content, but what is behind that? We didn’t want tech for the sake of tech. How it empowers and served idea was important."

Project Genie, by Google, was a unanimous decision. "The response to the work was “I need this!’ It seemed to be a glimpse into the future of tech, something that will enable us to create new worlds, to become better storytellers. Creators are the drivers but Genie is a copilot. It’s a way to create new worlds, and I think that is magical."