OPEN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
One of the brilliant people I got to meet during my 15-month stretch at advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy was British account planner Russell Davies. Ten years later, when Russell started his own consulting business with his partners Emily Reed, David Nottoli, and Jeffre Jackson he asked me to design their corporate identity.
Their partnership, the Open Intelligence Agency, operates as a global small business, which is to say that you can get some serious consulting power without having to pay for the overhead. I thought that their global reach and creative ambition were best embodied by an octopus. Not only are octopi amazingly smart, beautiful creatures with a sense of humor and mischief, but they also have a proud tradition as a propaganda symbol. Search for the phrase “propaganda poster octopus” sometime. You’ll see what I mean.
When I started designing the logo I locked into a serious groove, allowing me to present Russell and his colleagues with a dozen different cephalopods. And as they’re cool clients, they asked, “Well, can we have all of them?” Yes. Yes, you can.
Best press sheet ever!
