D&AD: Become a Shifter to get a job in the creative industries (application deadline extended)

Getting into the creative industries is competitive and demanding. There tend to be rules – age and education among them

In 2016, D&AD did something concrete about changing that. It created, what is for so many creatives who couldn’t go through the traditional education channel, a life-changing and career-making night school, New Blood Shift.

Shift gives those whose lives haven’t “followed the rules” – the raw, untrained creative talent who would otherwise be barred entry into the creative industries – what they need to get through the door. The four-month, free night course uses workshops and mentoring to give this talent the portfolios that show their abilities and the network they need to find jobs.

84% of 2017’s Shifters have entered into paid creative employment, compared to 41% of design graduates and just 24% of media graduates employed in their sectors after 6 months of graduation.

D&AD’s New Blood Shift is back for a third year. Applications are still open for this year’s Shift school. The deadline for submissions has been extended to August 10.

Lisa Williams is one of the recent graduates from the Shift programme. Since Shift, she has been able to move to London and is currently doing a placement with BBC Creative. View her work here.

For 4Creative, Williams created a Tinder-like app for client, B&Q, targeting millennials. The app allows users to “find the tools they NEED in life”.