The winner of AKQA’s brief to make Beats the ideal companion for commuters was: Christian Johnstone, Isabel Mickleburgh, Chad Joyce.

D&AD New Blood Shift is a free 12-week night school that provides young people without qualifications a leg up into the creative industries. The programme receives immense industry support, with applicants in 2017 going on to placements and employment with companies including Nike, BBC Creative, Iris and AKQA.

Work displayed reflects the latest trends and topics of the industry

Throughout the weeks, the ‘Shifters’ work on a diverse range of projects that reflect the latest trends and topics of the industry. D&AD has displayed all the work produced by the 2018 Shift Class at a one-day breakfast showcase.

As part of Shift, applicants get the opportunity to work on real client briefs set by leading creatives. The briefs for this year have been set by Formula E in partnership with Iris and by AKQA, who used their client Beats as part of their brief. The winners were announced, securing their chances of paid placements with the sponsor companies.

The winning teams of the Formula E and Iris brief were: Christian Johnstone, Isabel Mickleburgh and Chad Joyce and Iman Siyad and Jael Umerah-Makelemi. They had the challenge of presenting Formula E as the future of racing to a demographic of 16-35-year-old sports enthusiasts. As well as securing a placement at Iris, the teams won a trip to a Formula E European race.

The winner of AKQA’s brief to make Beats the ideal companion for commuters was: Christian Johnstone, Isabel Mickleburgh, Chad Joyce with awards also given for best photography and art direction, and most innovative approach.

Creative industry needs to ‘shift’ their ways of thinking

Each year, the programme partners with several prominent brands to mentor and host sessions. This year’s sponsors include PwC, AKQA, Iris, Formula E and The Mayor’s Fund.

As one of the headline sponsors, PwC took part in mentoring and hosting sessions for the group. During these sessions, PwC challenged the shifters with a one-day brief to enhance the experience for visiting clients to PwC's More London HQ.

Hilary Chittenden, head of New Blood Shift at D&AD says: “This is the third year we’ve run the programme, and every year the level of talent gets stronger. There is a pool of talent that often goes unseen because they don’t come from traditional educational backgrounds. If it is to evolve in this day and age, the creative industry needs to ‘shift’ their ways of thinking and tap into this diverse group of people.”

Design thinking and design doing

Harriet Devoy, D&AD president says: “I’m a huge believer of D&AD’s Shift programme. Since its launch in 2016, we’ve had several Shift graduates come to us for creative internships who have brought with them a refreshing reminder that diverse perspectives breed more exciting results, and that the creative talent of the future doesn’t need to be restricted to the same education and career paths of the past."

Lauren Pleydell-Pearce, executive creative director at Experience Centre PwC UK says:

We believe in design being at the heart of building a better future for our clients. We focus on design thinking and design doing to make beautiful things that work for all people. This is why we've sponsored the Shift programme. New Blood Shift, and initiatives like them, understand the value of design and seek out, nurture and drive untapped creative thinkers of the future. It has been a privilege to help support and mentor the raw creative talent of the Shifters. I look forward to seeing them experiment, innovate, and create value for companies and society.

The full list of winners:

Formula E x Iris

Joint 1st place
Christian Johnstone
Isabel Mickleburgh
Chad Joyce
Iman Siyad
Jael Umerah-Makelemi

2nd place
Matteo Dicandia
Maisie May Plumstead
Reuben Lee

AKQA

Overall winners
Christian Johnstone
Isabel Mickleburgh
Chad Joyce

Best photography/Art direction
Iman Siyad
Jael Umerah-Makelemi
Raafaye Ali Sheikh

Most innovative approach
Emily Nelson
David Osafo
Denisa Krasniqi