Have you heard of the duck metaphor? Appearing calm and graceful above the surface, while paddling furiously underneath? Yeah, that’s working in advertising for you. But when newcomers look around and see others succeeding with ease, it can feel like there’s no one there to see how hard they’re paddling beneath the surface, or check they’re headed in the right direction.

Enter Paddle: a Youngbloods WA mentorship program taking emerging talent beneath the surface with some of the industry’s best. I built the subbrand from name concept through to final art, centred on the idea of purposeful progression. Sitting within the wider Youngbloods ecosystem while carving out an identity of its own, Paddle uses a flexible design system driven by movement to capture the hustle and excitement of moving forward. Tied together with a supportive tone of voice that celebrates the effort and progress that happens along the way.

I know firsthand just how isolating finding your way can be when the people around you seem so far in front. So Paddle felt like a chance to humanise an industry that can feel daunting from the outside, and hopefully make the path in a little easier for those coming up behind me.