Kwame Taylor-Hayford on taking D&AD programming into India, China and Nigeria

Today it’s involved in training and education programs, with a particular but not exclusive focus on industry pathways for young people and an awards scheme which garners entries from 85 countries.

Taylor-Hayford is on a mission to make the organization more international, with events and programs on the ground in new territories.

‘Accelerating’ creative economies and ‘celebrating’ local culture

“We’re currently in Sydney, Australia, Berlin and São Paulo as well as New York where I’m based. The new markets I mentioned are where creative is burgeoning, and we need to ensure that we are able to help accelerate that while making sure local cultures are being celebrated in any work that we do there”.

As a result, it’s seeking investment in these new territories. This has worked well before for Shift, its free night school for creatives without a degree he says, explaining, “We’ve been able to execute that in other markets around the world because of the support of brands and agencies. As we look at some of those additional markets, it’s going to be a very important program to take as an introduction to the ad industry.”

Showing young people why they should bother with agencies

Part of the challenge of opening up pathways for younger people to get into the industry is showing them the value of joining agencies, which is something Taylor-Hayford says he’s working on.

“It’s easy for someone to get on TikTok or YouTube and build a pretty great community or audience and make a living doing that with a lot more ease than getting a job working at an ad agency or a design studio but I think we need to help them see that by being connected to our community and learning a bit more about the what we do, they can learn about craft and strengthen their ability to take what they already do to the next level,” he says.

The push back here is that young people may feel motivated enough to try to go it alone but Taylor-Hayford feels that “there’s a big missing piece in not having a community and not having the rigor and formal education in strategy or any sort of craft discipline, be that design, art direction or copy. It’s not impossible to get that outside of an agency, but by being in a very concentrated, creative culture where what you do is the most important thing for the company, I think there’s something special about that still.”

Engaging with leaders as well as talent is an equal priority for Taylor-Hayford as is securing the future of the organization in general. “Evolving the culture within our industry so that it’s more inclusive and creative” is a big part of all that, he says.

“We’re expanding the lens of creativity and design and I think that it’s important for us to appreciate different backgrounds and experiences especially as we move into the future because we are now able to open the door to many more voices and many more styles or approaches and I think that makes the fabric of this creative world that we live in much more rich, and honestly, also much more appealing to many more audiences.”

Showing clients the value of human creativity

At D&AD Festival this year, on stage and across the organization’s awards, there was a practical emphasis on the value of human creativity to clients and the need for the ad and design industries to demonstrate this.

“In this world of AI, automation and efficiency, we’re making space and it’s very clear from judging [the awards] that human imagination and creativity are coming to the fore where there’s a real focus on craft,” says Taylor-Hayford.

He also makes the ‘AI is being used as a tool’ observation but it’s worth bearing in mind that given that the organization has well over 11,000 entries this holds quite a lot of weight.

“Maybe AI helps you get a big portion of the early work done but there’s still a human hand and the attention to detail, refinement and precision in the work as a whole should be appreciated,” he says.

Agency shake-up reflected across festival

The shake-up of the agency landscape is also being seen across the festival. “I think a lot of people are not enamored with working in big traditional agencies, because of the pressures of the industry,” says Taylor-Hayford who adds, “Brands are looking for more for less, for things to be done more quickly and often seem to be unwilling to be as brave as they might have been in the past.”

He reasons that this “opens the door for newer agency and design studio approaches that prioritize bravery and imagination.

“They’re ensuring close collaboration with brands where more senior talent is working directly with clients and ultimately they’re allowing creative people to do what they do in a structure that feels more designed to prioritize their needs when it comes to being creative practitioners in the industry.”