The Essential List: Blake Winfree
Blake Winfree is the chief of social impact at David&Goliath in LA. Prior to joining D&G Blake worked as a creative/art director at a multitude of agencies including Fallon, DDB, Mullen, and Havas. In 2018, Blake was named to Adweek’s Top 100 creatives, having amassed an award-winning body of work that has been globally recognized by all of advertising’s major award shows including Cannes, D&AD, the Webbys, and a Grand Effie for his work on American Greetings’ 'World’s Toughest Job' campaign. Some of his clients during his career include Budweiser, Skittles, Obama for America, Hyatt, American Greetings, Facebook, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and Whole Foods Market. With a deep desire to move his work beyond traditional advertising, Blake has made it his mission to weaponize creativity for something greater than buying and selling. With luck, dogged determination, and a touch of magic he believes the best is truly yet to come.
Get to know him via his Essential List below!
Lifestyle
o Place of birth: Lynchburg, VA
o Hometown: Lynchburg, VA
o Staycation: Home is where the heart is
o Vacation: New Orleans, Barbados, new places I haven’t been
o Pet: Two beautiful Boston terriers - Rodney & Gladys
o Place of work: David & Goliath LA
o Place of workout: My mind
o Side project: Plotting world domination while mowing my lawn
o Mode of transport: House shoes
o Bonus travel essential: TSA PreCheck, a window seat, and a comfy neck pillow
Culture
o Artist: Richard Pryor (comedy counts right?) other notables: Emory Douglas, Egon Schiele, Herb Lubalin
o Musician: Louis Armstrong
o Commercials / music video director: Kristian Mercado Figueroa, Hiro Murai
o Film director: The Coen Bros., Ezra Edelman, Taika Waititi
o Photographer: Gordon Parks, Jamel Shabazz, William Eggleston
o Film: The Secret of NIMH, City of God, Jazz by Ken Burns, Oh Brother Where Art Thou
o Series: Game of Thrones
o Commercial: United Colors of Benetton (Their work in the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s is my earliest remembrance of having affinity for a brand that used its platform for deep cultural provocation. It made an indelible impression.)
o Recent commercial work- The New York Times: The Truth is Worth It
o Music video: Son House - Don’t You Mind People Grinnin’ in your Face
o Recent video: Tobe Nwigwe – Fye Fye
o Video game: Inside, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Cuphead
o Board game: Spades (card game)
o Book: Game of Thrones, Pops: The Life of Louis Armstrong, X
o Graphic novel: Preacher
o Podcast: Serial
o Newspaper (off or online): NY Times (Instagram)
o Magazine: Back issues of Avant Garde
o Bonus culture essential: Talking to people
Food and Drink
o Breakfast: Yes, please, and thank you.
o Restaurant: El Oriental De Cuba, Jamaica Plain, MA (Oxtail w/ rice and red beans, fried plantains and a guava shake)
O Cheap bite: Buffalo Wings from Major Goolsbys in Milwaukee, WI
O Working lunch: If only we could get back to those days
O Favourite dish: Sweet ear of corn drowned in butter and salt
O Signature dish: Shrimp Creole
o Snack: Peanuts
o Guilty pleasure: Cherry Garcia
o Bar: Any
o Booze: Sazerac
o Not booze: Ice cold Coca-Cola
o Bonus food: New Orleans style Charbroiled Oysters
o Bonus beverage: Chai Latte (hot w/ oat milk)
Kit
o Phone: Samsung
o Computer: Mac
o Headphones: The ones that came with my phone
o Camera: Phone
o Pen / pencil: Pen
o Where you document an idea: Small sketch pad
o Casual clothing: Sweatshirt
o Smart clothing: Sweatshirt
o Footwear: Ugg slippers
o Watch: Casio
o Collection: Brooches
o App: Google Now
o Website: itsnicethat.com
o Work program: Email
o Digital work tool: InDesign/Photoshop
o Analogue work tool: Pencil and paper
o Morning grooming / makeup essential: Brushing my teeth and wiping the crust out of my eyes
o Bonus kit essential: Optimism
Photo credits:
- Main photo and dog photo by: https://briancooper.co/ & https://www.instagram.com/briancooper_is/?hl=en
- New Orleans style Charbroiled Oysters image by Jessica Tan on Unsplash
