janfeb2007preview

Haley Johnson

Jim Fiscus

The Barbarian Group

Color Predictions

BBH/NY

Jeffrey Decoster

Exhibit

January/February 2007 Eight Dollars (US) www.commarts.com

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January/February 2007

Haley Johnson

are no children or pets. You might say all those characters on the products are their offspring, including a lasso-wielding boss lady, a preacher promising to wash away your sins, a Jesus with a mirror on his chest and a dirty girl being transformed into a sweetly pink clean specimen of beauty.

If the Twin Cities have one of the country’s more eventful design communities, Johnson is not an active part of it. Not because she’s a recluse. Just because most of the time she’s at her desk burning that midnight oil.

“I did not evolve into that type of socializing,” she admits, claiming she is trying to get better at it, starting to judge shows and give talks. Sharon Werner, who has also headed a notable Twin Cities design firm for fifteen years, recalls how Johnson earned the respect of her colleagues early on: “Everybody at Duffy would be sitting around brainstorming and chatting, and Haley was back at her desk working out her own ideas,” Werner says. “She didn’t need validation from anyone else. It was inspirational.”

Johnson continues to be inspirational. Her work will be worth watching as she moves into the next phase, which will include designing 3-d objects and teaming up with writers and illustrators on larger projects.

Maybe she’ll even design a business card for herself.

Left: “Before you can wash away your sins, you must first sin.

Thank God.” Gerry D’Amour/Haley Johnson, writers; BlueQ, client.

“No gunk. No junk. No fake crap. Just dot-like doses of tasty, addictive reality.” Mike Gibbs/Haley Johnson, writers; BlueQ, client.

This page: “An eco-friendly company that understands people prefer to be kept awake by a good coffee, instead of a bad conscience.” Scott Patterson, writer; Peace Coffee, client.

“Power corrupts. And Total Bitch power corrupts absolutely.”

Haley Johnson, writer; BlueQ, client.

Communication Arts

45

by Warren Berger

Bartle Bogle Hegarty N

New York

ew York can be a tough place for outsiders who arrive with dreams of big-city success. And that’s been true for ad agencies that have come from outside cities and tried to put down roots in New York: Stellar advertising names such as Fallon, Wieden, Chiat, Riney and others have found the Manhattan terrain challenging.

So when the storied British agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty launched a small outpost in New York City seven years ago, there was reason to be skeptical.

After opening small, BBH in New York grew very slowly over the first five years of its existence. But suddenly, in the last two, it has emerged as one of the hottest, most buzzed-about ad shops in the New York market.

It hasn’t been simply a matter of winning new accounts, though the agency has done its share of that (during the past two years, BBH/NY’s business has grown by 45%, as its client roster has more than doubled and its staV has swelled to 160 people, housed in a new, enlarged TriBeCa oYce with sweeping views). What’s perhaps more impressive is the way BBH/NY is achieving that growth. The shop has lately emerged as one of the bold new leaders in a current movement to reinvent advertising and fundamentally change the way it looks, feels and works.

With its work for clients such as Axe, Levi’s and Johnny Walker, the agency is blurring the lines between commercials, TV shows, viral Web films and

other forms of entertainment/communication. BBH/NY is not the only one on the cutting edge of this movement— agencies such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Fallon are out there on the same limb with them. But those are stalwart American creative ad names, and as such, are expected to lead an American ad revolution. It’s more surprising to see a young British “outpost” take on such a role.

Of course, BBH/NY doesn’t see itself as just an “outpost,” and that may explain why the agency isn’t behaving like one.

The New York oYce’s current leadership—spearheaded by Kevin Roddy on the creative side, Gwyn Jones on the business side, Emma Cookson heads up global strategy and last year Steve Harty joined the management team as North American chairman—took charge about two years ago, determined to give the shop its own distinct mission. Jones came over from the mother ship in London, where, as managing director, he’d helped to guide BBH through a recent period of resurgence. He was eager to take on the New York challenge because he saw an opportunity to do things in the United States that BBH couldn’t do in London.

