Ditching the tourist traps and delving into the soul of a city with "Only In...". With this series, we take viewers on an exploration of America’s vibrant communities and the businesses that define them. In 2022, we captured the essence of Denver, Albuquerque, and Austin by showcasing their one-of-a-kind neighborhoods and distinct cultures, crafting captivating narratives that go beyond the usual cityscapes. While also building awareness of the Square brand and our role in empowering businesses.
The titles of each episode served as a window into the unique stories we explored, reflecting the essence of the featured communities.
It was a series that evolved with each new chapter, culminating in a final installment capturing the Arab community of Dearbourne, MI.
In each city, we worked with a director and photographer from the community to capture the stories from an insider’s perspective.
Denver: Directed and photographed by Ivan Narez-Hurtado
Albuquerque: Directed by Shaandiin Tome, photographed by Kalen Goodluck
Austin: Directed by Hannah Varnell, photographed by Ivy Chiu
GCD: Eileen Tjan
Creative Director: Neil MacLean
Copywriting: Ben Aguirre
Design: Lisa Omore
Video Art Direction: Carl Sturgess
Program Manager: Nicholas Dahl
Production: Evan Groll, Chelsea Bassler (Post)
Brand Strategy: Dushane Ramsey, Kellie Spano
US Head of Social: Nat Meier
Global Social Lead: Jeff Meltz
“The Future is Built in…” is a multi-city and social project that highlights Black owned businesses. The project asks the viewer to acknowledge that the history, culture, and soul of America was built by Black people and that our future will be no different. We created out of home, digital, and social assets to encourage viewers to shop these businesses, all assets drove traffic to a shoppable landing page on Square.com where each business had featured pieces for sale.
Campaign photography by Diwang Valdez in Atlanta and Akilah Townsend in Chicago. Typeface by Vocal Type Co.
GCD: Eileen Tjan
Art Direction: Neil MacLean, Kate Doyle
Copywriting: Jonathan Skale
Design: Ashley Corcoran
, Philippe Gauthier
Photo Art Direction: Amy Feitelberg
Program Manager: Alex Sirjani
Production: Michelle Mintz
Brand Strategy: Dushane Ramsey, Kellie Spano
Brand Marketing Manager: Dana Walsh
Head of Social: Nick Dimichino
The Shape of Things to Come, Square's first-ever global brand campaign released in early 2021, showing how businesses everywhere are still moving forward – even when business is far from usual.
This entire campaign was produced remotely, by a team spread all across the US – and ran in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
Role: Art/Creative Direction
Agency: In-house
Director: Terry Hall
DP: Mika Altskan
Editor: Jojo King
Color: Aubrey Woodiwiss
Film Lab: Color by DeJonghe
Audio: Strings & Tins
Photography: Cait Opperman
Styling, Stills: Ashley Guerzon
Set Design, Stills: Lauren Machen
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GCD: Eileen Tjan, Sean Conroy
Art Direction: Said Fayad, Neil MacLean
Copywriting: Kae Yen Wong, Jonathan Skale
Design: Kate Doyle, Fin Wang
Program Manager: Alex Sirjani
Video Art Director: Carl Sturgess
Photo Art Direction: Amy Feitelberg
Production: Evan Groll, Amy Schacter, Michelle Mintz
‘When people love the way they work, they do their best work.’
–Apple at Work
To bring this to life, we shot a portrait series with Olivia Bee, featuring real small business owners at work, doing what they love, using Apple devices as part of their regular set of tools they use to get things done. In selecting businesses for this shoot, we looked for business owners who were unique in approaching their industries, that they were bringing something new and fresh to what they do.
Chef Floyd Cardoz, Bombay Bread Bar: A well-renowned chef celebrates Indian street food, focusing on the many breads common to the cuisine, in a Bollywood-inspired space with murals. He has designed this space to have a sense of fun and inspired by the street foods he ate in Bombay when he was younger.
