“I used to wait around until someone else said the thing I was thinking in order to validate it. Don’t wait to speak on the things you believe in.”
Read MoreMischief President & “Sassy Bossypants” Kerry McKibbin on Stirring the Industry, Ideas Over Agency Theater, & the Power of “No”
Mischeif President, Partner & “Sassy Bossypants” Kerry McKibbin offers unique insight into Mischief’s creation, creating mischief daily, and “the power of no.”
Read MoreTOV Consultant Vikki Ross Helps Brands To Become Human & Humans To Become Copywriters. (Sorry Robots.)
I encourage brands to be confident with what they say and how they say it. I work with some of the biggest brands in the world and it’s so frustrating when they look to their competitors for inspiration when they could and should be leading the way for their category.
Read More"Globally, the Narrative Pen Is in White Folks’ Hands." Nigerian Copywriter Dotun Bello on the Need for Industry Change
“I think the biggest problem is that globally the narrative pen is in white folks’ hands. Even in Africa, our regional campaigns are created all the way in London. That's ridiculous to me. I think we need to give the people the narrative pen.”
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Talent Talk with Kim Lovell, Creative Talent Manager at VMLY&R
After a year stint as a Creative Recruiter at the Creative Circle, Lovell’s brought her talents to VMLY&R and constantly works to fill its staff with the greatest creative minds that she can. Here’s her process and perspective on finding talent.
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Larry Gordon’s Passion for Advertising Diversity Will Change the Industry for the Better
Gordon explains diversity in advertising with the same passion that goes into explaining new ideas. Our conversation about his background quickly moved into the steps that advertising needs to take to become more inclusive and I think it’s all the better for it. For agencies looking to make some serious change, Gordon practically lays out the blueprint that will help the creative world change for the better.
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Emily Berger Started in Accounting. Now She’s an Award-Winning Creative Leader.
Coming from a family that spoke about ads at the dinner table with the same air of normalcy as sports, Emily Berger was always destined to become a creative titan. While interning in an ad agency accounting department and hating every second of it, she realized that she wanted to do what the creatives were doing and made it her mission to be like them.
Read MoreHow Portfolio School Alternatives Are Teaching Aspiring Advertising Creatives For Free
At the One School, Polanco spent 16 weeks on a crash course learning the ins and outs of being a creative. Here, she explains how her creative background and education at the One School have prepared her to be a creative within the advertising industry.
Read MoreWhat It Takes to Run an Agency, In the Eyes of Mojo Supermarket’s Mo Said
In the nearly three years since Mojo Supermarket has existed, the agency has hacked the Oscars, declared baseball dead for Adidas, and even designed a toilet for bad advertising. Each of its projects gets more attention than the last, and Mo wants it to become a home for creatives looking to make the most unique work of their career.
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How Ray Smiling Adds Destruction Into Creativity
Ray Smiling speaks about creativity as if it were a recap of a Transformers fight. It’s about creating and destroying, it “needs more explosions.” He’s the kind of Creative Director that you want to have if you’re into advertising. His ability to think outside of the box, and encourage other creatives to do so, is well-documented.
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Donye Taylor Cut Her Own Path Into The Creative Industry
From working with R&B artist 6LACK to market his 600 Degrees hot sauce to handling creative direction for a project with Nike, Donye Taylor has carved her own path on her terms. She’s not letting up for anyone. Taylor talks The Digital Footprint, what drives her, and what she plans on doing in the future.
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How Oriel Davis-Lyons Is Changing Diversity In The Ad Industry — One Class At A Time
“We're only ever seeing books from the people who have the privilege of being able to put them together. And that often excludes Black creatives. ONE School is a way to make sure that there is an alternative way into this industry.”
Read MoreArtwork by WNW Member Chris Burnett
50 People & Companies Inspiring the Working Not Working Community Right Now
We asked WNW members to tell us about the creative people who most inspired them, the companies whose projects most impressed them, and their under-the-radar discoveries who deserve to be household names.
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Felix Richter’s Decade at Droga5 Proves a Mastery Of Creative
Felix Richter is the Co-Chief Creative Officer for one of the most well-known agencies in the world. His executive-level creative decisions have left his gargantuan fingerprints on some of the industry’s most well-known campaigns. He’s an inspiration to creatives everywhere — not just for his work in the industry, but also for his approach to being creative altogether.
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Photography: Noire Mouliom
These Black Creatives Founded Six Cinquième, One Of Canada’s Most Exciting New Creative Agencies
In just two years, Six Cinquième has become the blueprint for rising, self-established agencies—especially for Black creatives, who make up an absurdly small percentage of the advertising industry. Now, they’re speaking to Working Not Working about it all: being creatives, establishing their highly sought-after agency, and the vision that they have for the future.
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We Are COLLINS: A Conversation with Design Leadership at the Celebrated Strategy & Brand Experience Company
We caught up with design leadership, split between COLLINS’ two offices, to shine a light on the industry perspective of the strategy and brand experience company, how that insider reputation was met and swiftly surpassed, and which projects have only further solidified their team appreciation for incredible craft at incredible scale.
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Photo by EVERGIB
Canceling the Confederacy: The Dismantling of One of the Most Powerful Brands in American History
“In some cases, a brand stretches or distorts the truth to appeal to its audience. Do we really think Pop-Tarts are part of a nutritious breakfast, as Kellogg's suggests? Over time, the reinforcement of this skewed reality becomes accepted as the norm. It's exactly how the rise of the Confederacy brand came to pass.”
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Work With Ahmed Klink
“You start in one place and you end up somewhere else at the end.” Work With is a film series from Working Not Working that introduces you to the creatives behind the work. In this installment, Ahmed Klink shows you that when you take the time to visualize where you want to be, making moves becomes second nature.
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VCU Brandcenter and Working Not Working Partner for Virtual Recruiter Session Week
We’ve officially launched a weeklong virtual recruiter session on the WNW platform. Over the past month, the graduating class of just over 100 students has been putting together their portfolios, housed within their own section of Working Not Working. Now, recruiters have the chance to discover, chat with, and hire any and all of these up-and-coming creatives.
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