The Western Australian creative community has rallied together in a collective show of support for new talent, sending ten young creatives to attend the inaugural D&AD New Blood Workshop in Sydney, taking place this November.

Upon launch earlier this month, the Perth Advertising & Design Club came forward with an offer to pay travel expenses for one lucky WA creative with the best submission, in order to make the 5,000km-plus round trip.

Since that news broke, Curtin University, the Communications Council and creative shops The Brand Agency and Meerkats, have all pledged funding towards travel and accommodation costs, enabling an additional nine rising stars to take their place at the New Blood Workshop.

Paul Lowndes, advertising design lecturer at Curtin said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for the Western Australian creative industry to have ten young WA creatives selected, and for nine of these to be Curtin students or graduates is overwhelming. D&AD has shown that WA really is a part of the national industry. This result has inspired many other Curtin students to enter future programmes. Thank you Paula Taylor of D&AD for making this all possible. I am proud to say that the new Curtin, PADC, D&AD alliance is proving its worth for new talent.”

Meanwhile, Curtin and AWARD School graduate, Kat Neaves was selected as the recipient of the PADC prize, personally chosen by Glue Society’s Jonathan Kneebone as his standout submission. Kat’s video below sees her with a unique take on the Workshop’s theme of ‘get your hands dirty’, using her hands to deliver a message entirely through the medium of sign language.

Jonathan Kneebone, writer/director, The Glue Society said, “There has been some real interest in the workshop from across the country with many students going to some lengths to create something unique and compelling from scratch. While many took the idea of getting their hands dirty a little too literally perhaps, Kat demonstrated a desire to push herself into unchartered territory. And in addition to having a powerful idea, she filmed it in an appropriately and well thought through way. For that reason, we chose hers as the top entry. We look forward to hosting all of the young creatives at our studios in a fortnight. It will be a learning experience for all of us.”

Mark Braddock, president of the Perth Advertising & Design Club, adds, “The PADC is proud to be able to give Kat the chance to take up this great opportunity presented by D&AD. Her entry was smart, simple and charming  – we couldn’t have asked for a more deserving winner. Having ten of the thirty places in the workshop offered to Western Australians is testament to both the quality of young, local talent and to The Skull’s Education Partner, Curtin University, whose renewed commitment to industry engagement has been led and championed by Paul.”

The full list of WA creatives attending the New Blood Workshop is as follows (sponsor in parentheses): Ali Watson & Paul Donnelly (The Brand Agency & Communications Council), Emil Cholich (Meerkats), Kat Neaves (PADC), Adriene Gray (Curtin), Alice Coglin (Curtin), Belinda Bonomelli (Curtin), Marina Vasileva (Curtin), Michael May (Curtin), Skipper Van Peer (Curtin).

Developed in partnership with the Glue Society and Google Australia, the New Blood Workshop offers a frenetic, fast-paced industry crash-course, taking a project from brief to broadcast in one day.

In total, thirty new creatives have won places on the New Blood Workshop, with attendees set to travel from as far as Melbourne and New Zealand, as well as Western Australia, making for a truly diverse mix of talent from the continent. Taking place on Friday 7 November, the packed schedule of masterclasses and guest speakers has now been finalised, including:

• Creative & Strategy – Hosted by Jonathan Kneebone and Richard Bullock
• Directorial – Hosted by Matt Devine, James Dive, Pete Baker & Paul Bruty
• Production – Hosted by Ian Iveson
• Cinematography – Hosted by Russell Boyd
• Photography – Hosted by Derek Henderson
• Casting – Hosted by Allison Meadows Mullinars
• Design & Typography – Hosted by Jim Parry
• 1st Assistant Directorial – Hosted by Nikki Long
• Editing – Hosted by Dan Lee, the Butchery & Luke Crethar