So Thursday 30th June - Monday July 1st was D&AD's New Blood Festival, which was amazing! Everyday was jam packed with different things to do and different experiences, from book crits and reviews to agency workshops.
Thursday was only open to exhibitors, so I arrived early and found my University stall which was in the process of getting set up, along with all the other University stalls, it all looked pretty exciting! That aftertnoon I'd booked up one of the workshops New Blood had organised, which was with digital agency AKQA. A group of us made our way to the agency where we had a talk with one of the directors there before having one to one portfolio reviews with the agency's creatives. Other than going out and getting portfolio crits off your own back, this was an amazing opportunity to get real industry insight on your work and begin a bit of networking and swap business cards.
When the visit was over, some of us (myself included) had been given the opportunity to go to New Blood's Private Viewing, where you look after your University's stall and network with industry professionals who come over to the stall to look at the work on display (see image). A great way to network, swap business cards and get yourself and your work seen by the people who matter!
Friday was another brilliant day. Four of us had been lined up for portfolio reviews with industry professionals. Mine were with creatives from The Chase and Crayon. This experience was invaluable, getting my book seen by more people who matter, getting contacts and getting more feedback on the work I'd created. The room was completely filled with creatives from places such as Mother, Sony and Innocent. After this, I'd booked another workshop, with Manchester based agency, Fudge, who had come down especially for New Blood. A group of us headed to where they were based, where we had a talk with the director, before we were set the task of creating our own agency in groups of 4-5. We had to decide who we were going to be, what we did and what made us different from everyone else out there, before pitching it back to everyone. The workshop was great fun and the afternoon flew by. At the end, the director said he didn't mind looking through my book and telling me his thoughts which was a bonus.
Sadly I couldn't get out of work over the weekend, so I missed 2 days of New Blood which I'm gutted over as Mandy Wheeler was doing a creative detox on Saturday and there was a cardboard engineering workshop on Sunday which sounded brilliant! But oh well. Back to New Blood on Monday and I'd booked up a slot with Cogs Agency to get some advice on my book, how best to get into the industry, what's going to be expcted of me and what I'm likely to be asked in interviews. In the afternoon, I booked another workshop at Bold Creative, which was one of my highlights from the past few days! We had a quick chat with the guys from the agency before being put into groups and given live briefs which we worked on for the afternoon and then pitched our ideas back to the agency at the end of the day.
The whole three days I was there was an amazing experience and an opportunity I'm incredibly glad I didn't miss out on. I would encourage anyone finishing Uni next year to go, you won't regret it. Not only because it's a chance to network with professionals and get your work seen by them, but it's also very important to meet other students from Universities. You're all in the same boat, going through the same experience, so it's vital to meet people who are going through the same motions as you. I met a number of people from various Universities who I got on really well with and will hopefully keep in touch with for some time.
Aside from the workshops that run throughout the day, but there was also a number of different things happening at the exhibition itself. Near my Uni's stall YCC (Young Creative Counil) had set up a 2 minute tent, where you were told a brief and then had 2 minutes to answer the brief - best response gets a placement! They also had Skype-crits with Creative Directors from agencies all over the world going on throughout the festival. The #100 were also there, giving out advice and portfolio reviews to anyone who wanted them.
The whole thing was a brilliant experience and strongly urge prospective graduates to go. Book as many workshops as possible, get your book seen by anyone who stands still long enough and network network network, with professionals and peers!
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