By Conor Risch
Photo by Justen Lacoursiere
In a market like Calgary, Canada, opportunities for agencies to do
inpiring work are scarce at times, says TAXI creative director
Trent Burton. To keep everyone engaged and inspired, TAXI will
conceive of and pitch unsolicited ideas to clients with the hope of
getting the chance to execute the concept. Using this agency
originated process, TAXI recently landed the opportunity to create
a pair of ads for Gold’s Gym.
Meant to attract “normal guys who want to look good,” the ads
played on the masculine roots of the gym but avoided the meathead
tropes, focusing instead on regular-looking guys putting their
gym-built physiques to use in everyday situations. In one ad a guy
lifts his truck off the pavement to change a flat tire without the
aid of a jack. In the other a man carries a large couch into a
suburban house on his own.
Art director Kelsey Horne says TAXI chose photographer Justen
Lacoursiere for his ability to create moody landscapes and
photograph people. Once Gold’s gave the project the go-ahead, the
Lacoursiere and Horne went out and executed the concept, using
mostly natural light with minimal flashes.
Instead of comping in the prairie and mountain background on the
shot of the man changing his tire without the aid of a jack,
Lacoursiere and Horne went out after work into the middle of
nowhere and and shot until they got the light they were looking
for.
Horne and Lacoursiere concentrated on visual consistency while
framing the two shots, doing things like making sure a similar
amount of sky filled the upper portions of both.
Post-production was fairly limited; the big job being the removal
of a heavy duty jack out from under the truck, and a light stand
that held up one end of the couch. Lecoursiere planned to remove
these elements while framing his shots, placing them in front of
backgrounds that would hide the focal points of the missing
elements.
The fact that the concepts originated with TAXI meant everyone
could operate independently, which Lecoursiere says was a nice
opportunity. “We had the freedom to go out and execute [the shoots]
the way we wanted to execute them.”
“We’re always looking for creative opportunities and ways to make
working fun,” says Burton of the DIY approach to pitching
usolicited ideas to clients. “We have clients that pay the bills
that aren’t always necesarilly creative opportunities, so in order
to get everybody feeling good about what we do everyday, I think
that’s a really good way to keep people feeling vital and fresh and
doing work that we’re sort of proud of.
Gold’s Gym is using the ads in their magazine, distributed in their
North American gyms, and also as posters in the offices where new
members sign up.
Strong Idea
Oct 16, 2009
By Conor Risch
In a market like Calgary, Canada, opportunities for agencies to do inpiring work are scarce at times, says TAXI creative director Trent Burton. To keep everyone engaged and inspired, TAXI will conceive of and pitch unsolicited ideas to clients with the hope of getting the chance to execute the concept. Using this agency originated process, TAXI recently landed the opportunity to create a pair of ads for Gold’s Gym.
Meant to attract “normal guys who want to look good,” the ads played on the masculine roots of the gym but avoided the meathead tropes, focusing instead on regular-looking guys putting their gym-built physiques to use in everyday situations. In one ad a guy lifts his truck off the pavement to change a flat tire without the aid of a jack. In the other a man carries a large couch into a suburban house on his own.
Art director Kelsey Horne says TAXI chose photographer Justen Lacoursiere for his ability to create moody landscapes and photograph people. Once Gold’s gave the project the go-ahead, the Lacoursiere and Horne went out and executed the concept, using mostly natural light with minimal flashes.
Instead of comping in the prairie and mountain background on the shot of the man changing his tire without the aid of a jack, Lacoursiere and Horne went out after work into the middle of nowhere and and shot until they got the light they were looking for.
Horne and Lacoursiere concentrated on visual consistency while framing the two shots, doing things like making sure a similar amount of sky filled the upper portions of both.
Post-production was fairly limited; the big job being the removal of a heavy duty jack out from under the truck, and a light stand that held up one end of the couch. Lecoursiere planned to remove these elements while framing his shots, placing them in front of backgrounds that would hide the focal points of the missing elements.
The fact that the concepts originated with TAXI meant everyone could operate independently, which Lecoursiere says was a nice opportunity. “We had the freedom to go out and execute [the shoots] the way we wanted to execute them.”
“We’re always looking for creative opportunities and ways to make working fun,” says Burton of the DIY approach to pitching usolicited ideas to clients. “We have clients that pay the bills that aren’t always necesarilly creative opportunities, so in order to get everybody feeling good about what we do everyday, I think that’s a really good way to keep people feeling vital and fresh and doing work that we’re sort of proud of.
Gold’s Gym is using the ads in their magazine, distributed in their North American gyms, and also as posters in the offices where new members sign up.
TBWA\Chiat\Day creates a multimedia Visa campaign using Poby's shots of athletes headed to the Winter Games
