Hello! I’m Shahnaz and I'm an award-winning creative and maker with 10+ years in the creative industry.
I’m currently Senior Designer at Livity, a youth-led creative network in London.
I help lead some of the most impactful campaigns that help young people to change the world.
Over the past decade I’ve been creative and design lead for clients including Google / Youtube, Facebook, Dyson, Comic Relief, Ministry of Sound, Food Standards Agency, Girlguiding.
During my maternity leave two years ago, I founded Knit Aid – a global social movement that empowers refugees through the craft of knitting, and uses creativity to bring communities together – www.knitaid.org
And well, 2017 was a rather exciting year:
I've been recognised as –
> Shortlisted for The Drum's Creative Women of the Year 2017 award in partnership with Creative Equals and Facebook.
> One of 15 high-potential senior creative women globally for Cannes Lions See It Be It 2017 programme
> Creative Equal's and Campaign's Future Leader’s award ‘Women to Watch’
Being one of few women, and often only ethnic minority woman, in creative teams throughout my career, I’m on a mission to increase equality and diversity in the creative industry.
I’m a regular speaker at industry events and work to attain and retain minority talent within the creative industry through talks, panels and mentoring.
I’ve spoken at Cannes Lions in London, Eurobest, Creative Social, Glug, She Says, and General Assembly, and mentor BAME talent to enter and remain in the industry.
And 2018 is set to be a whopper:
I’m going to be judging the White Pencil category for D&AD's New Blood Awards 2018, awarded to outstanding work that uses the power of creativity to do good in the world.
And have several speaking and mentoring dates booked in to get the year rolling.
Busy busy! And that's how I love it.
Projects
- Dyson RethinkersThe insight Dyson are growing fast, so they need to recruit a wide range of talent around the world. But they have to compete with the world’s biggest and most innovative tech companies. To help Dyson stand out, we honed in on the one thing that unites the top talent in every category: their innate desire to prove they are the best. The idea Inspire the world’s brightest young minds with a cryptic series of online challenges. We created Rethinkers, the ultimate test of the core qualities that de
- Knit AidKnit Aid is a global social movement that empowers refugees, connects people and brings communities together. We collect and distribute much-needed quality knitted and crocheted donations to displaced people living cold and harsh conditions in camps all across Europe and the Middle East. Since our first drop off of knitted donations to Calais in 2015 we have extended our distribution to Dunkirk, Paris, various locations in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. We've collected thous
Projects credited in
- DYSON, Rethinkers (creative lead)Problem Dyson are growing fast, so they need to recruit a wide range of talent around the world. But they have to compete with the world’s biggest and most innovative tech companies. To help Dyson stand out, we honed in on the one thing that unites the top talent in every category: their innate desire to prove they are the best. Solution Inspire the world’s brightest young minds with a cryptic series of online challenges. Execution We created Rethinkers, the ultimate test of the core qualities
- This International Women’s Day 2019, meet 100 trailblazers redefining the creative industryDiscover our 2020 list here This International Women’s Day, we’ve launched our latest ‘10x10’ – asking 10 influential industry icons to each nominate 10 trailblazing women and non-binary people who they believe are redefining the creator landscape. The result? An incredible list of 100 trailblazers inspiring change. Our list will be accompanied by a takeover on The Dots – look out for brilliant profiles and projects on the platform as we aim to inspire, as important as ever when considering ‘88165
- YouTube: Internet CitizensYouTube and Creators for Change identified that there was a growing problem with online radicalisation and hate crime within young people in the UK and wanted to do something about it. Together with Livity we created 'Internet Citizens'. 17 workshops that ran in 12 UK cities educating over 500 young people on the power of their voice, how to spot fake news and how to generally stay safe online. Each session was hosted by professional mentor Efe Ezekiel and Alain ‘Fushion’ Clapham - a self-prof
- Campaign & Creative Equals present the next generation of women redefining creativity 2018"Campaign and Creative Equals present the future creative leaders; the women defining creativity today and tomorrow. Last year, Campaign’s "Future creative leaders" made its debut. The result was a talent-quake. Those who explained away the lack of female creatives in their departments by saying, "We just can’t seem to find the talent", no longer had an excuse. Now, this list has a life of its own. In 2017, we had 70 entrants; this year, we had 170, all the way up to creative director level. So,69
- Eurobest Festival 'See It Be It Presents: What The Future Creative Industry Looks Like' Talk 2017On the 28th November 2017 (10:30-11am) I will be speaking alongside the Cannes Lions See It Be It Alumni at Eurobest Festival. Our topic is 'Utopia Inc. What Future Creative Industry Looks Like', we will be talking about collaboration, inclusion, leadership and self care. Read more about our talk here or see below. For my section of the talk please scroll to 20m17s or click here. Session description: Tabula rasa! Imagine starting our industry from scratch. What would it look like in terms of cul
- This International Women’s Day, meet the 200 Women Redefining the Creative Industry in 2018Discover our 2020 list here This International Women's Day, we asked influential icons to nominate 10 trailblazing women who they believe are redefining the creator landscape. The result? A unique and incredible list of 200 trailblazing women breaking barriers and inspiring change! Only 36% of jobs in the creative sector are currently filled by women. At the top of the tree there’s an even bigger problem - women make up only 11% of Creative Directors. In an attempt to change this, our month-lo165
Work history
Senior DesignerLivity
London, United KingdomFull Time
Skills
- Graphic Design