Young Australian creative Jonathan Key selected for global Feast mentorship program

Eighteen year old Australian Jonathan Key, a student at Sydney’s CATC Design College, has been selected as one of only two protégés worldwide by iStockphoto for a month long mentorship as part of its Feast initiative, a new online community for creatives.

Selected from a global pool of 300 applications, Key will be working directly with iStockphoto’s creative director, James Leal-Valias to meet a creative brief – “The Big Idea”.

The entire process, from drafts and feedback to the final project, will available at the Feast website. In addition to the mentorship, Key will also be rewarded with 500 iStock credits or $500.

Despite still studying full-time, Key  already has his own graphic design label, ‘Design is Key’, and is working to launch his t-shirt label Jayki .

Key was previously a student of Sydney’s prestigious Billy Blue College of Design where he first discovered his passion and talent for design.

Says Key: “I look forward to challenging myself creatively. I am excited by the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry, working with such respected personalities as James.”

Says James Leal-Valias, creative director for iStockphoto: “When creatives from different disciplines intermingle, strange and wonderful things happen. In today’s world it is crucial to keep your skills sharp. Feast acts as a catalyst, re-energizing people around their artistic talents and those of others.”

Created by iStockphoto to become a new online community for creatives, Feast will provide inspiration from a diverse group of designers, photographers, directors, writers, marketing professionals.

In pre-launch, iStockphoto received over 25, 000 applications. As part of Feast, each month, two to four protégés worldwide will be selected for a month long public mentorship on a specific topic by “Artists in Residence”, each cutting-edge leaders in their respective fields.

Each month, a different topic, relating to the overarching theme of “Creating a Better World” will be chosen as the central creative challenge and the Artist in Residence will also post guest articles related to the month’s topic.

Future Artists in Residence include:

November: Photojournalist, Mario Tama . Tama is an Emmy-Award nominated staff photographer for Getty Images who has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and other global events to international acclaim. His work on Baghdad’s orphans was exhibited at Visa Pour L’Image, and his images of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina have been featured in Newsweek, National Geographic and papers worldwide.

December:  Kirby Ferguson, creator of Everything is a Remix, Ferguson is a writer, director and producer who has created dozens of comedic short films and gotten over four million views on the web. As part of a development deal with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he recently wrote, directed, produced and edited the viral hit “Macs vs. PCs”. He is a prolific comedy writer and has extensive knowledge of video production, executing almost all production roles for his shorts.