“I think BBH was already leading the charge in Europe, in terms of trying to use new technology and new media to engage audiences diVerently,” Jones says.

“But in the U.S., there was an opportunity to take it much further, because here you have great penetration of digital

Right: Print ad for SUV Safety Multi State Working Group. “We were asked to educate young men on safer driving practices in an SUV. Rather than try to scare them, we challenged them to master the vehicle by creating a beast: an esuvee,” said writer Peter Rosch. John Hobbs, art director; Thomas Hayo, creative director; Nick Reuchel, photographer.

“This was part of a newspaper campaign to show that EDS isn’t a company that talks about getting things done, they just go ahead and do it,” said writer/creative director Kevin Roddy. Thomas Hayo/Nick Klinkert, art directors; Bruce Peterson, photographer.

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January/February 2007

technology, and you have Hollywood, and there is also a diVerent attitude about the relationship between advertising and the entertainment world.”

Indeed, Jones notes that while the British have tended to believe in maintaining a rigid separation between ads and entertainment (influenced in part by the anticommercialism of the BBC), in the U.S. the wall between advertising and content has been coming down for some time. These days, American advertisers and television producers are both exploring ways to merge and blend ads with entertainment. And BBH was eager to not only join in this exploration, but, if possible, to lead it.

To do that, however, the New York oYce needed a creative director who could spearhead the eVort to produce this new hybrid form of communication. That person arrived, around the same time as CEO Jones, when Kevin Roddy signed on as the executive creative director two years ago.

Roddy, 46, was well-suited to lead a creative transition, having gone through his own personal transition in the ad business some years earlier. He started out as “a suit”—the impolite term in advertising for an account person. After ten years of shepherding other people’s creative ideas, Roddy decided he had a few of his own. On his own time, he put together a portfolio of spec ad campaigns (“with a lot of stick figure drawings,” he admits), and then worked up the nerve to show it to his agency’s creative direc-

Dyson print ad. “After a phenomenally successful launch in the U.S., Dyson’s market leadership was under attack. Competitive brands had woken up, introducing vastly improved product (and communication) that was eroding the perception of Dyson’s superior functionality,” said creative director Thomas Hayo. “Dyson costs a lot more—people need to believe it’s worth it. We demonstrated that vacuum cleaners are a flawed species (all but a Dyson).” Bill Moulton, art director; Adam Reeves, writer; Ben Stockley, photographer.

B: 8.625 in T: 7.875 in S: 7.375 in

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www.dyson.com

YOU CAN TALK ABOUT IT.

YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IT. YOU CAN HOPE FOR IT.

T: 10.5 in

S: 9.875 in

FACT: VACUUMS DIRTY THE AIR INSIDE YOUR HOME WITH DUST. NOT EXACTLY NUTRITIOUS. In an attempt to improve suction, some vacuums throw dust into the air, filling your home with the stuff they ’re supposed to eliminate. Dyson is the only vacuum in the world that never loses suction while releasing fresh, clean air into your home.

© 2006 Dyson

VACUUMS DON’T WORK E F F E CTIVELY. DYSON DOES.

Communication Arts

69

B: 11.125 in

EDS and the EDS logo are registered trademarks of Electronic Data Systems Corporation. ©2005 EDS.

BUT IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO CUT A BOLT, USE A BOLT CUTTER.

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January/February 2007

Jeffrey Decoster Left: Shanghai 6. “This is one spread out of six, to illustrate a story on modern day Shanghai. The development of the city is described as a collision between ancient Chinese tradition and modern commercial interests, happening in fast-forward motion, without a plan.

I thought it would be appropriate to build the images the same way the city was being built, and necessary, because I had two weeks to complete the project. I decided to make all of the images connect so that they would make one continuous landscape/cityscape when placed end to end. That way I would have only one painting to do instead of twelve.” Todd Richards, designer; Cahan & Associates, design firm; Herman Miller, client.

