Tuesday, April 27, 1999

Art Directors Club panel "The Latest vs. The Greatest"


 It wasn't totally a mosh pit, but the Art Directors Club panel on "The
 Latest vs. The Greatest" on Tuesday, April 27th was a showdown
 between seasoned advertising design industry shapers and scrappy
 young revolutionaries. Anthony Vagnoni, editor-at-large "Advertising
 Age" kept the light and pointed conversations between Jerry Della
 Femina, Allan Beaver, Ed McCabe, Paul Thayer, and Steven Grasse.
 Jeff Weiss definitely was on the progressive front, but paid homage to
 the wizened greats who had lots of laughs and stories about how they
 started. Before the panel started I met Donna Belej, an account
 exec/researcher with Image Bank and SVA students Dave Arnold and
 Jason Rogers. Bill Oberlander, exec. creative director of Kirshenbaum,
 Bond & Partners was there along with Jonann Tansman (VP,
 associate Creative director, BBDO) and bubbly Amanda Angotti
 (BBDO) and an FIT and Tuoro college professor (name escaped me).
 I took the serious look on Tyme Gadson's face for real when he said
 he is from Monsoon, a rival design shop in Philadelphia to Grasse's
 shop. Even people from Brazil -- Fabricio Branco -- and London --
 Adam Helliwell -- came for the panel. Well, actually Fabrico is
 studying and living here, and Adam moved here to work in the
 super-uber cool design shop The Attik (with super hip plastic credit
 card business cards).