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Jury

Karl Johnson
SVP, Group Creative Director
Wildtype Health

NEW YORK, USA // Karl doesn’t belong in advertising. Growing up in Brooklyn, he admired the work of local legends like Cellino and Barnes over global giants like Coca-Cola. He spent his childhood absorbed in literature, film, and video games, learning how to create worlds with words alone.

Karl knows how to get in your head. His innate ability to understand the motivations that drive behavior, as well as his desire to create deeply felt human connections, have made him a creative and strategic powerhouse. It’s helped him build brand identities and campaigns for cutting-edge biotech clients—and win a few awards along the way.

Karl believes there’s much more to life than winning awards, so he also devotes his time each year to mentoring the best and brightest young Black talent, working with portfolio schools such as ONE School and D&AD Shift to help break down barriers in advertising.

Karl hasn’t been banned from the advertising industry yet, but until that happens, he’ll continue to be a contrarian, promoting diverse, weird, and outsider ideas in an industry that’s been insular and exclusive for far too long.