Kwame Taylor-Hayford is a busy man. He is President of D&AD, the global non-profit that represents the pinnacle of creative excellence, and co-founder of Kin, a creative agency focused on driving positive change for its clients. Kin's client list includes Intuit Mailchimp, Delta Air Lines, Uber and the Obama Foundation.
I met him recently at D&AD Festival where we spoke about his role at D&AD, his advice for young creatives and the challenges branding is facing today.
Elsewhere at the festival, I spoke to Lisa Smith about when you should change a logo as well as on D&AD's Festival and Awards identity. For now though, here's the first part of my conversation with Kwame (keep your eyes peeled for part two, where we discuss designing for social change).
You have lots of different roles. How do you juggle them all?
The short answer to that is very badly. I heard this quote not long ago from Shonda Rhimes, who's a big executive producer, showrunner from the US. And she talks about how when you see her succeeding at one thing, it's because she's failing at 10 other things.
So when you see her on the red carpet accepting an Emmy for one of her TV shows, it's because she's failing at being a mom at that moment in time, because she's not there and she's not present. So I sort of embraced that. It made me feel a lot better about quite a few things that I do. I have accepted that to be amazing in one area sometimes I might need to drop a few balls in other areas, but the key is to try to pick those balls up before anybody notices.
How did you first get involved in D&AD?
My relationship with D&AD started through D&AD Impact, as someone who's really excited about creativity, but also social impact. I joined the impact Council, and it was an amazing group of humans – 40 odd people from all over the world who would often convene and just share thinking and insights. And the jury members for the Impact and Future Impact categories are largely chosen from the impact Council. I got to judge Impact, and that was exciting.
But then I think my relationship grew through Shift, which is a night school for creatives that don't have a degree. I've been ECD for New York for a few years, and honestly, I love the program because it kicks open the door and it allows for people who often have no idea the industries of advertising and design exist, but who have a lot of creative sensibilities and a big interest in work that's more in the creative realm.
It gives them an opportunity to be a part of what we're doing. And so after doing that for two years, I joined the board and then after a few years of being on the board, I was asked to be President. So here we are. Amazing. It's really humbling to be in the seat and to help steward what is a very storied institution into the future,
What is your vision for the future of D&AD?
The future of D&AD is to continue to make it a very global and important part of the creative industries that we participate in. I think there's so much amazing talent and work in different pockets around the globe, and as the world becomes more connected – I know there’s a bit of a wave of nationalism sweeping the globe right now – but I feel it's inevitable that through technology and through how all of our different cultures intersect, we're going to be more connected.
So the more we can appreciate different perspectives, backgrounds and interests, the more we can find ways to celebrate what is different, but also appreciate what we have in common, the better off we're all going to be.
I think D&AD can play a massive role in the worlds of advertising and design, which are hugely influential culturally. I think we can do a really good job of equipping the next generation of talent with what they need to know to thrive.
What advice would you give a young designer starting out in the industry right now?
I think the best advice I can give is just stay curious. I think the only constant, the only thing that's guaranteed is that things will always be changing. But if you stay curious and motivated and if you continue to embrace this learning mindset, you will always be able to achieve what you set out to achieve.
You'll have access to the tools through organisations like D&AD, [you’ll have] the knowledge and the references and the people, and you'll be able to grow. And I think that's an important aspect of being a creative person – this idea that you're always growing. You're always growing and taking in new inputs and coming up with new ideas.
D&AD has its awards, why do you think awards are important?
I think they're an essential part of what we do. I feel peer recognition and acknowledgement that what you're doing is inspiring and motivating others. Which is really what we're doing when we pick projects and say that this is, a Yellow Pencil, for example, we're confirming that it signals the future, and it's something that people should be striving for, and that it is how we are innovating and building new and different perspective.
So to me, that's what awards exemplify. It's all about talent. It's all about motivating and inspiring, and it's about how we ensure that we're continuing to break new ground in what we do.
What are the challenges branding is facing today?
I think there are many. But perhaps the biggest challenge is what we consider to be branding in this world that is increasingly changing because of technology and because of how people engage in the world. I was chatting with one of the [D&AD Awards] jury members, and I think we often think of branding as very visual, and you know, what's the colour, what's the type, and these, of course, are important aspects of it.
But as brands and as we as a society, come more out of this kind of post Covid context, I think people are excited to engage in the world again and to be more together. So when you think about experience, and even when you think about how technology is evolving, soon you'll have spectacles that you put on, and you'll have information overlaid over your real world through augmented reality; we're talking a lot more to our devices and and so you won't have probably as many visual inputs consistently in your world.
What does that mean from a sonic standpoint, and how do brands translate to that medium? I think it's exciting to think about how we expand the conversation around what is branding and how that will evolve honestly, as how we engage evolves.
How can brands stand out in a crowded marketplace?
I do think it's important to not be afraid, to be yourself. And I know that sounds really weird, but I do think you have seen a bit of this wash. Of sort of sameness across a lot of brands and and I think you're starting to see a few more brands take a bit more risk in showing up a bit differently. And whether that's going from a very clean serif, almost like a very neutral colour palette to brands being a bit more expressive, with more serifs, and more hand done elements. I mean, I think there's something very exciting to me about brands taking a bit more risk.
I guess, it’s that thing about being a bit more human as well, in the place where machines are kind of taking over... I feel we're all so unique and bespoke, and I think it's nice for brands to lean into a bit more of that.
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