by Maria Luci
Friday morning Ben and I started our last day out West. We had a lot ahead of us before our 10:30 PM red-eye back to Philadelphia. Our first stop of the day was at the Starbucks headquarters. The Starbucks office can be summed up in three words: coffee, coffee, and coffee! While the Wonderful Machine office has a small break room with a French press, Starbucks had what looked like full coffee shops decked out with all the fixings to make yourself the perfect cup of joe.
Everyone was super friendly (and peppy!) and the turnout to the review was great. We couldn’t meet in their normal creative conference room since they had some super secret rebranding work. Art buyer Jodi Morrison had specifically asked for food and drink photography along with lifestyle work that felt very real and natural.
The Starbucks creatives were very excited by Lincoln Barbour’s overhead shot of a group eating at a wooden table. They said it was the exact style they were looking for. Raymond Patrick’s book was noted as being very romantic, while Ekaterina Smirnova’s and Mark Olson’s were both praised for their beautiful food work.
All in all, the Starbucks meeting went really well. We left with some new friends and contacts and made our way over to DNA, a full-service ad agency in downtown Seattle.
The DNA view
We set up for our lunch review at DNA on a gorgeous table with an even more gorgeous view. The turnout was good, with producers, art directors, and even one of the owners stopping by. DNA’s client list includes AVON, General Electric, and PEMCO Insurance, so we put together a group of books we thought matched their style.
The crowd appreciated Richard Darbonne’s book; one creative commented that Richard’s work went along well with their style. An art director and a producer were smitten with Daniel Root’s book, and picked out some photos they really enjoyed. The DNA team was a very friendly and welcoming group, and I was happy we got to stop by.
After a quick and delicious Mexican lunch we headed over to Creature. Throughout our trip we had been hearing great things about Creature, so we were excited when we finally got to step inside their office. Creature is a small advertising firm founded by former Wieden + Kennedy employees. They pride themselves on their new agency model and their work with clients such as HBO, Jansport, and Sierra Mist.
Maria talks about photography books at Creature
Our meeting at Creature was small but fun. We sat in the middle of their well-designed office on couches in front of a fireplace. A few creatives stopped by, had a seat, and flipped through the books. It was very laid back and gave us an opportunity to have some friendly conversations. Several of the attendees were familiar with our Seattle photographers and were happy to see them on our roster.
A few things that Creature creatives particularly liked included Claire Benoist’s clean still life work and Andy Reynold’s eccentric imagery. After handing our cards and promos we hopped off the couch and made our way to our last stop of the trip, WongDoody.
WongDoody is a self-proclaimed marketing ideas agency whose client list includes Red Bull, ABC Networks, and T-Mobile. We walked into an office filled with awards and some cute baby pictures of the employees. The turnout was good here as well, with about 12 creatives flipping through the books. Bruce Peterson’s book got a couple “wows!” and Derek Blagg’s work received some praise as well.
A little over an hour later, the room cleared and Ben and I packed our books one final time. We sorted our Seattle and Portland photographers out, returned their books and made our way to the airport for the last leg of our trip: the flight home, with delightful visions of sleep in our heads!
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