Announcing Creative Futures 2026
After the success of our schools pilot project in 2024, we’re excited to announce the next evolution, Creative Futures. This initiative will run in early 2026, bigger, bolder, and with even more opportunities for young people.
Creative Futures 2026 is a collaboration between Brandland, City of Norwich School and North Walsham High School which sees Brandland lead creative workshops designed to inspire Year 10 and 11 students to imagine a future career in the creative industries. From branding and design to marketing, copywriting, and strategy, the afternoon will give students hands-on experience working with a live brief, guided by mentors from local creative businesses.
What happens at Creative Futures 2026?
This new initiative is structured to give students a taste of real-world creative practice:
Welcome & Icebreaker: A quick challenge to get ideas flowing
Intro to Creative Careers: Short, inspiring talks from industry professionals about their journeys and an intro to the brand’s we’ll be working with during the workshops.
Positioning Workshop: Students, in small teams, answer simple brand strategy questions to define their idea.
Creative Challenge: Teams design their sub-brand with support from mentors specialising in design, copy, and strategy.
Exhibition & Feedback: Students showcase their work, explore each other’s ideas, and receive constructive feedback.
Judging & Wrap-Up: A winning idea is selected, but all teams are celebrated for their creativity and collaboration.
Why it matters
Schemes like Creative Futures 2026 give students the chance to see how their classroom creativity can translate into careers. We’re particularly focused on ensuring the programme is inclusive and inspiring for a broad spectrum of students from all backgrounds, so that everyone has the chance to discover where creativity could take them.
How you can get involved
We’re looking for creative professionals, agencies, and brands who’d like to be part of the 2026 programme, either by:
Mentoring students during the workshop (copy, design, strategy, or general creative guidance)
Showcasing your brand Give us a flavour of your brand and let our teams explore your world and create new ideas
Sponsoring the event, helping us scale and sustain the programme so more schools can benefit in future
Fill in our Expression of Interest form if you’d like to get involved.