ADCOLOR® | 2013 One Club|ADCOLOR Creative Highlight: John C. Jay, ECD, W+K Garage @adcolorawards | Uploaded 10 years ago | Updated 9 hours ago
John C. Jay
ECD, W+K Garage
http://www.adweek.com/sa-article/one-club-adcolor-creatives-152325
In John Jay's latest career swerve, the one-time global ECD of Wieden+Kennedy "moved down the corporate ladder" to open W+K Garage (soon to be called GX), a boutique co-venture that will be all about his singular, global view of innovation. It's just the latest chapter in a storied career that has been about reshaping the world through design.
Honored by the readers of Graphic Design USA as one of the most influential art directors of the past 50 years, Jay is as likely to be trying to reshape Portland's Chinatown as he is creating campaigns for Nike. Dan Wieden calls him one of "the most connected people on the planet," adding, "I'm surprised that he doesn't have a relationship to the Almighty."
Jay's ascendance is an unlikely story. The son of Chinese immigrants, he grew up behind their Columbus, Ohio laundry with limited exposure to creative careers. An encounter with a family friend, an art director at a downtown department store, unveiled new possibilities. Today, he wants others to have those opportunities and he created the Jay Scholarship Fund at his alma mater Ohio State to support students of Asian descent that want to pursue careers in creativity.
The W+K partner believes his working class, Chinese background forced him to be more observant of people and surroundings. "Maybe I've had to be in touch with culture in a deeper way," Jay says. "It made me hungrier."
John C. Jay
ECD, W+K Garage
http://www.adweek.com/sa-article/one-club-adcolor-creatives-152325
In John Jay's latest career swerve, the one-time global ECD of Wieden+Kennedy "moved down the corporate ladder" to open W+K Garage (soon to be called GX), a boutique co-venture that will be all about his singular, global view of innovation. It's just the latest chapter in a storied career that has been about reshaping the world through design.
Honored by the readers of Graphic Design USA as one of the most influential art directors of the past 50 years, Jay is as likely to be trying to reshape Portland's Chinatown as he is creating campaigns for Nike. Dan Wieden calls him one of "the most connected people on the planet," adding, "I'm surprised that he doesn't have a relationship to the Almighty."
Jay's ascendance is an unlikely story. The son of Chinese immigrants, he grew up behind their Columbus, Ohio laundry with limited exposure to creative careers. An encounter with a family friend, an art director at a downtown department store, unveiled new possibilities. Today, he wants others to have those opportunities and he created the Jay Scholarship Fund at his alma mater Ohio State to support students of Asian descent that want to pursue careers in creativity.
The W+K partner believes his working class, Chinese background forced him to be more observant of people and surroundings. "Maybe I've had to be in touch with culture in a deeper way," Jay says. "It made me hungrier."
