IWD2019: Billie Creative Director Noemie Le Coz on Solving Problems Through Creativity
WORKING NOT WORKING
We’re supporting Balance for Better as part of International Women’s Day and celebrating spectacular female creatives on Working Not Working who need to be on your radar in 2019. We’re delighted to highlight 9 members who lead the creative conversation through both their careers and personal projects. This interview series covers the pursuit of professional creativity and the breakthroughs, accomplishments, ambitions, dreams, and lessons that follow.
WNW Member Noemie Le Coz is an Australian Art Director, Designer, and Illustrator based in New York. She’s worked at the likes of RoAndCo Studio, Pentagram Design, Hugo & Marie, Partners & Spade, Apple, and Google Creative Lab, and is the Co-founder of She-Moji: Emoji for Women. In our interview below, Noemie discusses her early interest in design, her latest venture as Creative Director of Billie, a female-first body shave brand, and why the future for creative women is brighter than ever. “I'm seeing so many female creatives emerging every day that are doing things I'm so excited about and proud of. My advice would only be to keep going, back yourself, have fun, and keep making what you want to make!”
What was the catalyst for pursuing a creative career? What kept you going to get to where you are now?
Design was the one class for me at school that I'd really look forward to. The more I got into it, the more I loved it... something just really clicked. So I paid attention to that and just kept design as my focus. I think I was really lucky that the realization came so easily to me. What has kept me going is pretty simple: that inherent love for making things and figuring out ways to solve problems through creativity. That cliché "you'll never work a day in your life if you love what you do" does sum it up pretty well for me!
“What has kept me going is pretty simple: that inherent love for making things and figuring out ways to solve problems through creativity.”
What's your proudest creative breakthrough, project, or accomplishment and why?
Seeing Billie grow from launch, 16 months ago, to what it is now, has been really exciting. I'm proud that it's had such a positive response from its audience, and of the campaigns that we've been able to create. Seeing Project Body Hair start a new, public conversation and actually impact perceptions was really incredible — and our last campaign, DreamPop, I'm super proud of but for very different reasons... mainly because of how fun it turned out!
Client: Google
What's the one piece of advice you'd share with fellow creative women?
That we're killing it!! I think the future for us is looking brighter than ever. We're suddenly dominating creative industries in ways the world has never seen, and the playing field is leveling. I'm seeing so many female creatives emerging every day that are doing things I'm so excited about and proud of. My advice would only be to keep going, back yourself, have fun, and keep making what you want to make!
Pay it forward. Name a badass creative and tell us why they inspire you right now.
A photographer I recently worked with, Jacq Harriet! She's incredibly talented and already has such a beautiful body of work for someone so young. She shot for Nike Women's latest campaign 'Dream Crazier', which celebrated female athletes fighting for equality, leadership, opportunity, and strength through sport. She's also a dream to work with on-set — super self-assured but also so humble!
What would be your dream project or job?
My dream project would be something that merges tech and design, to create something new, fun and practical that people can use, and hopefully impact the world in some positive way. I know that's super vague, haha... I'm currently trying to work out what it could be though. If anyone has any ideas, hit me up! :)
Client: Smalls