Have you heard of the duck metaphor? The one about 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 apparent ease, they're often left wondering if they're even headed in the right direction. Youngbloods WA was keen to address this gap with a one-on-one mentorship program. As the sole creative on the job, I took the project from naming and concept through to final art.

Enter Paddle: a mentorship program that takes emerging talent beneath the surface with some of the industry’s best. The key concept challenges the idea that everyone else has it all worked out. It shows the paddling that happens beneath the surface and, more importantly, offers you someone to paddle with.

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. It’s all tied together with a supportive tone of voice that celebrates the effort mentees put in.