TRAFFIC MEN'S BOOK

Branding Design Naming Copywriting Content Curation Illustration Photography Animation/Motion/Film Sound Design

We are a collaborative collective of creative individuals – an evolving group of people – with a spectrum of perspectives on this ever-expanding space. We know the rules. We also know how to break them, We’re here to help you refine, define and express your point of view on beauty and branding. We’re the voice who can help you communicate your vision – through stories, words, faces, and illustrations – that make you unique.

Collage for Sony Stores by Carine Abrahams, photography for ServCorp by Michael Mundy, Design of Pebble for Hunter Douglas animation by Chalkie Davis

OUR STORY Imagine Soho, 1995—A creative hotbed of artists, writers, photographers, designers, gallerists, and entrepreneurs breaking out in the iconoclastic spirit of the times. That’s where our doors opened, on Spring Street, with a vision of a new type of creative agency. Representing independent art directors, copywriters, a multitude of artists, all of the components of a traditional advertising agency (if not more) was an innovative idea. It quickly proved itself to be the zeitgeist of the time, as more amorphous relationships between talent, agencies, and clients became the optimal matchmaking plan for the best creative talent with the most compelling corporate campaigns and identities. And, all this without the overhead costs of a large agency.

We represent the top echelon of brand name talent while always unearthing artists, illustrators, photographers, and writers you’ve never heard of who are tapped by some of the world’s leading creative directors.

Today, more than ever, we remain true to our original mission—to bring exceptional talent and creative solutions and content to brands, and to work in a dynamic and flexible way, constantly evolving with the industry and culture as a whole. We as an agency and as creative individuals are continuously growing and engaging with the world around us. Our tenacity and curiosity are what makes our work and collaborations exciting.

Blake Scott

Patrick Janelle

Moti Ankara

Max Berlinger

Jim Windolf

PERSOL X RIKKE JØRGENSEN INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN Collaboration with Persol and Traffic Artist, Rikke Jørgensen, for Persol’s launch of their Typewriter frame. Rikke created portraits out of type of select fashion influencers and editors. Prints of the portraits were gifted to the individuals after the event.

COACH X ERIC INKALA BRAND COLLABORATION

OUR CLIENTS

run the gamut from fresh-faced start-ups to established international brands and Fortune 500 companies. With a 360 degree view and a multicultural perspective, we offer expertise, seasoned and groundbreaking guidance in branding and strategy, creative direction and design. We also work with multimedia and multichannel advertising, and influencer and idea-oriented, content development, licensing, publishing, along with invaluable referrals for public relations. Given our wide array of clients across diverse sectors of the market we can facilitate co-branding and multi-level collaborations.

Our clients include Aramis, Aveda, Avon, Awake Cosmetics, Balenciaga Floredanica, Bath & Body Works, Bloomingdales, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Beauty, Carrera, Chanel, Clinique, Club Monaco, Colgate, Coty, Clinique, Diesel, Dockers, Elle, Essence, Estee Lauder, GAP, Guess, Henri Bendel, Hermes, John Lobb, Joseph Abboud, Lancome, Laura Mercier, L’Oreal, Lexus, MAC Cosmetics, Macy’s, Marc Jacobs, Matrix, Maybelline, Neutrogena, Nordstrom, Noxzema, Nylon, Redken, Revlon, Saks Fifth Avenue, SC Johnson, Select Communications, Sephora, Sigerson Morrison, Shiseido, Tiffany & Co., Tommy HIlfiger, Vera Wang Victoria’s Secret, Vogue, and Weleda.

IMAGE LICENSING Our illustration and photography archives provide fresh content for licensing.

MICHELLE EDELMAN, CEO Michelle Edelman FOUNDER is all about the story of the brand. Why do certain things resonate and others not? Why is one idea compelling and another unappealing? Her journey started with human psychology, wandered through the world of art, magazines and photography and culminated with branding and art. Having been raised in Scandinavia and the Middle East, thrived on the east coast and the west, she brings her cool elegance to branding, design, and a global understanding of culture and trends on human behavior. Her career has traveled equally effortlessly, from ad designer, photo editor, photographer’s agent, marketing executive, and gallerist at places like the Village Voice, CDB Gobé, Lister Butler, Mirabella, Allure, and Sisman Design. Eventually, she forged her own path by founding the groundbreaking TRAFFIC – the first agency to represent the individual components of traditional advertising agency.

In addition to her role as CEO of Traffic, she also works alongside Edelman Arts and Artemus, all family-run art businesses, as well as collects and nurtures the careers of emerging artists.

