D&AD SHIFT SYDNEY | MEET THE CLASS OF 2024 ~ 5 MONTHS, 18 SHIFTERS, 3 PITCHES AND 1 SHOWCASE

D&AD Shift is an award-winning, free industry-led night school for self-taught creatives entering the advertising, design and creative industries from outside traditional education.

The D&AD Shift Sydney Class of 2024 has just completed a rigorous curriculum of in-person learning led by 20 creative agencies across multiple disciplines, from creative direction and design thinking to ideation, collaboration, pitching, and strategy. The cohort also worked on creative briefs set by Mastercard, Pepsi and We Are Warriors as part of their immersive experience.

The programme is on a mission to #ShiftCreativity by helping creatives entering the industry from outside traditional pathways to shift their creative talent into career-making skills.

Since 2016, Shift has trained over 340+ creatives in London, New York, Sydney, Hamburg, Berlin, and São Paulo with an average of 74% of Shifters going on to creative jobs and placements after completing the program.

83% of all Australia-based Shift Alumni remain in creative employment in the Australian commercial creative industry, employed by the likes of The Monkeys, Ogilvy, Havas, Heckler and more.

Shifters go on to write for Apple. They strategise for Spotify. They have creative ideas for Disney. They direct Stormzy, animate for Katy Perry and shoot for Vogue. Shifters are employed by every major advertising and design agency network. They win Pencils and sit on the board at D&AD.

The 18 creatives in the Shift Sydney 2024 cohort have been learning from industry pros, honing their craft, polishing their brief work and updating their portfolios. Each year, the program partners with industry to mentor, host, and lead sessions, giving Shifters access to agencies like The Monkeys, Special Group, TBWA, Havas, AKQA, The Glue Society, ColensoBBDO, R/GA, Ogilvy, Taboo, Supermassive, Campfire X, For the People, DesignStudio, Cocogun, Heckler, Amplify, Bullfrog and Bashful.

They had to think about getting everyday buyers to always put Mastercard “front of wallet” , encourage Blak Powerhouse visitors to join WAW (We Are Warriors) and turn Pepsi Max into the top drink choice for meal occasions.

For many of this graduating class, college and university didn’t seem like a viable option for various reasons, one being how expensive education has become in recent years. Shift also serves as a direct response to agencies’ feedback about ‘non-traditional talent’ being hard to find, offering them D&AD and industry-trained creatives through the Shift programme.

Says D&AD Foundation Director, Paul Drake: “D&AD Shift was created to challenge the assumption that the best creative talent only comes from a few universities or those from certain communities – an assumption that limits the diversity of perspectives that we desperately need in our industry.

Every time we run Shift, we prove that when given the opportunity, amazing things happen and I can’t wait to see what this Australian cohort does next.”

Says D&AD Shift Sydney Producer, Lauren Chibert: “We all know that our industry lacks diversity, but I often hear that agencies are struggling to find talent from diverse backgrounds. Shift forces us to rethink how we recruit by focussing on pure talent, not background or education, because you don’t need to have a degree to be
a brilliant creative.”

The Shift Sydney Class of 2024 are:
Alice Linn
Brayden Stairmand
Brittney Angus
Cameron Kapadia
Carissa Costa
Casper Hockley
Hung Phi Darren Huynh
Elvis Collie
Hamish Kennelly
Harrison Guest
Ilona Thompson
Mariana Messias Campos
Morinda Dixon
Odessa Jones
Rhian Morrison
Sarah Melamed
Seded Altansukh
Tianna Blaiklock

View their work