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Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Peet Pinaar from Clio Awards
 | | TAXI >> In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between art and design?
Peet Pienaar >>For me design is always a vehicle for something else and Im not sure what art is.
TAXI >>You once said
your design isn't always produced as a keepsake—but people don't throw
it away. What do you think is the main reason for it?
Peet Pienaar >>I think it because of a lot of
reasons, one maybe because I was making art before, and then maybe
because it is very important for me to try and make something as
beautiful as possible for me. (I know this will typecast me as an
aesthetic designer, but what is beautiful for me I believe is very
developed because I am so conscious about it) |
TAXI >>What is the key ingredient in your design process?
Peet Pienaar >>Alone time thinking about something, I
am not sure if I like saying it because it’s trying to typecast me
trying to understand what I am doing. It’s really important not to know
because the known is boring. Maybe the ingredient is trying to be fresh
and develop all the time but it’s not always the case although a lot of
effort does go into achieving it.
TAXI >>I read that you
painted before but stopped and went into performance art because you
felt that art was too self-indulgent - the same reason for your
transition from performance art to design. What do you think of
designers whose predominant design philosophy is self-indulgence?
Peet Pienaar >>Whow they must have too much money! I
suppose you have that in all industries and sometimes it is important
when the design is there to only carry a concept. But most of the time
you look at that stuff in one year and you think what a waste.
TAXI >>Do you see yourself being involved in performance art again in any way?
Peet Pienaar >>No, but maybe in performance design, I would love to design a new walk for cat walks.
TAXI >>As a consummate award-winner, how has your perspective of awards evolved from, say, 10 years ago?
Peet Pienaar >>I'm not sure if I can be honest about
this question, all I can say is I don’t think someone is a good
designer because they won an award.
TAXI >>Having
experienced from a wide spectrum of the visual and performing arts, how
has it affected your current work or manner of thinking, design-wise?
Peet Pienaar >>It has influenced they way I think and
I am not scared to slate the artworld, but I am not sure how much I
think different from other designers as I am not them. But I do think
it made me brave.
TAXI >>Your guest stint
as guest art director with VISI has generated an unprecedented slew of
feedback and comments from the readers. Was that the intended response?
What did you have in mind when you started the project?
Peet Pienaar >>My idea was to make it as exciting as
possible. I knew it was a risk, and to be honest I can’t believe they
actually let the wolf out between the sheep. I think allot of reaction
was from designers from other magazines who had to defend their own
design. The best of it all was that the sales went up 20% and it was
the best selling issue of all time for Visi.
TAXI >>What is the WORD which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years.
Peet Pienaar >>AFRICA
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with David Baldwin from The One Club
 | | TAXI >>Hi
David. I heard your band's latest album Twice the snake you need
promises "ten hard-rocking, satanically-contracted songs about
antiquing, two-headed snakes, misplaced geishas, and a futuristic world
where pants are forbidden", and got to play in the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame. How's life as a rock band member coming along? Any plans for a
tour in the pipeline?
David Baldwin >>Well, I’m not going to quit my day
job. What’s been so fun about the Pants! experience is that it has been
the best agency self-promotion piece we’ve ever done. It has also been
a set of experiences that I will never forget and has been a heck of
lot of fun. Our picture actually hung in the R&R Hall of Fame for a
year. Pretty cool.
TAXI >>You've said in a
previous interview that young creatives should think in terms of ideas,
not ads. What do you do to source for new inspiration? |
David Baldwin >>What I mean by that is that the world
is full of ‘ads’ but there are really very few great ideas in our
industry. I guess the way I would define it is that a great idea is one
that spawns an almost infinite amount of other ideas. As opposed to a
one shot ad that is the beginning and end of the conversation. As far
as inspiration goes it’s more about being aware of what’s going and
then connecting the dots in a new way. So really, I guess just be open
and curious about everything.
