Kate Humphries' Biography

An advertising creative with almost twenty years experience working in three of London’s top ten agencies, Kate’s own training at The School of Communication Arts in London (under the legendary creative teacher John Gillard) was what originally inspired her to return to her native shores of New Zealand to start a career in educating young creatives.

She now presides over The AdSchool; one of the smallest creative advertising schools, with one of the smallest intakes, in one of the smallest countries in the world. However, much like the rest of New Zealand’s creative disciplines, the school sees its smallness as an invitation to punch well above its weight, which is precisely why it was ranked up there with the big boys as one of the top five most creative schools in the world by Young Guns last year.

AdSchool is part of New Zealand’s leading creative academy, The Media Design School, which has gained a global reputation for producing outstanding professional talent and fresh thinking with its innovative mix of creative disciplines that includes not only Creative Advertising, but also Game Development, Interactive Gaming, 3D animation, Advanced 3D, Digital Creativity, and Visual Effects.

On taking over the running of The AdSchool three years ago, Kate’s eureka moment occurred when she flipped the traditional module on its head by putting social media at the forefront of the school’s curriculum. The logic was simple, if the demands of social media require the pull that only truly great creative solutions can bring, then Social Media should inform and lead the teaching of all other mediums. It was a decision that, in the first year of the school’s new curriculum, saw her student’s social media efforts gaining millions of hits and press attention worldwide.