Hi, my name is Toby Pickford, or Töbe to most of my friends and colleagues.

I am not your typical creative who has been fascinated with advertising all their life, made it into uni and came out with a design or communications degree and jumped into a job. I left school at 17 without a single clue about what I wanted to do with my life.

As a kid, I always loved drawing rock band logos and pawed over LP cover designs. I would draw all over my schoolbooks, paint my denim and make my own T-shirts. So I guess art and design was a passion and part of my life, I just didn’t think it would become my career back then – I was too busy wanting to become a rock star.

After a few years of trying to make it in the music business I came out with one vinyl single and a broken ego, so I decided that becoming a skiing instructor was going to be a healthier (yet still adventurous) career path. While sitting in an Italian bar, looking across at all the old weathered lecherous ski instructors, I said to myself, “do I really want to end up like that?” So I saved up some cash and took off to Australia, Thailand and India.

I decided to put my drawing skills and love for little quips and characters into my travel diaries and by chance, a Sydney design director saw it and said I should think about graphic design.

At 21 years of age I put a portfolio together, flicked through the yellow pages and shuffled around some design and print shops. Within a week, I was working (for free) in a studio as a trainee finished artist and I loved every minute of it. That was 32 years ago.

Since then I have become a multi-award winning creative leader with accolades from Cannes Lions, The NYF Globals, Spikes, Clios and the Creative Floor. I have judged at Cannes, The NYF, Spikes, Clios and The Creative Floor shows and been fortunate to meet the most amazing people along the way.

I have been specialising in healthcare advertising/communications as I have a passion for ideas that deliver good outcomes for people, animals and the planet. After working with some of Australia’s top healthcare agencies, I joined the Ogilvy network in 2010 and continued to help push creativity in health and wellness arena across blue-chip pharmaceutical, animal health and consumer health companies.

I approach every brief with the aim of helping a team create powerful ideas that transform the way we think about health. My creative manifesto is always to inspire, provoke and innovate, living by the motto of “know pharma, but don’t think like it.”

Some achievements

Cannes Lions Health & Wellness Jury

Being able to judge creative work, day to day, should never be taken lightly – it’s a big responsibility as it can have a positive or negative impact on the outcome of work and potentially someone’s career progression. But being picked to sit on Cannes Lions Health & Wellness Jury and judge some of the best work around the globe was an incredible honour – especially when I was a part of selecting “This Ables” as the Grand Prix. 

Spikes Health Jury

Spikes Asis is slightly smaller than Cannes Lions but still just as tough.
So I was very excited and honoured to go to Singapore and sit on the health jury.
This was an amazing experience and I felt particularly proud of the work that was being produced in Asia Pac. 

Design can save a life – Billy Blue Design College collaboration

Helping young talent and changing the way health communications is represented is something I am passionate about. This led me to bring together Billy Blue Design School and Ogilvy Health for a design initiative and showcase it at the Vivid Ideas Festival. Something that has never been done before in Australia.
12 students took on our brief to re-imagine a government document on the use of
medicinal cannabis in childhood epilepsy.  After coaching them through the data the ideas that were presented showed that good graphic design and design thinking is at the heart of better health communications. Their work was presented at the event along with discussions from health and educational leaders. It was a sold out event.

Awards

Cannes Lions – (3 Lions) ‘Still Going Strong’
Cannes Lions – (Finalist) ‘Cat Ramps’

Spikes – ‘Still Going Strong’

Clio – ‘Still Going Strong’
Clio – ‘Cat Ramps’

NYF Globals – ‘Still Going Strong’
NYF Globals – (Finalist)  ‘Stool Expert’
NYF Globals – (Finalist) ‘Cat Ramps’
NYF Globals – (Finalist) ‘Gastro’
NYF Globals – (Finalist) ‘Trapped’
NYF Globals – (Finalist) ‘Metacam’

The Creative Floor Awards – (Two bricks) Stool Expert

WWPed Cream Awards – ‘Still Going Strong’
WWPed Cream Awards – ‘Stool Expert’

MFA Awards – ‘Gastro’

OMA Awards – ‘Gastro’

Rx Awards – ‘Stool Expert’
Rx Awards  – ‘Gastro Stop’
Rx Awards – ‘Trapped ‘
Rx Awards – ‘Angel Blue’ 

ADMA – Effectiveness Award of the Year 2000
ADMA – Silver: Government Utilities Emergency Agriculture
ADMA – Finalist: Effectiveness 2002