Darian Hall and Elisa Shankle, Heal Haus: A wellness and yoga studio started by two friends with the goal of making these sometimes intimidating or uncomfortable environments more accessible and inclusive for everyone in the community.
Robin Rose, Fleurotica: Robin’s floral art business focuses on the textural complexity of floral designs. She prefers an all white studio to really bring the colors and textures of her floral designs into focus.
Sas Simon and Lena Imamura, Name Glo: These friends partnered up to launch a contemporary neon studio because when they were looking for a custom neon sign for a gift, they couldn’t find a place to have one done that understood their creative direction and was easy to work with. Having been to art school, they saw an opening in the market for an approach like theirs. It’s been hugely successful since launch, with clients including American Express, Net-a-Porter, and the Huffington Post.
Additionally, we shot a series of lifestyle images of people at work to illustrate the various features and apps in a real, engaging way.
A campaign for the Volvo XC60.
Role: ACD/Art Director
Creative Director: Matt O'Rourke
Copywriter: Marisa Milisic
Director: Dan DiFelice
DP: Jeff Cronenweth
Editor: Micah Scarpelli, Alvaro Del Val & Danielle Sclafani at Uppercut
Agency: Grey
ADWEEK AD OF THE DAY, November 17, 2017
Volvo Orbits the Earth in the Final Chapter of Its Epic, Time-Twisting Trilogy
"Volvo’s two-year experiment in fractured, “nonlinear” narratives has already taken us from a New England lighthouse to the Arizona desert. Now, its final larger-than-life chapter leaves the Earth’s atmosphere behind while encouraging viewers and car buyers to embrace the future … whatever it might bring.
To tell the tale of a female astronaut, her husband and their brand new XC-60, Grey New York turned to Catherine “Cady” Coleman. The NASA veteran spent more than six months on the International Space Station in 2011 before advising Sandra Bullock on the film Gravity, and her insights helped draw a fuller picture of one woman taking a bold step into the beyond.
Like the previous two installments in this series, “Wedding” and “Song of the Open Road,” Volvo teased the new campaign with a series of cryptic 15-second spots that aired in no particular order and left viewers guessing. For example, the only hint that the first clip provided as to the ultimate direction of the narrative was the fact that the man briefly looks up into the sky while driving.
The full film, below, reveals the story of an astronaut’s trip to space and back, and her communications with her husband and herself throughout the journey.
Grey executive creative director Matt O’Rourke told Adweek that the Coleman connection came about when a music producer working on the campaign in its conceptual astronaut-and-husband phase said, “I have a cousin who’s also an astronaut. Do you want to talk to her?”
Coleman and copywriter Marisa Milisic ultimately collaborated to write the astronaut’s speech at the center of the film.
“I’ve hired consultants on other projects, but they’ve never been so involved or influential over the story we’re telling,” O’Rourke said. “It’s hard not to be inspired when you’re on the phone with an astronaut.”
The protagonist’s experience in the ad is not unlike Coleman’s own 20-plus-year stint as an astronaut. “I wanted to say it’s normal to have a family and be an astronaut,” she told Adweek. “You can be you and do the job that you dream of.”
O’Rourke said this spot most likely marks the end of this particular experiment with nonlinear narrative, but that he wants Volvo to keep exploring new forms of storytelling.
“My guess is we will be shifting gears, trying something new,” he said. “The [auto] category has gotten more into creating universes as opposed to single spots, and I want to keep pushing it,” he said. “It’s cool to see more brands and agencies exploring that model, because it makes TV more interesting to watch as opposed to 30 seconds of us talking about ourselves.”
The new film also includes at least one Easter egg for fans who obsessed over “The Wedding” on Reddit. At the 1:19 mark in the video, one can clearly see that the astronaut’s parents are the same couple from the 2016 ad.
“I see media as powerful vehicle to create change,” Coleman said when asked about the meaning she drew from working on the campaign. “What if a 9-year old girl watches a program about the Space Station and doesn’t see anyone that looks like her? I wanted girls to watch this broadcast and be able to see themselves there. When you see yourself in the present, you can see yourself in the future.”
