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design- that can make witty ads even wittier. " Another goal of Oberlander's was "to create a ignature look for each brand." To that end, he says, the agency ' s artists are expected to develop an individual " art-direction strategy" for each campaign. "That ' s why none of our ad campaigns look alike, " Oberlander says proudly.

The result is that the new, semi-mature K&B is actually more interesting than the young-and-wild agency ever was. It i earning more respect within the industry , as evidenced by recent strong award showings. And it i attracting the kind of solid clients who never would have dared to align themselves with a bunch of-pardon the word-brats. Life is even becoming a bit more sane within the walls of this agency, which had been notorious for heavy workloads and a pressure-cooker atmosphere.

"People used to stay 'til ten every night-now it's more like seven," says Andy Spade. That may be partly because the agency is " no longer pitching every account that comes around ," says Kirshenbaum. Nor is K&B courting the press as much as in the past. "We ' ve taken a bit of a respite from all that," says Kirshenbaum. "At this point, we just want to let our ads speak for us. "

• Left: Print campaign for ABT. "Software is so specialized that ads usually end up using metaphors that are bas ically a lame attempt on the agency's part to explain to themselves what the product does.

We skipped the explanation and got to the heart of an industry-wide problem; project managers usually get ineffic ient software because project managers don't design it. This ad is like one of those 'in-jokes' at a plumber's convention. If you're a project manager, it's a real gas," say art director Amy Nicho lson and writer Risa Mickenberg.

This page: Print campaign for Family Circle. "We wanted to capital ize on the '90s family boom by positioning Family Circle as the ultimate family magazine. Did not. Did too. Did not. Did too," writer Andy Spade says. Ann Lemon, art director; Bruce Stoddard (rotten egg); Index Stock/ The Black Box (that's why). photographers .

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