Interbrand: How Debates Over Taylor Swift United a Unique Creative Team
The workplace is a strange reality. Much like school, you spend hours surrounded by the same people every single day. You aren’t obliged by any means to get along with them either - you can choose to see coworkers as people who are able to edit the document you’ve shared and nothing more.
Or you can make the most of this mundane reality and interrogate your coworkers for their opinions on Taylor Swift, for example. And for those at Interbrand, it took a simple pop culture reference to cement their dream team status.
Hannah Lowndes, mid-weight designer, Lauren Kelly, strategy director, and Jack Anderson, writer are a trio that have very quickly become a team that balances their abilities to work and play seamlessly. Hannah being the more ‘seasoned Interbrander’ of the three welcomed both Jack and Lauren with open arms, and together they are more excited than ever to showcase their talents.
As the success of their partnership proves, those disagreements over Taylor Swift are where their creative differences thankfully end.
LBB> First and foremost, what were your first impressions of each other?
Jack> Interbrand Sydney is just about split down the middle on their opinion of Taylor Swift, so in my first week I kept my perspective to myself. On my first day, Dan, our verbal identity director, plonked a pile of suggested reading on my desk, which not-so-subtly included The Little Guide to Taylor Swift. Hannah walked past and asked if it was mine. I told her it wasn’t, but she was welcome to borrow it. She replied, “That’s not my God” and walked away.
Hannah> As the ‘seasoned’ Interbrander among us, watching Lauren and Jack slide into the team so seamlessly was nice. There’s a certain comfort in not having to do much, and with these two, it just felt… right.
LBB> What are you most excited about getting to achieve together in 2024?
Jack> I’m most excited to see what we can make happen collectively this year. This is a small, very tight-knit team with some of the brightest people I’ve ever worked with. It means that when we put our heads together, everyone is heard, and everyone leaves their mark on the work. I’m really keen to see where that takes us this year. I’m also excited to get everyone memberships at The Glebe Hotel.
Lauren> We’re reshaping a lot of how we deliver projects to clients to be faster, smarter and more collaborative between our three departments earlier. I’m really excited to work more in tandem; our designers and writers are really strategic and our strategists are really creative, so getting to all play together earlier is going to be fun and it always propels the work further. (Though I do second Jack’s pub ambitions.)
LBB> What do you believe the challenges will be for you this year and how will you overcome them together?
Jack> For me, it’s going to be keeping a clearer mind. During last year’s morning commutes, I’d find myself trying to think through a dozen different things all at once. I’d rock up to the office with my brain already racing and anxious. I’ve started meditating this year, and I’m hoping it will help me to switch off when I need to. We can achieve this together with routine reminders to take a chill pill.
Hannah> The ever-changing nature of the cozzie livs crisis can lead to budget and scope reductions, which can become quite challenging at times. All we can do is figure out ways to be more resourceful with our time, using our expertise and creativity to make inspiring work and have fun doing it.
LBB> What has been a project that has stuck with you? Why was it significant? What did you learn?
Lauren> I was lucky enough to work with Han on the development of an iconic global venue. It was meaningful personally because I shared meals there with my late Dad, and it was so beautiful to then see the care and passion Hannah and the rest of the creative team put into preserving its legacy but also gracefully taking it into the future. It taught me that you can honour a brand’s past without keeping it stuck there.
Jack> Working on the Sydney Festival brand at my previous agency has stuck with me. I started out working on their verbal identity, and then just before I left, I got the chance to work on the ad for the 2023 festival. It was just a lot of fun to work on, and reminded me that we’re pretty lucky to live/work in a city like this.
LBB> How do you find a balance between your professional creativity and creativity outside of the office?
Lauren> I have a three year-old, so to be honest, sometimes I’m even more creative outside the office—my mornings usually start with a dance party where I’m Elsa but dancing to ‘I Like to Move It, Move It.’ Worryingly, I often show up to work with this energy, but I’m pretty lucky we have a culture where we can be ourselves.
Jack> I don’t! Which is something I need to fix. I’m going to pick up the guitar more regularly and try to get back to writing songs (I was a muso in a past life). I’m also flirting with the idea of writing a bit of fiction. Look out world.
LBB> How do you recharge your creativity? How do you ensure you remain inspired?
Jack> To recharge, I’ll leave my phone at home, walk down to the beach, and dive under a wave. But my biggest moments of inspiration come from taking in the work of other creatives who have made something compelling. When I was younger, I thought it was because I was jealous of people who had made something really good, but nowadays I consider it an exercise in eye-opening. It’s a way to show yourself what’s possible.
Hannah> My job mainly consists of crafting graphics on my computer (with other fun bits in between, of course). So, to recharge, naturally, I step away. Whether that’s spending three hours in the kitchen trying to master my Mum’s curry and roti combo or going for a long surf, not looking at a screen helps. But the one thing I find that consistently keeps me inspired is other people. I’m a big listener and love getting to know a person, so having those deep chats about their story and what fuels their fire gets mine going, too.
LBB> When working on a job together, what is the first thing you do?
Lauren> We usually overlap when it’s time to use the strategy to inspire the design and writing teams, so the first thing I do is put the strategy to one side for a sec and think about some of the cool, weird learnings that first got me excited. I think we all do our best work when we find the human, emotive way into a big problem, so I try to share that with the team as a hook into the rest of the work.
LBB> What is your favourite thing about each other?
Lauren> I love Hannah’s effortless, unintimidating sense of adventure. She’ll be doing up her van to go surfing all around NSW and QLD, cooking amazing curries from her handmade kitchen - which is something I’d never be brave enough to do - but she’s so passionate and warm about it that it makes you want to try it too. She’s adventurous when it comes to creativity, too, and equally welcoming about it. Jack’s super new, but already he’s become part of our team’s soul. Like all the best writers, he sits back and absorbs everything, then he opens his mouth or his laptop and what comes out either cracks you up, makes you think deeply—or often both.
Hannah> Lauren is a loving mother who could pump out a brand strategy in a day, volunteer for Greenpeace in the arvo and then complete a triathlon on the weekend. I’m still somewhat a baby to the industry but I already know that she is one of the most powerful women within it. Then there’s Jack, my fellow Coastie. He’s next level chill, an incredible listener (and writer, obvs) and has genuine interest in whatever comes his way.
Jack> My favourite thing about everyone at Interbrand is how much they value each other. Someone like Lauren, who’s worked across the globe and has so much experience under her belt, will always have the time of day for people like me or Han who are far newer to the industry. I think that’s invaluable.
Lauren> You’d get more time if you liked Taylor Swift.
