TBWA\Sydney has appointed Darren Borrino as group creative lead, strengthening the agency’s senior creative tier as it works to lift craft and creative ambition across the group.
Borrino joins from New York, where he co-founded inkfish®,, and agency built around an idea-first approach and a project-based model that brings specialist global talent together for each brief. inkfish® has delivered work for brands including ASICS, Therabody, Pfizer, PromethistAi and Our Next Energy. Prior to inkfish®, Darren was group creative director at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, leading creative across Nissan North America and Hilton Hotels’ global business, and executive creative director at TBWA\ Open Co (The Open Collaboration) in Johannesburg, a specialist agency group serving major clients such as Apple and McDonald’s. The South African art director creative’s career spans senior roles across New York, Sydney, Prague and Johannesburg, with gold award wins from D&AD, Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, Spikes Asia and The One Show.
He is also an AWARD School tutor and has spoken publicly about the importance of moving beyond work that is simply “clever” toward ideas that genuinely persuade and endure, particularly as the industry adapts to new tools, including AI.
In his new role, Darren will work alongside chief creative officer Matt Keon and the broader leadership team to elevate craft, sharpen thinking and support teams in pushing ideas further. He is Keon’s first senior creative hire since he was appointed CC) in April 2025.
Borrino stated, “I’m excited to return to TBWA, as an agency it has always stood for creative bravery, and it feels like a privilege to join a team that’s hungry to keep raising the bar and making the work better.”
Keon added, “Darren brings deep craft, strong conceptual discipline and an idea-first mindset. He’s built teams, built a business, and understands what it takes to turn a strong platform into work that truly lands. “His appointment adds senior strength to our creative department, and alongside the talented teams we already have, we’ll keep pushing the work forward.”
