Cream is the annual competition held by The Talent Business to discover the best emerging creative talent. Last week, 20 winners, including three who didn’t go to ad school, showcased their work at a private view hosted by Havas London. For those who missed the show, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 asked a selection of winners to tell us about themselves, share their favourite piece of work and explain what they would change about the advertising industry.
Mary Johansen and Kenny Meek
School of Communication Arts 2.0
Mary is a Scandi girl, with a passion for words, punk rock and problem-solving. Kenny is a design-mad Glaswegian who loves crafting things.
Favourite piece of your work
"Ling" for Carling. We like this because it's simple, fun and not too worthy, despite discouraging the usually serious topic of drink driving.
What would you change about the ad industry?
The ad industry in the UK relies too heavily on procuring talent from within the capital. The London bubble is detrimental to diversity of thought and it conditions us to create ideas and activations that only really speak to people within the M25. We’d like to see more of the industry reach beyond the comforting borders of the city and find creative personalities from Glasgow, Dundee, Liverpool or Wigan. More agencies should nurture this kind of talent and embrace the different viewpoints that come with it.
Website
Megan Egan & Poppy Cumming-Spain
School of Communication Arts 2.0
"Megapops" is a partnership made up of all the best and some of the ugly parts of two creatures called Meg and Pops. We’re a punny pair with one massive forehead and a reasonable amount of fake red hair between us. Meg’s blood type is Malbec and Pops was most likely a cat in a past life. What else do you need from a team?
Favourite piece of your work
National Trust. This campaign repositions the brand to target a new audience, shows our character and always gets a giggle. We can't deny we enjoyed managing to squeeze "cock block" and "fuck boy" into our book. Ha!
What would you change about the ad industry?
We want the industry to be about creativity, not just advertising. There are already some cool agencies pushing boundaries and branching out beyond traditional advertising that we're very excited about.
Website
Kevin Krooks
Berghs School of Communication
I want to call myself a Swedish Viking, but I can’t grow a majestic beard, so I’m just Swedish. Besides being Swedish, I’m a humble guy with a passion for everything creative.
Favourite piece of your work
My favourite work is Split Vision. It’s resulted from my interests in film and technology, and still highlights an actual problem that is often overlooked.
What would you change about the ad industry?
A lot of newcomers are scared to fuck up. We’re constantly comparing ourselves to other people and other work, but creativity is also in the eye of the beholder. The advertising industry might seem scary for a lot of us, so it’s important to have faith in new blood so we can have faith in ourselves.
Website
Abigail Stephenson and Matt Jones
D&AD New Blood Shift and University of Westminster
We're Matt and Abi, and we're more than just a creative team. We're also boyfriend and girlfriend, but we promise we didn't just team up so we could spend every waking moment together. We came together because we're united by a burning desire to make stuff that people talk to each other about down the pub.
Favourite piece of your work
Definitely the rebrand we did of D&AD's New Blood Shift programme for 2018. We loved working on the project because the programme is a vital and productive response to the lack of diversity in the creative industries. We were warmed to hear that the copy we wrote alongside the rebrand encouraged some of this year's Shifters to apply.
What would you change about the ad industry?
We'd ensure that every agency had internal initiatives and schemes that help foster and support the fiercely entrepreneurial spirit of the next generation of creatives coming through – whether that’s allowing them to create a more agile sister company, an entirely new department within the agency or a few thousand pounds for them to bring a passion project to life.
Website
Sherwin Teo and Conrad Haddaway
Central Saint Martins
We’re a graduate duo made up of a Singaporean ex-soldier and a British ex-marine biologist.
Favourite piece of your work
Our favourite piece of work so far is for Burger King, "The five lines of fire". In short, we wanted to get people to create five-line raps so they remember the signature grill lines. It’s a project we had a lot of fun creating, from the concept itself all the way to writing dumb rapper names for Spotify. We worked with our very talented illustrator friend, Inguna Ziemele. She did some badass animations that really nailed the aesthetic! Having fun and working with people from different disciplines are two things that are super-important to us. It makes the long hours feel easy and helps us to see things differently.
What would you change about the ad industry?
With a huge portion of the advertising industry in the UK being based in London, job hunting and placements get pricey. Fortunately, we’re both able to make ends meet. We have a great group of friends with surfable sofas. But we can’t help but think how tough it must be for creatives out there who don’t have much money saved or anyone to crash with. It would be really soul-crushing to turn down a placement at your dream agency because you simply cannot afford to live. Think how many new people the industry must be missing out on! It’d be great if some creative fund or foundation were in place where people with placements could apply and at least have access to subsidised accommodation or something.
Website
Emily Nelson
Express Talent – mentored by Mother London
A renaissance woman. Handy with the camera. Coffee enthusiast.
Favourite piece of your work
This still from a recent film project commissioned by the British Council. It was a tough ask – shooting in a room with virtually no light while maintaining the little details. This is a piece that challenged me to push the boundaries and reminded me why I do what I do.
What would you change about the ad industry?
The industry needs to do more to challenge creatives of all levels to think outside the box more often and to explore different types of creative forms outside their own creative process. The best and most dynamic work comes from diversity in thought and creative process, rather than everybody following one method or strategy to create commercial work.
Website