A N DY WA L M S L E Y ART DIRECTION My Art Direction Story Before I became Founder and Creative Director of Wash Studio back in 2003, I’d been an Art Director in many small North West agencies prior. However, it was purely a ‘self-titled’ role in the early days as I also had little knowledge of the Art Directing duties. In fact, I had none, until one day, whilst working as a young graphic designer in a jobbing studio in Preston, a chap rocked up outside in his Porsche 911, jumped out, flicked his ponytail and headed into the studio to brief our team on some photography layouts and directions he’d created. He was the ‘Art Director’ from a larger Manchester agency who we were sub-contracting for at the time... and it was love at first sight! That was the job for me. (This was the 80s, by the way.) For me, this was a way out of just simply sitting on – what was then – a drawing board all day. I wasn’t the best designer, and I wanted to get out and about on photography shoots. I wanted to create concepts and see them come to life. This seemed so much more exciting than pushing fonts and logos around all day. It was such an eye opener for me and a turning point in my career. But it wasn’t an easy move by any stretch. I left school at the age of 16 without any qualifications apart from my Art ‘O’Level. However, this managed to land me a job at Hamilton Press in Preston on a Youth Opportunity Scheme, being paid roughly £25 a week. And
Image of Andy Walmsley & Sean Conboy out on a shoot
from then, I jobbed around various local newspapers as a paste-up artist and then became a graphic designer. But I was never trained properly; I just picked things up as I went, and I didn’t have much understanding or insight of the industry I was in. It was only when I got the job at the agency in Preston called Longcastle that the creative field I was in started to open up for me.
Image from Hyundai advertising campaign by Wash and shot by Sean Conboy
The other problem I had was that I couldn’t fit into the ‘city agency’ life. I didn’t particularly want to go to London or Manchester, and although I did try, I got many rejections. So, I needed to make it work up here in Lancashire. But the projects I had to work on back then simply didn’t have the budgets to justify letting me loose on them as an Art Director. So it was a tough climb all the way. However, what I did do was start to engage with local photographers. This proved tricky at first as many of those hadn’t worked with Art Directors, and many didn’t want pushing out of their comfort zone. Many were far too stuck in their ways. By the early 90s, I was working at a small creative studio in Blackpool, called Encore, run by a great guy called Ed Christiano. Teamed up with then copywriter Phil Reagan, I was truly let loose as an Art Director. Ed gave me the freedom to come up with engaging concepts and gave me the confidence to sell them in. I was off... and on one cold February morning at Encore, a young photographer by the name of Sean Conboy turned up to show his portfolio. And I loved it. He was the photographer for me.
Image from Lunar Caravan advertising campaign by Wash and shot by Sean Conboy 46 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2023 / Issue One
After months of pushing ideas and selling concepts, eventually, we got our break and started working together. Suddenly my portfolio was looking stronger and more professional, and this made it easier to sell in the Art Direction to clients who, back then, didn’t really get it or use that approach. However, they soon realised that what we were delivering was starting to give them the edge over their competition, as their marketing collateral started to look and work so much harder than it had before. A winwin. So over the years, I built my portfolio whilst working with some great photographers: Sean Conboy, Jonathan Oaks, Adrian Ray, John Spinks, Tony Blake, Jonathan Beer and Kate Abbey, and with clients such as GORE, Hyundai, MG, Jaguar Land Rover, MediaCity, Baird Group, Allied London, Bovis Lend Lease, to name a few. Things went from strength to strength. Working with a great photographer is something I love. Pushing an idea back and forth between you and making something look amazing is such a joy. I recommend to any young photographer who is possibly wondering which direction to take their work to try hooking up with a young, ambitious, slightly crazy Art Director and just see where you can push things. Issue One / 2023 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 47