She holds a BA in Social Psychology & Communications from University of California Santa Cruz. Michelle was born in Olso, Norway and spent her youth in Norway, France, England, Germany, and Egypt. michelleve@traffic-nyc.com IG michelle_edelman

SHEREKA EVANS, Executive Vice President An industry insider with over 15 years at Traffic, Shereka oversees business operations, marketing, artist relations, and account management. She plays an invaluable role in bridging the relationships between clients and artists. She is strategically minded, solutions-oriented and results driven. Culturally attuned and new media savvy, she has a keen understanding of the shifts in marketing, media, and culture as a whole. On a personal note, she is a keen writer, poet, and taste-maker. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology from John Jay University.

Shereka is Jamaican/American, embodying the bestof both cultures.

shereka@traffic-nyc.com IG xaymacabird

CALVIN KLEIN Photography by Michael Mundy

Illustration by Alicia Malesani

BRANDING. HOW WE WORK. Creatively led and strategically driven. We have a fully integrated vision towards bringing the highest level of creative execution with strategic insight. We have developed successful branding and print & digital campaigns for clients in the fields of art, fashion, beauty, interior design and more.

VISUAL RESEARCH We use a Visual Research methodology, honed through years of experience, that brings clarity for the best strategy forward. We help you define who you are, what makes you unique, who your audience is, how you reach, speak and engage with them.

It’s breaking down your brand DNA, while also delving deeply into your consumer and the market as a whole. We also look at visual iconography and trends. This is how we can best provide intelligent and creative solutions to help you maximize your brand’s true potential. We call it your roadmap to success.

Visual Research Includes: • Brand Assessment • Lifestyle Audit • Category Sweep • Brand Personality Profile

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE WORD IT’S THE IDEA THE IDEA UNDERNEATH THE EMOTION THE IDEA THAT DRIVES THE STORY PAINTS THE PICTURE THAT MAKES US BELIEVE BRING BELOW-THE-LINE TO ABOVE-THE-LINE VIRTUAL TO REALITY THE IDEA THAT MOVES THE PRODUCT INTO OUR MINDSPACE THE IDEA THAT CLOSES THE SALE AND OPENS UP A WHOLE NEW WAY OF BEING Ameena Meer

COPYWRITING. For us copywriters are conceptual artists—each with

their own unique style. Not only are they seasoned wordsmiths and communicators, but they have the unique gift to fully encapsulate an entire brand vision and experience. Our skill is the keen understanding to pair you with the right copywriter that meets your specific need and vision.

WORDS ARE IMPORTANT. Today, when audiences are inundated by media, the right words can make an image unforgettable. Without copy, even beautiful images become interchangeable. The copywriters we work with know how to speak a brand’s language, how to give the brand story depth and resonance. They are the conceptor who can see the big picture and bring it all together.

COPY GIVES A BRAND A VOICE AND A SOUL. Our copywriters develop brand voices, clarify brand missions, create brand and product stories, and reawaken brand histories and mythologies, as well as brand positionings. Words, ideas, and concepts bring advertising, promotional campaigns and websites to life.

A great copywriter understands the importance of the perfect brand or product name, along with the exact words to describe its benefits. The right words matter in ads, out of home, brochures, web banners, POS materials, commercial scripts for video, TV and radio spots.

NAMING. We have great success with name development. We offer the unique possibility of working with one of our seasoned copywriters to mastermind your naming strategy and development. We also run a naming group with a writer and creative leading the sessions. This “round table” of individuals are curated based on the clients’ industry sector, and overall experience. Extensive lists of names are generated, then distilled, and returning to the creative process multiple time until we arrive to a short list of names that can be trademarked. We can provide legal support, if needed.

Balenciaga / Florabotanica Calvin Klein / CK One CK Shock CK In 2U Calvin Klein /Euphoria Calvin Klein / Beauty Calvin Klein / Encounter Christian Lacroix / Absynth Marc Jacobs / Blush Tommy Hilfiger / Dreaming Tommy Hilfiger / True Star Coty / Sara Jessica Parker / Lovely Coty / J. Lo / Glow Coty / J. Lo / Still Donna Karan / Cashmere Eve / Fetish

Shiseido / 5S (5 Senses- Retail Concept) Kama Aruveda Artemus LLC (Art Finance) Café D’Nile (Hospitality) Greendog (Children Apparel)

