Matt Dunn of D&AD Shift on Taste, Clarity and Ambition

The rewards of mentorship

Matt is a global creative director who has worked in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, with agencies such as Mother, Droga5, Rethink, W+K, Goodby Silverstein and more. Today, he guides teams in multiple markets while supporting emerging talent through his mentorship with D&AD Shift. 

We spent two minutes with Matt to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired. 

Matt, tell us … 

Where you grew up, and where you live now. 

I grew up in a rural town in the Cotswolds in the U.K. I now live and work in NYC.

How you first realized you were creative. 

When I understood that everything in culture shapes how people behave, look and feel. Once that clicked, I knew I wanted to make work that traveled beyond its traditional context. 

A moment from high school or college that changed your life. 

A teacher tried to break my confidence. It failed. 

Your most important creative inspirations, and some recent stuff you love. 

Demna, Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Anderson, A24, NEON, MUBI. I’m inspired by creators who build worlds. 

One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on. 

Standout examples would be Heinz Vintage Drip at Rethink, Amazon Music’s “Unbox a World of Music” at Droga5, and leading the creative for Unwell’s beverage launch in New York. 

Someone else’s work you admired lately. 

The Simone Rocha and Adidas FW26 collaboration. 

A mentor who helped you navigate the industry. 

Among many: Frannie Rhodes, Susan Hoskin, Peter Robertson, Mark Waites, Rick Brim. Mentorship matters deeply to me. I try to pass that support forward by mentoring the next generation of creatives through the D&AD Shift initiative. Guiding a mentee, Dimitri Briks, from a non-traditional background into a role at Mother Design, in three months, has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career so far.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in advertising. 

Fashion.