TAXI >>What do you think of the idea that inspiration is something that can be taught in the classroom?
I don’t know that inspiration can be taught. I think it’s more
likely to say that inspiration can be caught. In a classroom
environment it’s more about having an inspiring teacher more than
anything else. Expertise is about learning distinctions so that’s what
the classroom is about, teaching the distinctions of the business and
new ways to think. Inspiration is so much bigger than that.
TAXI >>What are some of the big ideas you're having currently?
David Baldwin >>We’re having a lot of fun right now
exploring what advertising even is these days. For instance, we needed
to launch the FullFrame Documentary Film Festival’s new website, an
evolution of something we’d already done. So instead of doing an
announcement campaign, we burned the old one down and created an event
around it. Apparently, someone in the ‘virtual theatre; on the site was
careless and threw a cigarette on the floor and the whole thing went up
in flames. We called it the world’s first internet fire.
We also did some work for Polaris ATV’s where, again, instead of a
traditional campaign, we had the CEO of Polaris challenge CEO’s of
their competitors to a Duel on their machines. The Polaris CEO, Tom
Tiller, is a rider, he rides the machines every day. You can’t say the
same for the CEO’s of Honda, Yamaha and the rest. It got a ton of buzz
in the ATV category. I don’t know what to call either of those because
while they have some traditional elements involved, their not
traditional campaigns. It’s tremendously fun in the business right now.
You can pretty much do anything.
TAXI >>Have you ever experienced any faltering of passion for your job? How do you keep yourself constantly interested then?
David Baldwin >>A friend of mine recently got out of
the business, a very well known individual. I asked him why he left
such a visible, successful job and he said, “Because everyday was
beginning to feel like the movie Groundhog day. The same conversations
over and over again.” I have felt that way before.
You find yourself having the same discussion with clients. But the
truth is I still get the same rush whenever we do something that is
cool and then the numbers go up in the marketplace, or when someone in
my agency has a breakthrough, or when I see inspiring stuff come out of
other companies. I also still feel like my best work is ahead of me. I
suppose that when I don’t feel that anymore it’s time to get out.
TAXI >>You've said
before that the best advice anyone ever gave you is to never present
from opinion but rather from facts. Have there been instances where
this approach failed you?
David Baldwin >>All the time, but it’s still better
than just trying to convince clients to do something because it’s
‘cool.’ Of course, there are rare times when that is the reason and
there are facts to support the position. I can give you an example of
that. Years ago, my agency at the time handled the business-to-business
side of Polaroid.
We were working on a campaign talking to professional
photographers. Part of our media strategy was that the campaign must
win awards to truly have reach beyond the media buy, if we won awards
it would be a demonstration to photographers of the creative uses of
Polaroid film. This is a great example of something we advise all the
time, ‘Don’t just say it, be it.’ That’s was the argument when we
presented the work. The campaign featured fantastic photographers and
won awards in virtually every show it was entered into.
The response to the ads from photographers was so high that a
direct company Polaroid was working with to handle the DR portion of
the campaign thought the response numbers were a typo and changed them
for a presentation to the client. The campaign outperformed traditional
DR metrics.
TAXI >>You've lived in
so many cities, and you said you love them for vastly different
reasons. Currently, which is your favourite city to live and work in?
Why?
David Baldwin >>That’s kind of like asking you to name your favourite Beatle. Can’t do it. Okay, John Lennon.
TAXI >>You've said
before that the best advice you've received is "to be responsible for
yourself". What does that mean actually? I've always wondered: Was
advertising meant to be responsible to the client, the product or the
consumer?
David Baldwin >>This is a business that opens up
possibilities in your life. Want to live in Asia? Want to direct? Want
to write a book or a screenplay? Want to produce a comic book for your
client? You can do it. I don’t know of many other businesses that allow
you that kind of possibility and freedom. There certainly aren’t many
other businesses that would have allowed me to mix my love
writing/playing music while actually keeping my day job. You can do
anything you want to. So do it.
