Next Wednesday, the Kennedys officially invade our offices. As a reminder, the Kennedys is the creative incubator we’re launching alongside our offices in Shanghai and Amsterdam. Our own Tony Davidson describes the experiment as nothing less than a “crash course in creative chaos.”

After a two month-long selection process, which included parsing through hundreds of applications and inviting 18 finalists to furiously tackle a set of tasks in London, we’re happy to have seven Kennedys joining us for some havoc-wreaking.

Yes, you read that correctly: so impressed were we by the quality of applicants, we made room for a seventh Kennedy to round out our chaos-making task force. You’ll be hearing a lot more from the group over the next seven months: the projects they’re working on, what they’re making, their trials, tribulations, triumphs, and foibles — the whole gamut.

To kick things off, we’re introducing the group here on the blog. Read on to find out where they’re from, what makes them tick, what they’re looking forward to over the course of their time here, and more. Without further ado, and in no particular order:

Kennedy #1: Daniel McKee

Hailing from Droitwich Spa (also the hometown of Rik Mayall), Daniel applied to The Kennedys expecting something akin to a real-life version of The Breakfast Club (“just set inside an agency opposed to a high-school library”). He was an in-house runner at Academy Films before accepting the position, keeping himself inspired in his downtime by “investigating a whole new compass of things that have a relation and influence” that drive him to create and stay curious. Once he makes his way to W+K, he’s looking forward to abandoning himself to the environment and playing a role in bringing ideas to life.

Kennedy #2: Peigh (Patrick Asante)

Peigh is a self-described “London boy” who spent weekends “playing disco and funk to tipsy restaurant-goers in Soho” before earning his spot in the Kennedys line-up. He also set up and runs a swim lesson club called Swim Dem Crew, which saw him “barking orders to swimmers and non-swimmers alike.”

Peigh wowed the selection panel with a quick-fire, Snapchat-crafted video featuring friends telling their phone cameras why he’d be an amazing fit for the programme. He’s expecting many a “fast paced, chaotic, creative, sleepless” night once he officially joins his fellow Kennedys at our offices, and he’s looking forward to the “growth, education, and clarity” he hopes the program will bring.

Kennedy #3: Amy Fasey

Where was Amy just a few weeks ago? Answer: “Most definitely drowning in champagne,” following a celebratory streak that involved finishing her degree, earning the Kennedys position, getting nominated for a Cannes Future Lions award, and celebrating her 22nd birthday — all in one week. The Graphic Design major first heard of the Amsterdam Kennedys program a few years ago and had been wanting to apply ever since.

Originally from “Shoreditch-on-Sea” — that’s Hastings, to be exact — she stays inspired by running, taking photos of random things she comes across, and talking to people “a lot,” believing “a tiny snippet of conversation can spark the most valuable idea.”

In terms of her favourite work from W+K, Amy’s a fan of “Keep Up” and the Three Pony: “Who doesn’t love a moonwalking Shetland?!”

Kennedy #4: Rachel Clancy

Rachel is originally from Limerick City, where she studied Visual Communication and Graphic Design at Limerick School of Art and Design. She’s worked various creative jobs over the years, including a stint overseas in Boston, but in looking for a new adventure decided to apply to The Kennedys.

She describes the interview process as “an absolute gauntlet” — a welcome taste of the madness to ensue over the coming months. In terms of what keeps Rachel creatively piquéd, she’s inspired by music, experimenting with Photoshop, her friends from LSAD, and beekeeping. It remains to be seen if we’ll let her install a beehive on the office roof.

Kennedy #5: Marcus Lackmann

Marcus joins us fresh off a Graphic Design course at Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm. He grew up in a town just north of Stockholm called Åkersberga, known for “Tommys tokiga torsdagstimme” (roughly translated: Tommy’s Crazy Thursday Hour), where 18 Swedish crowns (£1.50) gets you a beer. “Good times,” recalls Marcus. 

He lives by three tricks that “aren’t really tricks,” in his words, to stay inspired: “1. Leave it (it will come later). 2. Talk to people. 3. Draw stupid things.” As a Kennedy, he’s looking forward to working with real clients and great people. That last part is especially important to Marcus, as he’s driven by those who “don’t settle for ‘good enough.’” It’s a personal truism that sounds awfully similar to one of our Wiedenisms: “Find people who make you better.” He’s looking to emerge from the Kennedys experience smarter and better, with work he can proudly put in his portfolio.

