cindy laidlaw & tom laidlaw

Cindy Laidlaw. Tom Laidlaw. She is the award-winning art director with a client resume that includes Timberland, Sperry Topsider, Lotus, Dunkin Donuts and 3COM, and an awards resume that includes top honors in the Hatch Awards and the One Show. Cindy founded The Laidlaw Group in 1989. He is the nationally recognized designer whose work has been awarded the highest honors in the industry. During his 25-year career, his work has appeared in AIGA, Graphis Annual Reports and The Mead Annual Report Show, and is included in the permanent collections of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg. Together they are seeking to build a company that “redefines the business model for corporate communications firms.” In addition to current clients like TRU Corporation, The Draper Companies and Rangine Corporation, new business activity includes work for InterDigital Communications Corporation, Bradford Original Soap Works and Lithographix. An advertising campaign for Lithographix, which features photography by Jeff Corwin, has a sharp edge and a lot of style. “The campaign,” says Cindy, “like the partnership, just works.”

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Current assignments for Q1, ‘05 include photography, film and video projects. It’s exciting to see our vision of an integrated communications company come to life.

What is your workday like?
Working together was an idea we had both considered in the past, but had put off until now. In 2004 the timing was right for a professional as well as a personal partnership. We like the fact that both of us can now spend our workdays with our Basset Hound, Basil.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
She: An equestrienne since the age of four, rides her Appaloosa, Pocket. He: Works off stress with jogging regularly around the Charles River. She: Spending time at the Cape. He: Ditto

What are you watching, listening to or reading?
She: The Apprentice. He: U2

Who would have been your ideal presidential candidate?
She: Donald Trump. He: Martin Sheen.

bill healey

Honor the tree. That sums up Bill Healey’s personal philosophy of design for print. “A tree gives us so much during its life, as well as after,” he explains. “We should create something worthy of its existence. And I’m not just referring to the beauty of what we create, but also a return on investment for our clients.” As vice president, creative director at NDW in suburban Philadelphia, Healey has made his design mark with such paper company accounts as M-real and Weyerhaeuser. With a B.A. in fine arts from the University of Pittsburgh and a degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in visual communications, Healey began his career in Pittsburgh, accruing several years of corporate design experience for such Fortune 100 accounts as Alcoa, PNC Corp., Westinghouse and PPG. Healey looks back at his move 12 years ago to NDW as a growing point. “It opened my horizons to design for designers,” he says of the opportunity to work on paper industry accounts. Healey has produced award-winning work for dozens of blue chip clients. He’s been honored with more than 150 awards and his designs have been published in over 30 industry publications, including Graphic Design usa, Graphis, HOW, Print, Communication Arts and more. Healey is currently a board member for the Art Directors Club of Philadelphia, as well as a member of the Color Marketing Group and the National Association for Printing Leadership. When asked to describe his style, Healey says, “I would say minimalism with an emphasis on dramatic color; but I don’t like to pin myself down because I think it’s important to be responsive to new stimuli and keep the possibilities open.”

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Of course I do. I have to be the glass-is-always-half-full type. When you’re a creative person, I believe the true measure of creativity comes from being positive.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
The appreciation of good design has only grown stronger, mostly because emerging technologies continue to create new forms of creativity, both in how we communicate and how we think. For the last 10 years, I’ve specialized in print, and now I’m merging motion and audio in various areas of interactive design. Now more than ever, designers are held responsible for being great entertainers as well as great communicators. A more significant user experience is in demand.

What is your workday like?
I’m generally laid back, but because I’m focused (some people may call that obsessive perfectionism), I have periods of intensity throughout the day. And I’m more of a late night than an early morning person. That probably comes from my bartender days.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere. Visually through travel experiences, fine art, architecture and fashion. Places that give me incentive are sunny and have a completely different culture than the U.S. — Greece, Portugal and the Caribbean.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
When it comes to music, I’m obsessed and my tastes are eclectic. I like everything — as long as it fits the mood. The Finn Brothers and a blues band from the Czech Republic called OOZ are in my CD player now.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
Travel to exotic places with my wife, Clara; work on my house; go downhill skiing; play golf; and practice my guitar skills. Carlos Santana I’m not, but then I’m not allowed to jam in the office.

chris young

Chris Young is a 14-year veteran in creating dynamic environmental branding programs and has a deep understanding of how to create memorable brand experiences at every consumer touch point. As a partner in creative services at G2 Worldwide, Young brings expertise in a broad range of creative disciplines, having developed integrated brand communication programs in America, Europe and Africa for global clients such as The Coca-Cola Company, The ABSOLUT Spirits Company, CIBA Vision, Vodafone, Siemens Mobile, Jaguar, Nestlé, Virgin, Thomas Cook and Waterstones. At G2 Worldwide, Young leads the development of G2’s proprietary methodology, Design Language, a tool which extends the traditional brand guidelines to the brand’s physical elements (form, shape, color, light, materials, finishes, graphic styles) and seeks to deliver a consistent message across multiple dimensions and touch points. He heads up the 3D and packaging design team, collaborating closely with the agency’s graphic design and corporate identity groups. Clients of the consultancy, part of the Grey Global Group, include ABSOLUTE, Aero Products International, BellSouth, CIBA Vision, Coca-Cola, Kmart and The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
I feel extremely optimistic. Clients are thinking about brands much more holistically and moving away from spending their entire marketing budgets on traditional, above-the-line advertising, and looking at how to communicate their brands in a relevant way across all consumer touchpoints. They are global travelers and understand the need to stand out in an increasingly crowded market. Marketers today need tangible end results and are looking for more targeted, focused communication methods.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
Graphic design has changed immensely. It used to be all about subjective style and a designer’s individual aesthetic. Today, designers have to ask, “Is what I am creating strategically right for the brand?" There has been a shift in thinking from the personal to a more consumer-focused, insights-driven approach. Each day I have to put myself in the mindset of so many radically different consumer types and try to understand what will resonate with each of them. I love this kind of challenge.

What is your workday like?
The only predictable part of my day is a trip to Starbucks in the morning! We have such a wide range of clients and creative assignments, I never know what I may need to immerse myself in. My day consists of creative reviews, brainstorms, new business pitches, market-site visits and focus groups. In addition to the creative department, I work closely with G2’s production, strategy and new business teams. The team environment is intense and fast-paced, and dedicated to whatever project they are focused on. No one leaves to go home until they are completely happy with the final results. Attention to detail is time consuming.

How and where do you find inspiration?
I know it sounds clichéd, but everywhere and everything. I’ve worked in so many different countries and environments and with so many different people, that I am amazed how each one affects me in a different way. In New York I love the street scenes; in London the music and the fashion; and in Africa the physical landscape is amazing.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
Urban exploration, Polaroid photography and DJing.