Taking the Pulse with Young Blood creative minds at TAXI

At Applied Arts we celebrate young up and coming advertising creatives by giving them their own category, the Young Blood (open to newer graduates with less than 5 years industry experience) category, where they can shine through and gain much deserved exposure. We reached out to Kyle Simpson and Wendy Fox, winners of our 2021 Advertising winners in the Young Blood Digital Advertising category for their "Raise A Flag", a campaign they created while at TAXI, Toronto, for a Q&A. We wanted to know how their creative process unfurled during the creation of this campaign as well as get their perspective on today's advertising industry. 

Can you walk us through the specifics of creating the RAISE A FLAG digital campaign?

It began with the discovery of the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to 2SLGBTQI employees. We wanted to find a smart way to make this information accessible when it's needed the most—when people are online shopping. 

What is the hardest part when you are creating?

The hardest part in creating RAISE A FLAG for Egale Canada was consolidating the data from the Index and turning it into something useable for our Chrome extension. It took many hours of data entry to make the chrome extension.

What do you think is an issue in the world of advertising?

A lot of brands try to cash in on 2SLGBTQI culture for the month of June and then leave that community behind when creating long term corporate policies. We wanted to address the issue of Rainbow Washing with our campaign. 

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in your field?

Make the most of every opportunity. Every coffee date. Every portfolio review. Every brief.

What do you wish people knew about your industry?

We wish people knew that creative work can come from anywhere in any industry. We’re all story-tellers searching for insightful truths. 

How do you stay creative/inspired?

We keep a close eye on what others in the advertising and art industry are creating.

Tell us your biggest art world pet peeve?

We have two: when people believe the value of an art piece is proportionate to how long it took to create, and when the reverence for classical art stifles and limits the creativity alive today.

We are grateful to Kyle and Wendy for participating in our Q&A and wish them much continued success!

Check out the Young Blood category either online under Advertising Awards or in our Advertising printed issues.