© D&AD

Developed by D&AD, the global association for creative advertising and design based in London, the annual D&AD New Blood Shift programme taps a line-up of undiscovered creatives, each of them being over the age of 18 and not having a formal art school education. The free night school initiative is led by professionals and essentially combats talent that’s otherwise restricted by college fees and other systemic barriers. Interestingly, previous New Blood Shift New York class members have gone on to work for agencies, including NikeWieden+Kennedy and Design Bridge. Participants engage in four-months of online learning with various creative agencies across multiple disciplines from creative direction and design thinking, to pitching, strategy and creative thinking. This class of self-made creatives work with adidas and Spotify, official partners of the D&AD New Blood Shift programme, on two real-life creative briefs, as well as a ‘brief-in-a-day’ challenge, and will leave the programme ready to apply their skills to the industry. Applications for this year’s edition of New Blood Shift New York and New Blood Shift London are now open and will be conducted online.

© D&AD