On the second question advertising is meant to be responsible to
and should delight all three. But if I had to pick one, the most
important constituent is the consumer. They know when they’re being
manipulated, they know when they’re not being respected and they’re
smarter than anyone gives them credit for.
TAXI >>What is the WORD which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years.
David Baldwin >>Two words: Creator’s rights.
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Myrna Davis from The Art Directors Club
 | | TAXI >>There was some controversy surrounding the "Pimp My Brand" ad. What was the intended response to this ad?
Myrna Davis >>The title and image of ADC’s 85th Call
for Entries poster were parodic, and the work as a whole was a satiric,
inside-industry commentary on the co-opting of "urban" (black) culture
by mainstream (white) culture. The word “pimp”--as in MTV's popular
show, "Pimp My Ride”--was intended to suggest that brands, like cars,
that are subjected to extreme makeovers can become preposterous and
silly. MacDonald’s, for example, invited hip-hop artists to mention the
company in their songs, and hip-hop designers to rethink their
uniforms.
The Call for Entries poster concept targeted advertising and design
creative professionals, but the target of the satire was corporate. |
The
poster was meant to invite debate and discussion about advertising,
marketing and cultural issues, attracting attention to the competition,
which it did. The ADC’s Annual Awards competition is entirely
not-for-profit, and entry fees supoort all our programs, including
scholarships, student workshops, exhibitions, speaker events and
symposia, professional and student portfolio reviews, the ADC Hall of
Fame, the ADC Young Guns biennial showcase, publications and other
educational activities and projects.
ADC’s 86th Call for Entries poster on the subject of Armageddon also has generated strong reactions.
TAXI >>In that respect,
how could one differentiate or make any judgment between satirical
commentary and cultural exploitation in the advertising? Or is there
any difference at all?
Myrna Davis >>ADC’s “Pimp My Brand” poster was by and
for industry insiders about cultural exploitation by corporations for
profit. It was not directed to a general audience.
TAXI >>Given the
complexities surrounding the expectations of advertising and its target
markets, I've always wondered if advertising meant to be responsible to
the client, the product or the consumer?
Myrna Davis >>It should be responsible to all three—pragmatically to the first, strategically to the second, ethically to the third.
TAXI >>After the hoo-ha, what is your perspective of the usage of loaded and potentially offensive terms in advertising?
Myrna Davis >>Taste is subjective, and the same ADC
Call for Entries posters that offend some garner praise from others.
Work that generates discussion in the industry has been effective for
ADC in attracting attention and therefore more entries. Advertising to
the general public faces the same strategic considerations, but
approaches that generate controversy may not be an effective choice if
the desire is to appeal to the widest possible audience.
TAXI >>How do you get the public to understand the ADC's point of view when ethical concerns about advertising are raised?
Myrna Davis >>We feel strongly that ADC’s Call for
Entries posters have been ethical, even if misunderstood or disliked by
some. We encourage dialogue and respond to concerns by articulating our
intentions through the press, in ADC programs and exhibitions, and by
letter and conversation.
TAXI >>Our cultural and
social backgrounds influence our beliefs and values, and also our
ability to accept ideas. How does ADC plan to reconcile and manage
creative differences to the extent that the end product (advertising)
remains provocative yet tasteful?
Myrna Davis >>ADC has, in fact, held an ongoing
series of panel discussions under the “Creative Differences” rubric.
When a poster such as “Pimp My Brand” raises issues about race in the
workplace, for example, even if based on misinterpretation, we are
interested in entertaining serious and formal discussions about them.
One mission of ADC is to provide a forum for examination of such
issues.
TAXI >>What is the WORD which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years.
Myrna Davis >>DESIGNISM. Coined by Milton Glaser,
DESIGNISM is ADC’s newest initiative, an actual and virtual platform
for inspiring and connecting designers to address challenges
confronting our planet.
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