Carving Their Own Path: ANZ’s Rising Creatives

Amy, a lover of the ‘romantic’ answer, believes writing is like breathing and that every word is an opportunity to change the world. When that world went into lockdown immediately she graduated from RMIT in 2019, causing her first job at Blue-chip clients to fall away a week before she was meant to start, Amy freelanced as a copywriter. 

A few years later, she found herself at Leo Burnett where she and Jade Chan, were announced as finalists for Cannes Young Lions. Calling the nomination a "privilege" and a "very exciting day", Amy believes every day brings something new to discover. 

Working with art director Sophie Hackett, she encourages junior creatives to stay clear from sticking to ‘straight-line thinking’. 

“Being a creative is about using the brief as a springboard. Embrace the weird, the awkward, and the unexpected. Ultimately, being creative is inherently personal. There’s a little bit of you on every page. Be vulnerable. Be confident. Be both at the same time.” she said. 

Jack Close, intermediate art director and Zak Hawkins, intermediate copywriter - ColensoBBDO 

Jack and Zak are a duo that emulate creativity right to their cores. Having ‘bribed’ every creative director in New Zealand (as Jack likes to tell it), The Monkeys “were the ones to take the bait”. Jack also noted that he’d like to take the opportunity to apologise to those who did not take the bait for their behaviour. 

Zak realised a whole 10 years ago that he wanted to do something creative for a living, but it was only two years ago that he realised that a ‘creative’ was a viable career. After a Mad-Men marathon during lockdown, his mind was set on diving into the industry. 

Falling in ‘creative love’ with each other at Media Design School and spending months bargaining to be placed together, the two now work at Colenso BBDO. Since getting their feet under the table at the agency, their most exciting projects have been featured in Rolling Stones Magazine and The Guardian. They were Pīkari Mai, the viral browser plug in that filters out royal gossip and replaces it with Indigenous news stories and the hit song proven to reduce anxiety with Youthline & Benee.

Jack and Zak thank Simon Vicars, CCO at ColensoBBDO and Damon Stapleton, CCO at the Monkeys for allowing them to work together and pick the brains from two of the best creatives in the industry. 

Growing up writing short stories and directing plays, Catho D’Souza was captivated by the possibility of creativity having the power to make change. The thought of enthralling an audience by exposing them to another point of view that they might never have considered is what drew her to a creative career. 

With the possibility of improving people's lives and telling meaningful stories coupled with her ambition, she studied abroad in LA where she met people who inspired and encouraged her. Finding her passion in growing representation not only in the stories being told but also in expanding knowledge among what is already known about mental health, she has found herself working for Paper Moose.

Over the course of her career so far, she has learnt that creativity needs to have empathy, resilience, guts, and a proclivity for chaos. 

“Being a creative, I can work in ethical investing, beer, women’s health and music all in one week. Creativity requires being completely in touch with so many different parts of society, which is a thrilling challenge. It requires constantly learning, evolving, and using your strengths to help all these different kinds of causes have their voices heard. It is also a really nerve-wracking position to be in, where success and validation always feels out of your control,” she said.

Three years into a communications degree, the penny dropped for Georgia. After years of trying to answer the question ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ she realised that the answer was never going to appear in the stars. Instead, it came from a university tutor. 

“Her advice was the simultaneous slap across the face and kick up the bum I needed.” she said. 

For Tiger, he was sitting in the craft department as a graphic designer, listening in on the conversation around him. He describes them as bouncing ideas back and forth until landing on something great and from then on he was hooked.  

“I realised that's where I wanted to be, talking nonsense with someone until things made sense, until you had an original idea.”

Both having their own separate moments on serendipitous realisations, Georgia and Tiger have found themselves copywriters at Cummins and Partners. Having the ability to solve problems creatively and sometimes in the most outlandish ways, the pair believe that to be a creative is to bring change. To enjoy the entire journey, understanding that ideas rarely stay the same and allowing for pure creative freedom is, “pretty dang cool” as Georgia perfectly put it. 

The pair believe that the most exciting part of the job is getting to see a project through from start to finish.  

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The creative industry is one that thrives when people understand that no idea is set in stone, that everything is constantly evolving. To have the ability to understand that learning never stops is a gift and is one that these young creatives display excellently. 

Reflecting on the perspectives and portfolio’s of our interviewees, there’s no doubt that the industry’s future is in the safest possible hands