Jury Spotlight: Aryan Aminzadeh

This year The ANDYs have added five seats to the “table” for rising stars to participate on the world-class Jury. We believe the more senior jurors can learn just as much from them, as the rising stars can learn from the senior jurors. This unparalleled access is critical to our industry’s future. Aryan Aminzadeh is a Creative Director with BarrettSF in San Francisco.

What was your introduction to the advertising industry?

The movie “What Women Want,” starring Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson.

What is one advertising campaign that you wish you could have been a part of creating?

Fearless Girl. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything as simple and significant as that.

What are you hoping to learn while being a part of the ANDYs Jury?

One of the best pieces of advice I got was from Tony Granger at my first ad job. He said, “Make the problem the solution.” I’m excited to see how people have dealt with production challenges during the pandemic, and come up with work that’s maybe even better than it otherwise would have been.

As a rising star of the ANDYs Face the Future Campaign, how/what else can the industry do to be more inclusive?

I know there’s a lot more to the industry than the creative department. And even in the creative department, there are so many ways to get into the business outside of ad school. But I’ll answer this question in a way that’s specific to my experience. We need more people of color in ad schools. We also need two years of ad school not to cost more than four years at a university. The talent is there and it needs a way in.

By submitting work into The ANDY Awards, not only may your work be awarded and celebrated widely but funds are earmarked to put towards: charitable donations,  scholarships, mentorship programs, and more programs that invest back into the advertising and marketing industry. andyawards.com