A campaign for Covergirl’s Exhibitionist lipsticks.
We collaborated with Issa for this spot, putting her in a car with her four best friends (who inspired the characters on Insecure) for a night out in LA, talking lipstick shades while shading each other. While some of the spot was scripted, much of what made it into the final edit was improvised.
It’s a simple setup, but a breakthrough piece in many ways. It’s four dark-skinned black women starring in a beauty commercial, being true to who they are, for two minutes. A true departure from traditional makeup advertising.
Executive Creative Director: Alexander Nowak
ACD/Copywriter: Henry Kember
Senior Art Director: Neil MacLean
Copywriter: Hannah Park
Art Director: Gemma Slack
Executive Producer, Film: Mike Hasinoff
Director: Kim Gehrig
DOP: Stuart Winecoff
Editor: Jono Griffith @ Work Editorial
Post Production: MPC NY
Colorist: Simon Bourne
Sound Design: Barking Owl
Agency: Droga5
PRESS: Fast Company | AdAge | Allure | Creativity
AWARDS: 2019 Effie Award, Shortlisted for the One Show
A campaign for Covergirl’s TruBlend Matte Made foundation.
Executive Creative Director: Alexander Nowak
Senior Art Director: Neil MacLean
ACD/Copywriter: Henry Kember
Copywriter: Emily Berger
Art Director: Debbie Pan
Executive Producer, Film: Mike Hasinoff
Director: Kim Gehrig
DOP: Stuart Winecoff
Editor: Jono Griffith @ Work Editorial
Post Production: MPC NY
Colorist: Simon Bourne
Music: Sylvan Esso “Hey Mami”
Sound Design: Barking Owl
Agency: Droga5
CoverGirl Thanks the Many in New Ad That Celebrates Inclusive Foundation Line – ADWEEK 07/02/18
“For the longest time, multicultural women and their skin weren’t necessarily catered to in the makeup world, especially as it related to foundation.
So CoverGirl, in an ever-changing landscape of fashion and beauty, created Trublend Matte Made: a foundation made for the unique needs of multicultural skin, in 40 shades. To promote the product launch, CoverGirl created the film “By the Infinite” as a part of the “I Am What I Make Up” campaign to the emphasize the power of makeup to express individuality.
The film is a thank you letter of sorts to the many, varied women who spoke up about their skins’ unique needs. It begins by addressing these voices, “For everyone who told us what they needed in foundation.”
The spot was directed by Kim Gehrig and brought together an infinite array of women who move throughout the film with a hypnotic soundtrack that creates a fluid take; from woman to woman to woman. The film culminates in a powerful stairwell shot that brings all the women together as the copy describes the “foundation, inspired by the infinite, made for you.”
The inspiring film has many unknown women playing an “everywoman” role but also uses different creative and groundbreaking female influencers that appear throughout CoverGirl’s extended campaign such as entertainer Issa Rae, style icon Maye Musk and motorcycle racer Shelina Moreda.
The spot is limited to 15 seconds for television, but an online version is much longer. In it, the brand thanks the thousands of women who inspired the campaign: from women involved with the formulating of the product to those who posted consumer reviews on a range of retailer websites, and more.
At the end of the online film, the thousands of names are listed as “credits”—a scrolling list that makes them a feature as well as an inspiration. The campaign also utilizes out-of-home advertising and print ads to thank the infinite women that inspired the campaign.”
"Wedding", a campaign for the Volvo XC90.
Role: ACD/Art Director
Creative Director: Matt O'Rourke
Director: Andre Stringer
DP: Jeff Cronenweth
Editor: Micah Scarpelli at Uppercut
Agency: Grey
"...this little Volvo spot has created a huge social media squall.
Commenters are polarized (fitting for the times), either hate-watching, love-watching, or just looking up and asking “What the hell was that?”
Indeed, the spot, entitled “Wedding,” from Grey Advertising, offers much to ponder. There’s the music, by Sharon Van Etten, that is unexpected and wonderful — but also surprisingly glum, perhaps in a way that is positively Swedish.
Then there’s the mystery of the four passengers who are enjoying the empty road, and this beautiful interior space, cradled by the sophisticated audio system and buttery leather seats. It supplies a mystical mood and a vibe that’s reminiscent of that great Nick Drake commercial for Volkswagen all those years ago.
But what really makes a difference here is that as a group, this new “family” presents an ambiguous tweak on the standard white, rich, straight people normally shown in commercials for vehicles in the $38K-$78K range.
And that seems to make viewers nervous. Everything about this group is nuanced, subtle and slightly unknowable, in terms of who’s related to whom. Age, sexuality, skin color, roles — it’s not on the “binary,” as they say.
Most of the chatter is about the inspired casting of that older hipster graybeard sitting in the back. For starters, very few American dads look like him, with his abundant white hair, sizable schnoz, elegant suit, and artisanal beard. He’s a younger cross between Commander Whitehead and the Most Interesting Man in the World, seeming to scream “Hot Yoga Dad.”
And by the way, what’s he doing back there, fiddling with his pricey Hasselblad and his wedding ring?
After fondling that ring, and taking off his Ray-Ban Wayfarers, he gives the driver, a pretty blonde woman, a tender squeeze on her nicely padded shoulder. Is she his daughter/wife/lover/sister/mother? This too is a mystery, but the big thing that seems to be to be blowing even nonconventional minds on the Net: Why is this woman driving?
Jeez, Louise, you’d think that this hasn’t happened every day in America for the last 60 years or so. But here it’s seen as some kind of role reversal that’s got everyone up in arms.
Speaking of arms, I like the driver’s look, in her Oscar de la Renta outfit with the geometric lace jacket. Behind the wheel, she appears to be kind of Swedish, beautiful, with great bone structure, and seemingly strong, sturdy and reliable.
Wait, Mother Courage is the embodiment of the Volvo!
Still, commenters seem confused as to whether she’s the bride (she’s not, she’s Hot Yoga Dad’s wife.) But there was also a lot of morbid joking about why he looks so happy, and where his actual wife might be stashed. (Is the trunk big enough?)
Most people didn’t know that the title was “Wedding," and some guessed (maybe from the semi-glum music?) that this group was coming back from a funeral. Which evoked the classic, brilliantly funny VW ad from the early ‘60s promoting penny-pinching.
But this is the opposite. Volvo: the car for pleasant post-funeral luxury motoring?
It’s very touching, nicely written, and obviously timely for Father’s Day. He writes in a beautiful notebook with an interesting pen. With these sophisticated aesthetics, he’s either in advertising, or is one of those forward-thinking green architects who populate movies and get paid 100 times what real architects actually make.
Actually, I much prefer “Wedding” because of all of its oddness, even chronologically. In that way, it reminded me of Showtime’s “The Affair,” and some of the best episodic TV shows that people are streaming these days. Whereas this second spot is much more like advertising.
Far from creating an ad with no strategy, with this work, Volvo has developed a fresh new voice for the brand. It’s not about competitiveness and aggression, like other luxury cars. It’s more nuanced, and the niche the brand wants to reach will appreciate that it’s about culture and performance.
And Volvo achieved all this buzz on a relatively tiny media budget."
– Barbara Lippert, Positively Swedish: A Ring, A Nose, A Hasselblad, And Thou
A campaign for COVERGIRL’S new Outlast Active line.
Wearing makeup at the gym is seen by some as a sign that you’re not making a credible effort or that you are vain.
In this demo-style film, we challenge these notions by pushing fitness star and COVERGIRL Massy Arias to the extreme.
Thanks to Outlast Active, you can now work out as hard as anyone, and fully express your personal brand of femininity while you do it.
