Creative advice from Art Director and Shift New York Alumni Ash Level

AL: After Shift I took some time to take in all the knowledge and direction they gave me. Got all my contacts together and started to build a community, went on a few interviews and just kept working on my individual branding. Worked on a bunch of personal projects with new perspectives and took my work to higher levels. I really focused on exactly what it is I want. I always thought prior to Shift that I wouldn’t be able to do what I do in a corporate space at once. I thought I would have to pick and choose the pieces of myself that I was allowed to express per position and per company. Once I was able to let some of those stereotypes go and after learning about the amount of programs out there that are looking for people exactly like me… I began to ease up and create freely…

I’ve been doing a lot of portfolio organizing, building and am working on starting a boutique creative agency owned and operated by people who are labeled as the minority with other incredible creatives that I met through New Blood.

I recently got hired as an Art Director, It’s really cool how things work, this company has 26 offices around the world and has been in business for over 65 years… They are in the midst of doing a complete rebrand and I’m super excited to be part of it!

AL: I think I would still be doing freelance art but, I don’t think I would have gotten this job. My agency isn’t one of the ones that were part of the program but Shift helped me get my acttogether and understand multiple perspectives. If I hadn’t done Shift I would still be operatingfrom my perspective only and that was limiting to my exposure.

AL: The biggest thing I learned… man… I think the biggest thing I learned is that there is space for me not only in entry-level positions but in whatever position I want and if I don’t have the experience or portfolio to show my work, Shift showed me that there are way too many resources in the world for me to wait around and wait for someone to “hire” me to create… just keep creating, keep learning, keep building, keep challenging yourself, keep building relationships and doing your best, your dreams will come in ways you never imagined. The program really gave me a different way of viewing creativity, corporate America, my relationships with others… They gave me an “in”… but it was up to me to figure out how to make that work in my favor.

AL: This opportunity will change your life if you are open and willing to digest the information and put it to use. The program will not do it for you but it will give you all the tools to learn how to do it for yourself. I would say to come prepared to create, strategize, think, bond, explore, connect… Many of the things I learned from Shift outside of the actual curriculum was from the other Shifters in which I am still friends with and do business with today. Be open to find the common creative ground as a safe space to really absorb the resources and go hard ! You can come out of the Shift program with an entirely updated portfolio tailored to your dreams if you really want to.

AL: Creatives are being called to action right now! I believe it is our job to produce projects that will ease the minds of society in these trying times, Times like these are what creatives use to create the future. I would say the best thing you can do to prepare is to make sure your time is available and that you will be in attendance of all the classes, PRESENT and ready to absorb the knowledge that people from all over the world and all over New York will give you. The support system you can build is real, the opportunity is real, the possibility of your whole life-changing in multiple ways is just about guaranteed if you give it your all.

AL: I would watch some of the online courses they shared with you, to get a feel of what D&AD does. I just watched this short session the other day 'STORYTELLING PART 1: THE FUNDAMENTALS' which was a great reminder for me to continue writing my story. Sometimes we get so caught up in life and our routines, we miss the little opportunities to learn more and sharpen our crafts. These sessions are cool little pockets of knowledge and inspiration. There’s a ton of inspiration and direction in the online courses that will be helpful in learning some of the vocabularies, maybe some job titles you never heard of, or a new approach on how to tackle a project.