If it's your own career that needs a bit of advancement then you should already know that this Friday is the deadline for entries into the D&AD Awards. Whether it's graphic design, typography, photography or illustration these little yellow pencils mean more to creative types than that little statuette meant to Gwyneth Paltrow. But you've only got two days to get your entry in, so you better get a riddle on.

If you're more of a Alan Sugar/Svengali type then you'll want to keep this week free to get up to Liverpool where the streets will be crawling with fresh arty blood thanks to NOISE, a youth arts festival designed to promote new talent across a whole range of disciplines. The Next Big Thing will definitely be there - you just have to find them.

And if you are the Next Big Thing then you might want to spend the week chatting to someone at car-makers Vauxhall (bear with us here). They're recruiting for their VX Collective project right now, and they're just dying to give you five grand to 'further your creative development'.

After all, if one past member impressed them with a redesigned coat car hanger how hard can it be?