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The Work That Made Me in association withLBB
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The Work That Made Me: Aaron Duffy

24/03/2023
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Marketing & PR
Hot Springs, USA
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SpecialGuest co-founder and executive creative director explains why 'Parisian Love' for Google made him the creative he is today
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Aaron Duffy is a co-founder and executive creative director of SpecialGuest, a creative agency focused on innovation in communications. Aaron and his team have created iconic campaigns for many of the world’s most influential brands including Google’s first-ever TV spot and Snapchat’s first global brand campaign.

Duffy’s unique abilities as a creative director can be seen in the iconic Google Super Bowl ad 'Parisian Love' and three unique pieces for Rag & Bone: the short film 'Why Can't We Get Along,' the experiential AI-hosted dinner 'A Last Supper,' and the New York Fashion Week runway show filmed by an AI-operated camera. Aaron's love of optical illusions can be enjoyed in his viral music video for OK Go and his film for the release of the iPhone XS.

SpecialGuest was spun off in 2015 from global production company 1stAveMachine, where Duffy was their first director. At 1stAveMachine, he created 'Audi Unboxed,' which garnered the company's first Cannes Lion. His work for 'Google Speed Test' earned seven more.

Parisian Love was inducted into New York's Museum of Modern Art archive for the art and technique of the American commercial. He has been honoured by AdAge’s Creativity as one of  the best directors in the industry, named #1 on Business Insider’s 30 most creative in advertising under 30 and was listed in Adweek's 'Creative 100.'


The work that made me was my least favourite project I had ever done. In fact, I was embarrassed by it at the time. I was only in the industry a couple years when the brief came in and right away I felt like turning it down. By then, I had already done some projects I was proud of, including a short film that was recognised in Saatchi & Saatchi's New Directors Showcase and an Audi spot that won a Cannes Lion.

On top of that, I was in the middle of developing a series of fun, crafty, weird videos for the launch of Google Chrome in the UK. But this new brief did not lean into anything I thought was good about all that work. It didn’t rely on any film craft. It didn’t even require a shoot. It was entirely motion graphics-based and there really wasn’t that much to be designed (or so I thought). The task was to tell a story using Google Search about a character’s life. At first, I tried to do anything I could to bring some unexpected animation to the design of the interface. I just couldn’t imagine a video with nothing but the Google interface being any good, no matter how many 'cinematic' tricks I tried to weave in. So, we made it and posted it to YouTube. Some people told me they liked it, and I told them I thought it was sappy. But after a month, it had a lot of views. More importantly, it had the views of the founders of Google, who really liked it. They decided to put it on the Super Bowl that year, and not long after that, it was inducted into the MoMA’s Archive for the Art and Technique of the American commercial. People have told me they learned about it in their business school textbooks. Again, I disliked this work when I first did it, but since then, I have done a 180. I was so closed-minded about what I thought I was supposed to be making as a creative person that I didn’t see what was great about it. Since then, it has been one of the most important projects I have done for my career.

But, most importantly, it taught me that creative opportunities are everywhere, maybe especially where you least expect them. Because of the success of something that I wasn’t proud of at first, I have been more open to trying new things, especially if I am not sure that they will work. It’s paid off. That work, Parisian Love for Google, really made me the creative I am today.  

Credits
Work from Sapka Communications
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