D&AD Shift has nurtured of the talents of another 18 creatives, this time in Sydney. The D&AD Shift Sydney Class of 2024 experienced a 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. Shifters also worked on creative briefs set by Mastercard, Pepsi and We Are Warriors.

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, polishing their craft, finessing 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 Bashful, R/GA, Ogilvy, Special Group, TBWA, AKQA, Bullfrog, ColensoBBDO, Taboo, Supermassive, Campfire X, For the People, DesignStudio, Cocogun, The Monkeys, Heckler, Havas, Amplify, Glue Society.

This group of Shifters 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.

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 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 Heckler, Havas, Ogilvy, The Monkeys and more.

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’ complaints about not being able to ‘find non-traditional talent’, offering them D&AD and industry-trained creatives.

D&AD Shift Sydney Producer, Lauren Chibert commented, “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 and Tianna Blaiklock.

To meet the Shifters and view their work,  RSVP today for the D&AD Shift Sydney Showcase Thursday, 12 September | 6 – 9 pm. If you can’t attend, the Shifters’ showcase will be published here.