Yoto‘s latest audio player, Yoto Mini, has earned a Wood Pencil – representing the best of the year in design – at the 2021 D&AD Awards in the Product Design, ‘Everyday Consumer Products’ category.

Since 1962, D&AD has been inspiring a community of creative thinkers by celebrating the finest in design and advertising. Famously tough to win and highly sought-after, there are no quotas for D&AD Awards, meaning that the number of awarded entries fluctuates each year. The D&AD Awards are recognised globally as the ultimate creative accolade, entered and attended by the best from around the world.

According to the D&AD Award website, “Yoto Mini was designed from the ground up for children but is deliberately not too toy-like, appealing to kids of all ages. The use of physical cards for audio playback lets children as young as two explore their favourite stories and music independently, while also promoting tactile play and helping with fine motor control development.”

“Being awarded a D&AD Pencil is one of the highest accolades in the design and creative industry and we are incredibly proud,” says Ben Drury, CEO of Yoto. “Winning the Wood Pencil means our Yoto Mini will be featured in the digital D&AD Annual and online archive and will be a source of inspiration for creatives around the world forevermore. We thank our valued design partners at Pentagram for their incredible vision and we celebrate this win with them.”

Jon Marshall, Partner at Pentagram, adds: “To win a D&AD Pencil is a huge privilege for any design team, but great design work is only possible with great clients. We are proud to celebrate this recognition together with the team at Yoto who made this project possible.”