SICKDOGWOLFMAN appoints James Wills as creative director

SICKDOGWOLFMAN has appointed James Wills as creative director, joining the Melbourne independent agency from VML, where he led the Defence Force Recruitment account.

Wills brings 20 years of creative experience and has won at Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, LIA, Spikes, Clio and AWARD. He also led Defence Force Recruitment to a Gold Effie in 2025.

The appointment follows a strong 12 months for SICKDOGWOLFMAN, which added several new clients across communications and design. It also marks the agency’s second senior leadership hire in recent months, following the appointment of Laura Agricola-Moss as strategy director in October.

Wills is a member of RMIT University’s Advertising Industry Advisory Council, an AdSchool lecturer and was co-vice president of the MADC after COVID.

“I spent some time working with James at VML and it was the first time I’ve ever walked into a building and felt simultaneously self-conscious about the size of my beard, heaviness of my Spotify playlist, and quality of my work. It’s terrifying to now consider that as a state of permanence, but I’m nonetheless excited. We spent three hours arguing over which piece of hunting vernacular to use to announce James. It ended in a stalemate, so we just went with all of them,” said Jess Wheeler, creative director, SICKDOGWOLFMAN.

“I’ve always admired SICKDOG’s work. They live and breathe the complex art of simplicity. The work has personality and a point of view, and it’s helping their clients get noticed. I can’t wait to contribute to their momentum and add some doom-metal bangers to the agency algorithm,” said Wills.

SICKDOGWOLFMAN also launched its own brand, SLATHER SPF, in 2025, which picked up a Clio with its first piece of work. The agency finished in Campaign Brief’s top ten agencies in Australia, including second on the small agency list.