Senior Art Director
she/her
I was born and bred in the UK as Alayna Saori Cartz. Spent my teenage years in Japan as 國武沙織 (Kunitake Saori). And moved to Australia to study advertising as Alayna Kunitake.
The budget version of this story is, I’ve lived a lot of lives.*
You may think this gives a person a bit of an identity crisis (it does) and invites ominous calls from the immigration office from time to time (yes ma’am!) but what it does most importantly, is give me the innate ability to adapt to and interpret any kind of creative brief that graces my inbox. You could say my brain’s built for this shit, so to speak.
But a brain must be trained, of course. So I took it to RMIT, where I led the industry’s largest student networking event, Pitch Night. Shortly after, I landed my first role as an Art Director at Ogilvy Melbourne, where I worked on Australia’s biggest chocolate and insurance brands. I then made the move to M&C Saatchi, where I most proudly helped win the pitch for Australia’s largest online disability support platform, guided the Victorian Government through a global pandemic, and unleashed my inner nurturer by tutoring at AWARD School. Other professional nurturing included being an ‘Auntie’ in their awarded mentorship program, as well as lending my perspective to DEI consulting in both local and international markets.
I’ve since found my home at DDB Melbourne, where my 9-5 is spent devouring the intersection of food and creativity on the Coles account, alongside being the proud co-chair of LGBTQIA+ advertising initiative Friends of Rhonda, creating our agency’s first paid internship to support socio-economically diverse talent, tutoring AWARD School for a second time and launching LBB’s content series Women Who Will.
All in all,
I’ll take the identity crisis and calls from the embassy any day to have a career like this.
*You can listen to me speak about why the above is not identity fraud (please don’t deport me) on podcast Being Biracial. Alternatively, you can read about some art I enjoy to see how I like to distract myself from aforementioned irrational fear.
Accolades
2025 AWARD School Tutor
2025 Founded LBB’s content series ‘Women Who Will’
2024 Founded DDB Melbourne’s Paid Internship program
2023 Co-founded ‘Friends of Rhonda’
2022 B&T / Diversity Category Shortlist / ‘Hireup’
2022 AWARD School Tutor / Vic No. 2 Student
2022 Rare with Google Leadership Academy
2022 Aunties Mentorship Program
2022 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Consultancy
2021 International Spotlight Photography Awards Judge
2021 BestAds / Outdoor Winner / ‘Everyday Arena’
2020 Publications in Gabberish and ScreenHub
2019 Rare with Google Masterclass Delegate
2018 RMIT Pitch Night Project Manager
2018 D&AD New Bloods Pencil Winner / ‘Pass It On’
Select Clients
AAMI Insurance, BP, Cadbury, Coles, CommBank, Hireup, Hostplus, Netflix, New Balance, OREO, Origin Energy, The Natural Confectionery Co, Victorian Government, Worksafe, World Vision
Enough from me, here’s what other people have to say:
“Alayna is all the things an employer loves: diligent, respectful, inquisitive and driven. She’s an imaginative, clever, strategic and collaborative mind. I first met Alayna as a keen and unique RMIT Graduate, who was an amazing sponge. Willing to learn, evolve and adapt her folio - she showed huge passion and drive for breaking into the industry and I was thrilled to hear she had. I was even more thrilled a few years later when the opportunity presented itself to hire her. Alayna’s won business and built great client relationships and agency culture. She’s passionate about behaviour change and ideas that change the way brands operate in the world. She’s an impeccable art director, a brilliant presenter and an excellent human.”
✧ Emma Robbins, Executive Creative Director / M&C Saatchi
“Alayna’s always jumping into jobs head-on. She’s never afraid to be challenged and equally never afraid to stand up for her opinion. She never sees anything as a failure, but something that teaches herself and the rest of the team to make the output even better. Her commitment to both the work and DEI in the industry is invaluable and any agency is richer for her being in it.”
✧ Anonymous, angelic colleague whom I wish I knew / DDB
“Alayna came for an internship at Leo Burnett and quickly proved her worth. Every task was approached with enthusiasm and a level of finesse beyond her years. It’s not always easy fitting into a creative department but she did it with poise and charm. Wonderful ideas and real skills in her art direction craft. Highly recommend.”
✧ Sarah McGregor, Executive Creative Director / Dentsu
Say G’day
📧 alaynacartz.contact@gmail.com
in Alayna Kunitake
📞 0481409885
日本語も話せますので是非遠慮なくご連絡お願い致します