Kennedy #6: Vytas Niedvaras

Vytas was studying Creative Computing at Goldsmiths before joining The Kennedys, an opportunity he was compelled by for the chance to apply his skills to a “diverse range of mediums and practices.” In the end, Vytas simply wants to “make cool stuff” and integrate his technical practice with “traditional approaches to concept[ing] and content creation.” Hoping to learn a lot, question things, and build amazing stuff, Vytas is the Kennedys’ resident tech expert, who brings his practice of “control, recursion, emergence and chaos” to the programme.

Kennedy #7: Emma Moffat

After studying History at university, Emma found herself working as Line Producer of feature films at Double Negative VFX. She was drawn to the Kennedys as it sounded like W+K was just the sort of chaos- and eccentricity-embracing place that she was searching for.

Emma writes and directs films in her spare time, and she also uses prompts to write short stories, reads (a lot), and consumes a range of films, theatre, and television shows to keep her creativity sharp. Once she joins the team, she’s looking forward to “getting involved in direction where possible,” “creating awesome ideas and working with interesting people.” All that, and taking advantage of the many cushy working booths we have at the office.

Creative Director Scott Dungate sent us the following dispatch from Mumbai, having just judged the D&AD-affiliated Kyoorius Advertising Awards in India. Here, he shares his thoughts on some of the standout work and his experiences in Mumbai.

I’ve never been to Mumbai before, but I have read Shantaram, all 4,000 pages of it, which describes the city far more poetically than anything I could pen here. So, let’s jump to the parts not covered in the book: the work at this year’s Kyoorius Awards.

DEAR MR. TERRY SAVAGE

The ‘Public Service/Advertising for Good’ category featured entries about myriad social and environmental issues that India faces. Many case studies tried to explain how they had made a difference, tackling everything from farmer’s suicide to women’s menstrual shame. While the causes all felt worthy, there was also a sense that some work was motivated by the season — the period between March and June that sees a deluge of cause-related campaigns coinciding with awards shows. A mockumentary called this out, with an amusing open letter to Cannes chairman Mr. Terry Savage:

ACID AND DOGS

There were, however, a few cause-related campaigns that felt real and impactful. ‘Beauty Tips by Reshma,’ fronted by an acid attack survivor, didn’t just point out the issue; it had a preventative and proactive message, too. Using the YouTube ‘make up tutorial’ format, Reshma called for a ban on all over-the-counter acid sales. In between applying lippy and eyeliner, Reshma argued acid was as easy to buy as cosmetics — too easy. The power of the spokesperson elevated the cause, and backed by an online petition, over-the-counter acid was eventually removed from corner stores across the country.

I also appreciated the simplicity of ‘A Stray Dogs Life’ for the dogs themselves. Pooches in Victoria Park don’t realize how good they have it.

THE BONKERS FUNNY STUFF

Following on from what felt like thousands of worthy but depressing case studies, I was looking forward to seeing some funny stuff that only India could come up with. While there was plenty of sketch comedy set around the family home, there were a few pieces of work that transcended in-law gags and husband jokes, enlightening our eyeballs with something refreshingly weird. Here are three:

1. Sassy Girl

2. Hands Up

3. Ambuja Cement – Khali

HAVES AND HAVE NOTS

Art Direction and Print seemed to be either a little deprived of production values or bloated by too much, like the thousands of Photoshop hours spent polishing pretty, but predictable, ‘visual twists.’ There was, however, one piece of work that stood out for both its art direction and emerging tone of voice. The campaign for ‘The Nicobar Story’ felt like an outsider in the room, and the start of some strong brand work.

Another highlight was the beautifully illustrated ‘Mother’s Pride Certificates’: a pack of 30 school certificates that encouraged a variety of good behavior beyond just the academic.

Mother’s Pride Certificates + Live Wire

Finally, I was quite fond of the self defense umbrella pictured below. Would be great for the Tube.

Self Defense Umbrella

THE VERDICT

All voting was done anonymously, via tablet, so we don’t know what will be finally be awarded Blue and Black Elephants. What I’ve written about above was only some of the work I enjoyed. So, like Shantaram, it’s just one person’s perspective. Thanks again to Kyoorius for having me. I really enjoyed Mumbai, the hospitality and the experience.

– Scott

P.S.: While in Mumbai I also got to catch up with ex-W+K London Art Director/ Designer Sanket Alvani, and travel around in one of his Taxi Fabric taxis. The project is looking for brand partners, so if you are interested, get in contact with Sanket at: [email protected]

Scott and Sanket in a Taxi Fabric taxi