D&AD New Blood

A few weeks back we helped out at D&AD New Blood.

Our role was to 'transport' people from the venue site on Brick Lane to an agency who was hosting an event. Our two agencies were The Partners and AKQA (where we were on placement at the time). We were meant to walk the groups but as both agencies were are in Farringdon (a 45 min walk) and the groups were 25 and 50+ people, we opted for the tube. However, this was still an epic mission and one we would not be rushing to do again. How primary teachers take a group of 35, 6-11 year old on a day trip is beyond us. Anyway, we digress, The events were both great and we learnt a lot from some very interesting Creative Directors. D&AD asked us to do a write up of each event so if you want to learn more read on...

So you’ve completed your degree, partied away the last of your student loan and pulled together a portfolio.. what the hell do you do next?

Luckily Jack Renwick, creative director at The Partners, is here to help.

After hunting down enough seats for the 50+ attendees, she began her enthusiastic, inspirational and truthful talk entitled ‘Help. I’m a designer’. There was no glossing over what would be involved on your path to becoming a designer. She told it straight: “If you love design, go for it, it is amazing. But if design isn’t your main passion, don’t get into this industry”.

This may sound a little cutthroat and heartless but it was far from that. From experience it is exactly what you need to hear in the crossover from university into the industry. It is hard and there will be times when you feel like giving up. However as Jack pointed out, everyone has these thoughts (you are not alone!) but when you see your work published or made, all those feelings are worth it.

Jack also talked through her personal loves and hates, thrills and fears and this gave a human insight rather than the usual agency stance. It was great to hear someone in her position rationalizing the hard times in a grounded way. “Of course I still get scared and panic.. everyone does”. Another nice point she touched on was the need to find an agency that you feel you fit into. “Don’t just focus on a name, choose somewhere you feel you can grow and somewhere where you get on with the people. A placement is not just a case of an agency testing you, you are testing out the agency”.

The talk then progressed to describing some of The Partners work before a Q&A session with two recent graduates who had been employed at the agency. With two completely different routes into their roles, it was another nod to the fact that if you really want this, you can do it. It was a great opportunity for the group to ask those burning questions and get three different points of view. The atmosphere between the team was great and Jack well and truly squashed the intimidating and unapproachable creative director stereotype. It was clear The Partners nurture their staff and always push for more and that this, in turn, helps them produce their outstanding work.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AKQA’s underlying message is ‘The future inspires us. We work to inspire’. Staying true to this, Chris May, associate creative director, delivered a sharp, visual and stimulating talk. He began by taking the intimate group of twenty through the agency’s approach to work. He explained how they “specialize in anything with a screen”, producing work within ecommerce, service design, interactive, content and interface.

Chris talked through some case studies of AKQA’s most successful and well-known work such as Nike Training Club, the Nigella Lawson App, Heineken Star Player, Fiat Eco-Drive. Each of these was shown through an informative and concise film that showed the idea in all its’ glory.

It was immediately clear that AKQA truly are a digital agency with technology at the heart. Innovation is one of their core values and was a word that popped up frequently in the talk. Unlike the usual use of a so-called ‘buzz word’, there was truth here. They produce world firsts that use emerging technologies in an interesting and original way. And if the technology does not already exist, they create it themselves, in house.

Bridging the gap between the Technological Architects and the Creatives, AKQA have a team called CRD (Creative Research & Development). These developers have an appreciation for design and experience, physics and motion alongside a deep understanding of the technical issues. It is the collaboration and sharing of knowledge between all these teams that keep AKQA at the forefront of the industry. As Chris pointed out they work with high-end clients and have held accounts for over 10 years, so their processes are obviously working.

For those that had just graduated the talk was a great introduction to a digital agency. As most of the group had come from more traditional advertising courses it highlighted many previously unknown differences about the digital industry. A creative at AKQA can mean many things and Laura Bartlett, another host of the event, explained what they look for in a new-employee. “It is very role specific and I recommend you decide your discipline as early as possible”, an important insight for those just starting out.

The group was also given the chance to have a one-on-one portfolio review with an associate creative director. AKQA made this as beneficial as possible by pairing each attendee with an ACD that matched their direction in the industry. The feedback on the review sessions was excellent, with everyone saying they learnt so much in only 15 mins. In fact the entire afternoon at AKQA got a great response and the group left with a positive attitude and a thirst for what the digital industry had to offer them.