D&AD New Blood 2009
D&AD New Blood the annual exhibition for design graduates.
This years New Blood took place at Kensington Olympia a very nice space for such an exhibition. Scroll down for photos (click thumbnails for full version).
Thanks to D&AD’s profile within the design and advertising industries, the exhibition is the most effective graduate recruitment fair for would-be creative practitioners.
quote source
Is New Blood a Recruitment Fair?
I showcased my work in 2008 and ultimately felt unsure about the experience. At first seeing the thousands of students there was overwhelming. I thought - how am I going to stand out above the rest? Well, I wasn't going too; no one is. Over the two and a bit days of New Blood you'll be lucky if 100 people stop for longer than a glance at your work. Maybe ten or so business cards will be picked up (triple that if they're shiny). New Blood is a show by students, for students. There are of course the lucky few who get picked up by design studios but the exhibition in its current format seems outdated and, dare I say, irrelevant?
Suggesting that New Blood is irrelevant is quite a bold statement. I certainly applaud what D&AD is trying to do for students (despite faulting on the pretentious poster campaign by a clueless LBi) but it's becoming a cattle market with no buyers. New Blood is built up at University to be this big once-in-a-lifetime event. Students (myself including) lose sight of the real goal (employment) because of the glitz and glamour of New Blood. We pack our bags for London hoping to walk out with a job only to leave disappointed and slightly bewildered. Sure, it's a great day out, but it's not a recruitment fair.
Seeking Employment
New Blood is an exhibition and celebration of the always impressive graduate work but it rarely helps towards employment. I've spoke to many students over the past two years and the consensus has been the same - New Blood was disappointed - there is a more effective way to exhibit with huge employment opportunities - design blogs. Setting up a portfolio website and having it posted on websites like AisleOne, Dirty Mouse, Fleuron, FormFiftyFive, Grafikcache and It's Nice That (to name a few) provides a huge return. Getting "blogged" can see anywhere from 1000 to 10,000 visitors to your website. That's far more people than will pass through New Blood; and they're all looking at you.
Walking around New Blood this year I heard the same story again and again, "no interest here but I've been contacted for a placement after being posted on Form Fifty". New Blood is an annual event but creative professionals will visit these blogs daily. It's evidently a far more effective way to self-promote which I believe makes New Blood increasing irrelevant.
What's Next for New Blood?
I would hate to see New Blood disappear it'd be a real shame but D&AD needs to revitalize it somehow. I don't know what the answer is but my advice to students is focus on self-promotion through blogs and have a great day out at New Blood.
There is some hope though. It was interesting to speak to these guys about their proactive approach. Shellsuit Zombie had a workshop at the back of the exhibition hall. It'll be interesting to see what they get up to and how successfull it may be.
Our aim is to pioneer new ways of promoting and encouraging self-promotion amongst students and graduates while producing inspiring articles and content.
Read more about Shellsuit Zombie.
Photos
Click on a thumbnail for the full photo. See more photos at Creative Review's blog.
Some of the work shown here belongs to: Cara McFadyen, Gary Austin, Rick Banks, Sroop Sunar, and Toby & Luke. Apologies to the others whose names I've missed.
Comments
This post seems like a bit of a moan to me.
New Blood is an excellent reflection of the how work will be judged in the real world. Advertisments are everywhere, book stores are full of hundreds of books, every man and his dog has a logo now. - If your work can stand out here, it shows your talent.
The reality is that there are far too many graduates for how many creative jobs there are, (especially in this current climate). There are also far too many graduattes who are not very good.
Newblood is an excellent opportunity for graduates that have talent, and a great wake up call to those without talent or drive.
The economy is crap. There are not enough jobs to go round. Deal with it. Either work harder or go get a job in the carphone warehouse.
Hi Andy thanks for the comment.
I certainly agree that New Bleed is an excellent opportunity for a lucky few but I believe there are far more effective ways for talented graduates to get noticed. It's a tough world at the moment and those that work the hardest will take advantage of every opportunity available, but I think the lure and hype of New Blood exceeds what it can really deliver.
Hi David,
I would dispute you calling the people who do well from New Blood "the lucky few". The people that get noticed are the people who have created work that gets noticed. To do work that gets noticed takes a certain amount of talent, but mainly hard work and desire.
You say that the lure and the hype of New Blood is over promising- that is the nature of the creative industry. Only the "lucky few" will actually get there dream jobs, because there are only a few dream jobs out there, 90 % of advertising and design is crap. This means that everyone is fighting to get a job that allows them do the 10% that isnt.
Anyone that gets there hopes up about walking into there dream job straight from New Blood obviously has not done there research into the industry and therefore, deserves to get them dashed.
Its tough, but this is the capitalist world we live in.
"We pack our bags for London hoping to walk out with a job only to leave disappointed and slightly bewildered. Sure, it's a great day out, but it's not a recruitment fair."
I couldn't agree more with this. I exhibited my work this year along with a few other coursemates and although it was a fantastic experience being in the company of so many other creatives, there was a lack of people truly interested in my (or indeed anyone's) work.
Although a few of my business cards did get taken, I've had much more success promoting myself to companies directly through sending them self promotion and a followup phonecall. This is a hell of a lot less expensive than the £200+ I spent on staying in London for the duration of the show.
I think New Blood is a fantastic concept but I completely agree with you that it needs to be look at again and see whether it's working for as many people as it could be.
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