Letter Box. “I go back and forth between making images that bring awareness to the actual flat surface of the artwork, and images that are like windows into an illusion of real space. It depends on what is most appropriate for the assignment. I’m beginning to play with the idea that a drawing surface can also be an actual object that contains its own associations. A bundle of letters might suggest a relationship or communication. A picture of a boxing match might symbolize controversy or acrimony, or something else. It’s up to the viewer. In any case, the idea is to create some kind of alchemy.

What do the strings make you think of?”

Sea. “This is an example of a stream of consciousness drawing I like to make in my sketchbooks, when I am not making illustrations.

I usually start with some sort of horizon line, which instantly creates a space, and then I just start populating the space with whatever images come into my mind. I try not to let my intellect get in the way and let it unfold. In the end, it’s as much a surprise to me as if I had been watching someone else do it. I’ve noticed that I like to make things float, and have them touch each other, so there is lightness and interconnectedness, ideas that I aspire to. I credit my teacher Dwight Harmon for his inspiration.”

Sheep to Slaughter. “This image is about the over-supply of music school students compared to the miniscule number of full-time jobs available to them upon graduation. That sheep could just as well be sitting there with a paint brush as with a cello. Norman Rockwell, who found a nice job with the Saturday Evening Post, said if a picture isn’t going well, add a puppy. I’ve discovered the trick of switching out a person’s head for an animal’s head, or vice versa. Choose an animal that is a metaphor for your subject, and you’re done. If it still isn’t working, try making it a puppy’s head. In this picture, to make the herd, I drew one sheep named Dolly and then used the clone tool.” Peter Metzger, art director; The Los Angeles Times, client.

This page: Mother. “I did this drawing at a time when I had been listening to the song ‘Motherland’ by Natalie Merchant and thinking about the unique quality of feminine nurture. I saw this young mother near my coffee shop and she agreed to let me take her photograph. I was interested in the sling because it’s like a marsupial’s pouch, an ultimate place of warmth and safety. The hands are in the same shape as the sling, so it’s really the double holding of the child that makes the point about the depth of caring. The mother’s face became more severe than intended, but I hope it saves the picture from over-sentimentality. The bird flying off the page is to say that these moments are fleeting.”

Spending Habits. “When I get a call from a financial magazine, I know I’m about to be tested. I really admire illustrators who can solve assignments about bond futures and investment strategies without drawing a staircase, a dollar sign or a target with an arrow in it. Forbes asked me to do an illustration about spending habits.

In thinking about consumption, I naturally thought about ice cream, my favorite form. I don’t know how many artists have done a takeoff on American Gothic, but I justified it with figuring it was either that or draw a target with an arrow in it. When I look at Grant Wood’s painting now, I imagine the pitchfork is to ward off all illustrators thinking of taking liberties with the wife.” Charles Brucaliere, art director; Forbes Inc., client.

Communication Arts

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fresh

Jacob Thomas

© Erin Sparling

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Location: New York City and www. decozone.us.

Duration:

Seven years (three with Deco

Zone).

Staff: I work with Deco Zone’s creative director Mark Howes and account manager Jean Anne Lynch.

Education: Bachelor of Science in graphic design. Also four-and-a-half years in the Coast Guard that I consider an education in itself.

Cultural Influences: One of my biggest influences is John Ritter. He is my teacher, mentor and friend. He taught me how to concentrate more on the thinking behind my work instead of worrying so much of how it was done. It helped me loosen up and view illustration in a completely different light allowing creativity to shine through. The way this man thinks will always inspire me. Thanks John! Some other influences include my parents, Mike and Marie Lastrina. My mom taught me that I can do anything I want to do, which is a hard thing to learn and even harder to teach. My older brother Ben Thomas was my first major influence. He taught me how to draw and he is an amazing actor, which I also take into my art. Mark Kistler (Commander Mark of The Secret City), Bob Ross, Norman Rockwell, Chuck Close, Sebastian Kruger, Todd McFarlane, Simon Bisley, Jackson Pollock, Edel Rodriguez, Ralph Steadman, Norman Huelsman, Gary Baseman, Tomer

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January/February 2007

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