Apple lets its hair down as it wins Best Brand and Best Design Studio By Simon Jary

Apple flew out its entire design team to an awards ceremony in London last night, in a surprising move for the normally secretive company.

Say hello to Apple's whole design team

In an unprecedented show of force Apple’s chief designer Londoner Sir Jonathan Ive took his whole design team to the ultra-prestigious D&AD Awards that was celebrating its 50^th anniversary.

Apple was named the Most Awarded Brand and the Most Awarded Design Studio of the past 50 years at the D&AD (Design and Art Direction) Awards, which recognises excellence in the fields of advertising and design.

Apple has consistently won awards at the UK-based awards organisation.

The annual D&AD Awards are recognised globally as setting the standard for creative excellence, with its iconic yellow and black pencil awards. D&AD runs a year round programme of events and lectures across the UK and internationally.

The 50^th Anniversary D&AD Awards were held at a dinner at Evolution in Battersea Park in London.

Apple flew its 17-strong design team (15 men and two women) from San Francisco - including Ive, and all of them went on stage to collect the award for Best Design Studio.

Clearly the design work has been completed on Apple’s iPhone 5, which goes on sale this Friday.

The London Evening Standard reports Clive Grinyer, an old colleague of Ive at his original design consultancy Tangerine, saying of Apple’s success: "The design is inherent in every part of the brand."

“If anyone wondered whether D&AD mattered, the world's most valuable company has flown its entire design team over," said Robert Senior, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi.