A New York Minute: More Portfolio Videos
Thursday February 11th, 2010
Our producers Amanda and Ben are back from a snowy visit to New York, where they shared our photographers’ books at McCann Worldgroup and Avanti Press.
They met first with McCann’s art producers who work on several brands within the agency. Of interest: one of their producers working on the L’Oreal brand regards “elaborate” portfolios as the sign of an amateur photographer. She’d rather see simple books with a good edit, ie. the book isn’t prettier than the pictures inside. She receives a ton of fashion portfolios and likes when they’re small enough to view and transport easily (under 11×17, on average).
She enjoyed the design of Hayes + Hayes book, which to her conveyed just enough of a style and identity but wasn’t over the top:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XDxCCifMY8
McCann’s Applebees’ producers said that they aren’t always looking for clean food shots, but ones that are true to the food itself. Of the books that we brought, Lincoln Barbour‘s (out of Portland) fit that description best to them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xUA5n9AkVo
Their other thoughts on portfolios: they’re not so keen on books that consist of loose prints because looking through them can be cumbersome. Some folks worried about dirtying the prints, as well (Neil note: though that could happen with other types of portfolios, especially ones without sleeves).
Next stop was Avanti Press, a greeting card company who also has creative departments in Detroit and North Carolina. In an industry flooded with stock photos, it might surprise some of you to know that they hire assignment photographers as well. Their creatives are always looking for unusual images, and they prefer to shoot whenever possible. They are also one of the few printers who credit their photographers or agency on the back of their cards.
Avanti was particularly interested in James Quantz Jr.‘s work, as he does a lot of animal composites. Especially this image from his elephant series:
New Zealander Ross Brown‘s monkey photo also stood out to them:
A few other tidbits about Avanti:
- In 2008 they won an illustration award from Communication Arts.
- They sometimes receive correspondences from concerned animal lovers worrying that the animals on their cards (who are almost always photoshopped) were actually smoking a cigar or playing a guitar.
We’ll have more portfolio reviews to talk about in a few weeks.
-Neil Binkley and Amanda Hanley