CREATIVE DIRECTION MICHELLE EDELMAN ALBERT LIN MICHELLE ROQUE

SILKE VISHAB ERIKA PERRY PAUL LAMB

CREATIVE/COPY AMEENA MEER AMY SWIFT BRENDA CULLERTON DIMITRI EHRLICH FAYETTE HICKOX MICHAEL GROSS

ARTISTS

PHOTOGRAPHY

ADOLFO CORREA ALICIA MALESANI CECILIA LUNDGREN ERIC INKALA IZAK ZENOU LUCILE PRACHE MAREN ESDAR MIA MARIE OVERGAARD MONSIEUR Z PENELOPE ROLLAND RIKKE JØRGENSEN SOPHIE GRIOTTO WENDY PLOVMAND MARGARETE GOCKEL

ART BUYING AND PRODUCTION SERVICES

SOUND DESIGN JEREMIAH BORNFELD CHRISTOPHER EDELMAN/PRODBYGEKKO DIMITRI EHRLICH

MOTION ANIMATION FILM ADOLFO CORREA STEFANO DE BELLIS MICHAEL MUNDY LIONEL DJAOWE

AMY SWIFT, Creative Director and Copywriter The Story is in the Telling. Amy is a writer, strategist and content creator. Her focus is in beauty, fashion, fitness, spirituality and design, but she also has experience in non-profit, finance and general consumer products. She loves connecting with people through compelling stories and words that disarm how an audience typically thinks of a product or service. By finding or creating a brands voice, she’s able to craft editorial and blog content, as well as photography assets and video content, to more effectively amplify presence, visibility and message. As a copywriter, she develops the positioning/strategy, brand guidelines, as well as crafts or edits external messaging like websites, taglines/naming, social media posts, advertisements and other marketing collateral.

She also works as a ghostwriter for CEO’s, personalities and celebrities when they’re tasked with publishing a column or in need of talking points for TV/digital.

Amy is the lead writer for Guess magazine, generating relevant stories and content from start to finish. She has also worked extensively with natural beauty brand “Bodhi Tree,” which is one of the more exciting brands online today.

DIMITRI EHRLICH, Creative Director and Copywriter Dimitri is also a published author, songwriter and Emmy-nominated television producer. He has produced award-winning advertising, marketing and branding content for Apple, Nike, Levis, Tommy Hilfiger, The New York Times, Old Navy, Eddie Bauer, Equinox, J. Crew, Grand Marnier, Banana Republic, BCBG, David Yurman, Target, MTV, USA Networks, The Sci Fi Channel, Svedka Vodka, Ciroc Vodka, Grey Goose Vodka, Tanqueray Gin, The Gap, Sharp Electronics and others.

To add to his already exceptional accolades, Dimitri is also a multi-platinum selling songwriter, whose music has been recorded more than 100 times. His songs have been featured on TV shows including “How I Met Your Mother,” Love Monkey,” “Royal Pains,” and numerous commercials.

Dimitri is author of Inside the Music: Conversations with Musicians about Creativity, Spirituality and Consciousness (Shambala/Random House) Co­Author of Move the Crowd: Voices and Faces of the Hip­Hop Nation (MTV Books/Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster) and contributed to Dave Eggers’ anthology: Shiny Adidas Tracks: The Best of Might Magazine (Putnam Berkley).

He has served as head writer on television shows for on ABC, NBC, MTV, the Sundance BET, the Style Network and TV Land.

His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, Details, Vibe, Self, The London Observer, London Daily Telegraph, New York Magazine, Mademoiselle, Complex, Arena Homme Plus and Interview Magazine.

Creative Direction, Brand Positioning, Naming and Copywriting: Ameena Meer

AMEENA MEER, Creative Director and Copywriter Ameena has launched and revitalized high-impact brands and products with lasting influence.

Her strength is expressing emotion that inspires action. As a writer, Meer knows intuitively that a good story changes minds. She believes the most effective communication is based on love for the consumer, respect for the brand and change for the good.

After a misspent youth as a fashion victim, club kid, journalist, dancer, editor, Asian American activist and waitress, Ameena came back to writing with her first novel, Bombay Talkie. Three daughters later, she authored How to Shoot Your Kids for Arthur Elgort. After she survived cancer she wrote Fearless Healing, an inspiring guide to take charge of your own healing . A mother of re-invention, Meer’s been a copywriter, thinker, conceptor and/or creative director for Avon, Calvin Klein, Coty, The Gap, Estee Lauder, Donna Karan, Federated Stores, Pzifer, L’Oreal, The Navajo Nation, Homes for the Homeless and Proctor & Gamble.

