Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote global creative, design and advertising communities and celebrates brilliance in commercial creativity. They are best known for the D&AD pencil programme. Since 1962, the D&AD Pencil has represented the very best in design and advertising. Winning a Pencil remains the pinnacle of many careers and the work it celebrates inspires others to study, debate, copy and reference its excellence, as the industry’s finest and most of historic treasures.
Our final year Digital students spent the afternoon with Paul to learn about their upcoming Shift programme in partnership with Google.
Shift is D&AD’s free industry-led night school for emerging creatives who don’t have a university-level degree. It tackles barriers to entry into the creative industry by providing an opportunity for emerging talent to hone their skills, establish a network and develop their portfolios. Consisting of industry-set briefs, talks and mentorship, Shift provides a supportive and educational space for creatives who face barriers to access higher education and subsequent employment within the creative industries. The result – a wider range of voices and perspectives entering into the creative industry.
As well as talking about the programme and opportunity – Paul spent time taking students through his extensive career in advertising and creativity and provided students with some top tips before they entered the industry after Global Academy. He shared some examples of great creative practice and inspired our students to think in new ways in order to bring fresh ideas and identities into the industry.
“Learning from industry first hand helps us prepare for the industry. It’s great to know there is a wide range of opportunities out there when we leave. It was really interesting to hear from industry that you don’t just need a degree to get into the advertising and creative industry and that there is a need and desire to hear from a my unique perspective as a young creative”
Year 13 Student
