Make It Here, You’ll Make it Anywhere
By Shane Santiago
New York, New York. An incredible city that holds unique meaning for those who visit. For me, New York represents the birthplace of my professional advertising career at Ogilvy Interactive. Most would agree that one of New York’s most endearing qualities is that it’s the very epicenter of diversity. A place where no matter where you’re from, you have the opportunity to realize dreams of any size.
It was fitting that ADCOLOR® celebrated its five year anniversary last week in New York. ADCOLOR is the advertising industry’s leading diversity and inclusion initiative. The organization lit up Times Square with a can’t-miss celebratory message. SBS Studios had the awesome opportunity to create the digital experience, bringing the concept to life with 3D modeling and motion graphics (plus a few bottles of 5-Hour Energy and a night sleeping at the office). It was our pleasure to translate the stellar identity work of ADCOLOR’s Creative Chair Gary Mack to the prolific digital display on the Thomson Reuters building.
A big congratulations goes out to ADCOLOR president Tiffany R. Warren, and the entire ADCOLOR family, for having the courage and perseverance to dream big. They’ve continued to move the needle on industry diversity perceptions and expectations. A shout out to Thomson Reuters for their generous sponsorship and involvement – be sure to return the support by liking them on Facebook. If you know someone who deserves recognition for his/her commitment to diversity in advertising, marketing and media, head over to adcolor.org and make a nomination!
Read on to see what a few SBSers have to say about thinking big and blue sky goals. View video of our Times Square event after the jump, and check out the Facebook pics.
Jeff Will, Experience Designer
What drives me more than anything on a project is my own vision and expectations. It’s all about taking my past work and expanding the concept to bring it to an entirely new and richer level…The long hours and late nights are all about getting the work to the level I see in my head. There’s nothing wrong with pie-in-the-sky…you just have to like pie.
Ian Latchmansingh, Experience Designer
A big part of our ideology here is that “we can do better than that.” This time, I’m not so sure we could have.
I’ve been to New York and while I’ve always found it fascinating, at the same time it’s very intimidating. I knew as soon as we were asked to take this on, it was going to be a personal challenge to me to show NYC that I can handle her. It meant pixel-perfect attention to detail and developing a set of skills I’d have to acquire as I worked. I was so determined to make this a masterpiece that I’d actually slept in my office on cushions from our Ikea chairs.
Why was this anxiety necessary? I’d been to Times Square and seen plenty of motion billboards that received less love than this one; and New Yorkers have developed banner blindness, so this would still go relatively unseen despite being on one of the larger, more complex systems in the area. I realized it wasn’t New York that was exciting me; I was anxious because it was ADCOLOR.
Jen Hyde, Producer, Strategist
There’s a certain satisfaction in bringing ideas to life and creating something from nothing. If someone admires your work intensely, that’s one thing. If your work speaks to people on another level, shifts public opinion, and achieves lasting change, that’s another. ADCOLOR does both. Personally, I try to close the gap between starting and breaking points. The harder you work the easier it is shrug off limitations and say “Hey, why not?”
Steph Cefali, Creative Assistant
Because of my overactive imagination, I continually dream up demanding goals for myself which ignites my desire to work as hard I can to achieve that goal.”