Today, Ameena bridges her commercial branding work with her passion for natural health and healing. She trained and became a certified Holistic Nutritionist, Energy Healer and Meditation Guide. As her focus in this area has grown, so have the clients and brands with whom she works—providing them with a deep knowledge she has to offer. She has worked with Jurlique, Under the Canopy, Kama Ayurveda, and 5S for Shiseido (based on 5 senses). She has spent the past three years working closely with Weleda as a consulting creative director to help brand and guide them for the US market.

CALVIN KLEIN FRAGRANCES Creation of brand positioning and naming of Calvin Klein CK1 (the first fragrance- see prior page). The manifesto created for them became the spring board for their entire brand positioning. All CK projects shown here are by Ameena Meer.

Creative Director/Copywriter: Ameena Meer

If you know who you are.

If you’ll try anything once.

If you won’t take no for an answer.

If you live your own life.

If you choose love over stability.

If you like to share.

If you don’t try to be something you’re not.

If you think conformity is boring.

If you’re a man or a woman.

CK one

DIESEL Branding, Creative Direction and Copy Writing by Ameena Meer

URBAN PLAYBOY/COTY Brand Positioning, Advertising Design, Packaging Design Creative Direction and Design: YODI Illustration: YODI

COACH X ERIC INKALA BRAND COLLABORATION Sneaker Design and Wall Graffiti, Brooklyn 2019

GAP (RED) Advertising Campaign Creative Director/Copywriter: Dimitri Ehrlich

TOMMY HILFIGER Creation of Advertising Campaign Creative Director/Copywriter: Dimitri Ehrlich

LINK TO VIDEO

CORONA / OCEANS In honour of World Oceans Day, we hijacked Corona’s global ‘This Is Living’ brand platform to help combat plastic pollution.

With a staggering eight million metric tons of plastic waste dumped into the sea each year, our artist Adolfo Correa worked with Wieden + Kennedy, Corona and Parley for the Oceans to highlight the issue by putting plastic into other places it doesn’t belong.

Just in time for summer, they subverted that classic symbol of paradise, the Hawaiian shirt. Called The Paradise? Shirt, it’s designed by Adolfo Correa to mimic the true state of paradise with a pattern that looks idyllic from a distance, but on closer inspection reveals plastic waste everywhere such as old toothbrushes, plastic rings, cuttery and so on.

Supported by global ambassador, Chris Hemsworth, and made with the help of Parley from the very stuff it depicts – plastic from the ocean; the limited-edition shirt shows the world paradise is in danger while doing something about it.

GREY GOOSE Advertising campaign.

Creative Direction and copywriting Dimitri Ehrlich

LINK TO DIGITAL BRAND BOOK

JOSEPH ABBOUD Brand Positioning, Advertising, Radio Creative Director/Copywriter: Dimitri Ehrlich

Mark Cross Brand History Mark Cross Brand DNA

MARK CROSS Brand Positioning Creative Director/Copywriter: Dimitri Ehrlich

DOCKERS Brand Positioning, Advertisitng Creative Director/Copywriter: Dimitri Ehrlich

Creation of a co-branded logo for Christian Roth Optical and Selima Optical, 2015.

Graphic Design: Michelle Edelman, Traffic Illustration: Izak Zenou Left page: Advertising Campaign for Carrera Creative Direction and Copy Writing: Max Blgg Project Management: Traffic

SONY Creative Direction, Design, Web Design, Digital Window Display, Illustration, 3d Modelling Connecting individual consumers during the Holidays through digital communications, social media and integrating them with window displays in Sony stores across the U.S. When a customer texted in their message for the Holidays, it would appear on the TV screens in the windows.

Traffic collaborated with Syrup, a cutting edge design team, to create this living Holiday window installation.

Exploring the concept of “connection,” a concept coming from observing how people use their Sony products both as a means of entertainment and as a means of connecting with others. The end product included a companion website for users to make and send their own holiday wishes to the Sony store of their choosing. Their wishes were broadcast to the various Sony screens within the window installations.

It brought personalized messages from one end of the country to the other, thus generating connections between otherwise total strangers.

Creative Direction and Design: Syrup Project Management: Traffic

GUESS MAGAZINE Editorial Development, Photography, Illustration, Copywriting We have worked with GUESS for more than 10 years and 5 of those years included the creation and editorial direction of their branded magazine. Having extensive magazine experience, we were able to guide them through its creation — how to organize the content and overall layout, how to create cohesive issues that fed back into that season of clothing and advertising photography. We worked hand-in-hand with their team to create two issues per year. Throughout working together, we created and executed editorial content, provided all copy and headlines, gave ongoing design feedback, as well as curated photography and illustration artwork. Feature photography was produced internally by Guess.

