Welcome to D&AD’s Creative Collaboration course

Welcome to D&AD’s course on Creative Collaboration.

Whether you’re a creative in advertising, design, tech, at an agency, organisation or a freelancer, you will have to collaborate and work with others to get things done.

D&AD believes the best collaborations lead to the best creative work. So much so that we celebrate it as part of our annual awards, seeking out the best collaborative partnerships that have bred incredible creativity as a result.

Throughout this course, with the help of industry experts, we will guide you through how to prepare for successful collaboration, show you how this has resulted in creative excellence, and coach you in how to overcome common barriers in collaboration. There are tools and techniques that are applicable for both team members and team leaders.

As you might imagine on a course about collaboration, we are going to ask for your input at various points throughout the course. We ask that you are open and honest about your experiences, but respect the anonymity of those you work with – so please don’t use names and keep it professional.

This course is most impactful if you are currently undertaking a collaborative project and can work through the exercises and techniques live, with a team.

Week 1: The Foundations of Collaboration.

Week 1 is all about doing the ground work and preparing you and your team for successful collaboration. Through three exercises, made up of a series of industry interviews, tutorials and exercises, you will cover:

1. The Shapes of Collaboration

• Take inspiration from award winning collaborative creative work
• Explore the common forms collaboration takes in the creative industry (partnership, team and client)
• Discuss how you currently collaborate

2. Me and We

• Understand the soft skills you need to be an effective collaborator
• Learn how to map yours and your teams hard skills
• Be given a road map to kick-off teamwork, and then to ensure it stays on track
• Understand why diversity of thought is essential, and how to achieve it

3. Team Tactics

• Learn how to protect the physiological safety of your team
• Build a bank of tips for remote working
• Develop a code-of-conduct for your collaborators

Throughout the course, you’ll learn from a range of creatives that great collaboration doesn’t always run smoothly, so this week is all about putting everything in place to try give yourself and your team mates every chance for success. Next week, we will move on to looking at how to overcome any barriers or challenges that may arise.

Before we get stuck in, it’s time to meet the creatives who will be guiding you through the course.