Aussie creative team Matthew Knapp and John Downing make the switch to DDB New York

Creative team Matthew Knapp and John Downing have transferred from DDB Sydney to join the agency’s New York office.

Knapp (far left) and Downing (near left), who officially start at DDB New York today as senior art director and copywriter respectively, will work across the agency’s portfolio of clients including the New York Lottery and Hertz.

The pair reunites with Aussie expat Matt Eastwood, who was their boss at DDB Sydney before moving to DDB New York as chief creative officer in late 2010.

Says Eastwood: “DDB New York is thrilled to welcome Matthew and his partner, John who are testaments to the calibre of professionals the LaunchPad program produces.  Matthew is everything you could want in a young creative. He is talented, industrious, ambitious, persistent and eloquent.  I knew I’d made the right choice in hiring him when he began to scare the senior creatives by cracking brilliant solutions to their shared briefs.  Matt is a future leader of our industry.  Of that I have no doubt.”

The pair have basically spent their entire professional careers at DDB, which plucked them from its DDB Sydney ‘LaunchPad’ internship program (created by FBI Recruitment) back in 2007. Since then, Knapp and Downing have worked on campaigns for McDonald’s, Telstra, Tourism Australia, Lipton, Arnott’s, Volkswagen, and Hasbro.