Agency: Droga5
ECD: Alex Nowak
Writing: Henry Kember
Art Direction: Neil MacLean + Gemma Slack
Executive Producer: Mike Hasinoff
Director: Matt Lambert
Editor: Ed Line
Post: MPC NY
Photography: Camilla Akrans
Welcome to our Office. For the launch of the new Office 365, we conceived a series of print ads featuring people at work in various environments, both in and out of the traditional office. The screens at bottom show the perspective of the principal in each ad, and convey some of the experience of working in the new Office 365 environment. The campaign was shot by Todd Selby of The Selby is in Your Place. Ads ran in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company and Wired.
Role: Art Direction & Design
Design Director: Han Lin
Agency: Grey
Photography: Todd Selby
The Drum Ad of the Day 02.22.2018
"The idea had been floating around for a while, but not in its current form. The inspiration goes back to CoverGirl's 'I Am What I Make Up' platform which rests on largely on both inclusivity and a celebration individuality in beauty. It was less about 'let's get a woman with vitiligo' and more of 'what are beauty stories that aren't being told?'" said Washington.
Deanna is the company’s first spokesmodel with vitiligo, and Neil MacLean, senior art director at Droga5 said that because she wasn't playing a role, "honesty was a crucial part of the story, and we knew she had that from the moment we spoke with her."
Executive Creative Director: Alex Nowak
Creative Director: Shannon Washington
Senior Art Director: Neil MacLean
Director: Amber Grace Johnson
Executive Producer: Mike Hasinoff
Producer: Isabella Lebovitz
Associate Producer: Jake Herman
Editorial: Miky Wolf @ Final Cut
Model: Amy Deanna
Agency: Droga5
We were asked to find a fun, engaging way to bring some very dry product demonstrations (normally done in a COVERGIRL lab) to life, so we collaborated with photographer-director Stephanie Gonot on a series of zippy 15-second spots showing the effectiveness of the new TruBlend Matte foundation. In an earth-toned environment set to a spare drum track, we show in first-person perspective just how well this new formula works. And then in one quick, fluid camera move, we show the full 40 shade lineup.
These films were hugely popular, garnering over 7 million combined views on YouTube and more on Facebook and Instagram.
Executive Creative Director: Alexander Nowak
Senior Art Director: Neil MacLean
ACD/Copywriter: Henry Kember
Producer: Jacob Herman
Director: Stephanie Gonot
Agency: Droga5
Print campaign for the Volvo S90.
Role: ACD/Art Director
Photographers: M&P Curtet
Retouching: Curve Digital
Creative Director: Matt O'Rourke
Agency: Grey
Print edition for menswear startup ÉCOLE for New York Fashion Week: Men's F/W 2016 in conjunction with their ÉCOLE Studio pop-up shop.
Conceived a series of designer and studio visits for Lurve Magazine, beginning with Sansovino6 in Milan.
Role: Concept, Writing, Art Direction, Design
Volvo was looking to increase its presence on the West Coast at a time when California was dealing with one of its worst droughts in history. #DrivingDirty was a social media movement we started in response that encouraged LA to stop washing and start wearing the dirt on their cars as a badge of honor.
At Volvo, we’ve always stood for what matters to people. Saving water matters to us all. So whether you drive a Volvo or not, please help conserve water. Turn your dirty car into a badge of honor by writing #DRIVINGDIRTY on it nice and big. Then post it online to get your friends and family involved too.
We also know sometimes you just have to wash your car – like for dates and job interviews. So we introduced Consciously Clean: a waterless carwash solution that makes it easy to keep your car clean and your conscious cleaner.
Role: Art Direction, Design
Agency: Grey
Promo for Tor Myhren's Cannes interview series with Marilyn Manson.
Role: Art Direction, Design
Creative Director: Denise O'Bleness
Agency: Grey
Branding for a classic New England clam shack modernized and dropped onto Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood.
connieandteds.com (still going strong after 10+ years!)
Role: Art Direction, Design
Agency: Memo Productions