Creative Director: Paul Marciano Design Director: Leslie Oki-Yoshimura Editorial and Creative Consultant: Michelle Edelman Editor, Writer: Amy Swift Photo Research, Art buying: Traffic

TRAFFIC ARTISTS

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MONSIEUR Z ANIMATION/MOTION/ ILLUSTRATION Monsieur Z (also known as Mr. Z) burst onto the international illustration Jet Set in the 90s when his work was published in Wallpaper magazine. His illustrations are vibrant and colorful, and reflect his fascination with the groovy, retro sensibilities of 1960s Hollywood. For this issue of Guess magazine Mr. Z has created a series of retro travel posters inspired by some of the key spots in the Med. Mr. Z’s graphic style has led him to become one of the worlds leading contemporary illustrators. His digitally synthesized work begins with a series of masterfully hand-sketched renderings, which reflect his fascination with architecture and Jet Set culture, whether it be the Riviera or California.

LEXUS Creation of Avatars for website and promotional project.

JAMES DIGNAN ILLUSTRATION Worldclass illustrator and humorist, James Dignan is favorite amongst leading international brands Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss and Absolut Vodka, his narrative and humor brings irony along with fashionable flare to his subjects.

His clients have included fashion designers and brands Yohji Yamamoto, Jil Sandler, Chloe, Martine Sitbon, Primtemps, Neiman Marcus and Hugo Boss, as well as advertising clients Air France, Absolut Vodka, Colgate, and Elizabeth Arden.

He has worked with some of the world’s leading publications including, Vogue (Australia, Nippon, Pelle), Elle, Self, Glamour, InStyle, Madame Figaro and Marie Claire.

LOUIS VUITTON Newspaper Print and Digital Campaign Illustrations by James Dignan

IZAK ZENOU ILLUSTRATION Long associated with exclusive brands and high-end publications, Izak’s work instantly conveys a breezy, fashionable style, and charmed view of life. IZAK has partnered with numerous brand, lending his creative vision and name to licensed products, including Hermes, Sephora, Henri Bendel, Macy’s, and Lippault.

Clients include Paul Smith, Guerlain, Chanel, Estee Lauder, Lancome, Henri Bendel, Celine, Coty, Lily Pulitzer, Laura Mercier, Vera Wang, Vogue, Instyle, Travel & Leisure, Elle, Marie Claire, Vogue, and Vogue Sposa.

MAREN ESDAR DIGITAL COLLAGE ARTIST Maren’s creations combine photography, collage and digital rendering into unique, inviting confection. Each image can tell a complex story at a glance. Her work captivates and inspires with narratives that reference nature, philosophy, culture and literature. Her unique work had been seen in the pages of the world’s top fashion and style magazines and brands including, Vogue, New York Times Magazine, Neiman Marcus, Surface and Esquire.

ALICIA MALESANI ILLUSTRATION Inspired by fashion and the east, Alicia’s pencil rendered watercolors capture the authenticity of her subjects whether a woman or man, an object or flower. Her dynamic compositions interweave color, ink and graphite, creating work that is elegant, modern, and timeless.

Alicia comes from the agency world where she worked for many years as an art director.

Eventually her work as an illustrator took over.

Today she works with many of the world’s most prestigious clients including, Amazon, Chanel, Loewe, Max Mara, Escada, Juicy Couture, Toyota, Fiat, Vogue, Mercedes Benz, Neiman Marcus, Penguin, Harper’s Bazaar, Architectural Digest, Marie Claire, Tatler, Elle, Essence, Instyle, Vanity Fair, and Vogue.

SOPHIE GRIOTTO ILLUSTRATION After getting her start storyboarding in the world of Paris haute couture in the nineties, drawing for Dior and Gaultier, Sophie established herself as a fashion and lifestyle illustrator in 2003 and enjoys a fruitful career. She is distinguished by her sophisticated, fluid style—and cites Japanese ink wash painting and African dance as inspirations. Sophie’s work has gained recognition not just commercially but critically, too. She has been featured in anthologies of the world’s most important current illustrators such as Taschen: 100 Illustrators and Illustration Now! Fashion.

Sophie has worked with Douglas Elliman, Macy’s, Swatch, Caudalie, and Estée Lauder.

TRAFFIC 111 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021 T. + 1 212 734 0041 E. info@traffic-nyc.com www.traffic-nyc.com @traffic_nyc

Contact: Michelle Edelman michelleve@traffic-nyc.com

Copyright Notice: This book and all of its contents/images is copyright of the individual artists and Traffic, Inc. © 2021. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited and punishable by law.

Illustration by James Dignan © 2021