If you could partner with a mentor… or anyone else,

who would it be and why?

We turned our minds to the task of imagining who would make our ideal partner and why. Turn your eyes below to find out who we plumped for.

Cameron Turner-Lowe

Not in advertising, I would Like to work with Noel Gallagher because I think the nonsense he wrote for Oasis is brilliant. I like the random combination of words that become a ballad dependent on the listener. 

Outside of Advertising Gerry Graf`s work is extremely entertaining, it looks like the type of thing you would spend days laughing with your partner whilst creating. That kind of work is amazing and it seems to me what it should be all about.

Roxi

Laura Jordan Bambach

I want to do experiential/guerrilla marketing, so combining that with her weird and wonderful experimental thinking would be amazing. I really wish I’d known of her in High School because I could have done with a role model like her in the 90s. I often got ridiculed by other pupils, in an all girls school, for embracing technology and using it in my work. So it would be brill to be working alongside her now.

Otherwise if it were an SCA mentor it would have to be Mike, the amazing ideas he has (fun to be bouncing ideas off him) and his optimism for challenging briefs. He also comes up with the most amazing gems for us to look up online or elsewhere…oh to be in that brain of his!

John

Chris Cunningham

We could make the public so uncomfortable and rattled, forcing them into a collective existential crisis, where they’ll feel compelled to buy the product/service we’re pushing, to fill the void we’ve created in their soul. 

Vicky

Tim Walker

I’d love the opportunity to get into his mind and see how he comes up with such incredible ideas that are so extravagant, creative, beautiful and theatrical all at the same time. 

Marie 

Jean-Paul Goude

His visual universe and his touch so recognizable really excite me. His work always put a smile on my face. And I am really inspired by his ability to translate this onto so many mediums, from 2D to 3D, from graphic design and photography to scenography (for Kenzo x H&M for instance).

Nancy

Vikki Ross

A wizard with words. I just love how fresh and true Vikki’s words are. She writes in such a refreshing and down to earth way, which feels very natural. It would be cool to collaborate on a project and see where we could get to!

CONOR

Raymond Carver 

Unfortunately no longer alive but the absolute master of short stories and simple but highly descriptive language. I imagine if he had ever tried his hand at copywriting he would have been incredible. 

Freddie

Steve Dunn

Would be great to think there’s a decent art director in that family.

Alek 

Donald Glover

Is there anything the man can’t do? 

His stand up is phenomenal, Atlanta is beautifully written, his music has true soul & passion. I feel like he does what he wants to do and follows his gut.

If I could absorb an ounce of his creativity I’d be grateful.

Beck

I think after a coincidental run into his D&AD profile, I would like to be mentored by Paco Conde. The man is a creative machine; Dove Beauty Sketches, Security Moms, Tattoo artists becoming melanoma checkers in Brazil. How could someone not want to be mentored by such a great thinker? 

The answer is you’d be mental.

Sam-son of an English man

Any one of Abba. Take a chance on me!

Tad

Dave Dye.

I mean it’s an obvious choice really. Your art director’s favourite art director. 

I would also like to write a sketch with Erich and Kallman; I think we’d get on. 

Matt La Croix

In a ‘dream dinner party’ kinda way, wouldn’t Brett Easton Ellis make a sublime copywriter partner? If anyone can dice up and serve some stylish and savage prose. Or Dennis Cooper. Or Yasunari Kawabatar, to distill emotions in the leanest way. They’d be my un-stoppable choice writing partners. 

Shepherd

I’d love to work with Rowan Atkinson. What a bean.

Joe

Oscar Wilde. Just imagine the level of wit he would bring to copy. So much wasted talent, he died too soon!

Gareth 

Matt Gondek

He’s a fantastic artist, who I think would make a thrilling art director. His exploding/decaying cartoon pieces are astounding. He captures so much energy in his compositions, and his use of colour could grab anyone’s attention. If you don’t know his stuff, go look now.

Matt, if you’re reading this… which you aren’t… find me.

Lux

That list is endless. Let me tell the stories with Orson Welles, Coppola, Wes Anderson and a big gallup of Hayao Miyazaki. Let me design with Dieter Rams, Giorgio Armani, Issey Miyake and George Nakashima. Write with  Martin McDonagh, Wilde, Twain and Wodehouse. Play with Dylan Moran, George Carlin, Billy Connoly and Robin Williams. And create with Dalí, Takashi Murakami, Disney and Feynman.

Gwen

Caryl Churchill, for the way she brings emotions to a table read. 

Wes Anderson, for so many obvious reasons. 

Emma Thomson and Bill Murray’s love child, just because. 

Jane 

Nigel Roberts — every line you read you’ll wish you’d written. Most Ads about conkers on the floor wouldn’t excite you. This line excites me…  ‘A conker, noticed after a visit to the Tate. Minds open from 10 am. Tate Gallery.’ No pictures or art direction needed, you can see everything with just a few words.

Holly

^^

Luke

I want to make augmented reality advertising with Guillermo Del Toro. Imagine building an entire world with his visual style. But use it to sell really mundane stuff. I want to make a Cif ad that looks like Pan’s Labyrinth with the storytelling power of The Shape of Water, filtered through an oculus rift. 

For a preview of my vision, take acid and sit in the cupboard under the sink.

Honorable mention: Joan Cornella – let’s make beautiful 48 sheets together.

Jack Walsh

Ermm… Meghan Markle.   

Osagie

Tough question… Donald Glover. Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The great Ridley Scott. David Simon. Arthell and Darnell Isom at D’ART Shtajio, Japan’s first Black-owned anime studio. And of course, John Favreau, who we have to thank for Swingers, Elf, Iron Man, the live-action Jungle Book film (Bill Murray as Baloo is perfect casting), and everyone’s lockdown favourite, The Mandalorian.

Florrie
This is so tricky. I have so many people I would like to partner with.

Firstly, I would like to partner with Grayson Perry. I would love to do a collaborative project inspired by Alan Measles and my pug dog, using ceramics, tapestry and fashion design.

Secondly, I would like to partner with Lauren Child. I love her children’s books and illustrations. They feel so tactile, and remind me of childhood. I would love to see how she makes them and see the doll’s house that she exhibited in her House of illustration show in 2016. I think we could make some lovely doll’s house furniture together.

Thirdly, I would like to collaborate with friends from my Graphic Communication Design degree course from University. I loved the energy we all had in the two studios. I think it would be great to get back together and make something based on what we have learnt over the past year and a bit since graduation.

Alex R

If I picked anyone super talented they would make me feel inadequate. So probably Karl Pilkington. 

Flo

If I picked anyone super talented they would make me feel inadequate. So probably Alex Robson. 

Mike M

Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob Mcelhenney.  Have you seen It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Gaby 

I would partner up with Rob MacGilivray as I feel that we wouldn’t kill each other, he has a good sense of humour, he is open to crazy ideas but knows how to bring them back down to earth and we would produce great case study videos.