COPYWRITER
CARSON K. SMITH
CARSON K. SMITH at your service.
I came to W+K 12 with no experience in advertising. I was a dictionary salesman at Powell’s Books. One afternoon, a young woman from Wieden+Kennedy walked down the aisle I was shelving in. We started a conversation about short stories and books on writing. I asked her what she did and she mentioned the ad agency. She told me to apply to the school W+K has, so I put a book of stories and poems together called Portfolio Diaz and dropped it off before a shift. This is a small amount of the work that’s come since. When you’re done clicking the links to the left, feel free to Bravo, Carson.
MAKE IN OREGON WHAT With Oregon’s unemployment rate in double figures and still above the national average, we are losing skilled individuals who came to Oregon for a better life. These statistics show job-force migration to places that encourage business, places where there are jobs. Creative and hard working people want to be here but there aren’t enough jobs to keep them. Why am I talking about Oregon’s economy and the job market? Because everyone here understands the importance of the economic future of Oregon. We are all connected to business and affected by it. Oregon is the state that makes. We make incredible things here. Beyond the micro brews and macchiatos, we make phenomenal breakfasts; we make art and music and film. Oregon also makes wind energy, and microprocessors, the technology and medicines that cure disease. Oregon makes lives richer and the food that feeds us. I think the Made in Oregon sign should continue to represent business and the things we make. This sign can still be a symbol of what Oregon makes. Made is Past. Make is now.
MAKE IN OREGON Made is past. Make is now. - A Facebook group with hundreds of members; - A change that makes sense for the state that makes; - Wild postings and screen prints as art.
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OLD SPICE
Embedded in W+K Client Old Spice I was embedded into W+K client Old Spice and briefed to write lines for web banners for the SLAMM (Smell like a man, man) campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa of “I”m on a Horse” fame. I wrote lines that live on web banners that speak to both men and the ladies.
W+K 12 IS A TABLE Wieden + Kennedy 12 is a table inside of the advertising agency’s Portland office. At this table sit 13 individuals—one plus 12 others. The meal at this table lasts 12-months long. The food is real and for the most part local. The host is Dan Wieden, a hell of a nice guy. The chefs are Jim Riswold, Andrew Dickson, Joe Staples and Byron Oshiro. They’ve made many a meal, have specialties, and prepare all the courses. Visitors often come to the table from within the house and from off the street. Special invitees for 12.6 were Michel Gondry and Spike Lee. During the meal, there were many stories told and a ton of food. When the meal is over there’s quite a mess.
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WORDSTOCK
THE PROJECT And on the second day of 12 the directors gave us Wordstock. The yearly literary event in Portland has been branded by W+K since its second year. This year, 12 started a month late. This year, Wordstock was scheduled a month early. This year, the brief for Wordstock was food. Most of our work was out of home. Having been to the event in years past, and working at Powell’s Books, an event sponsor, I contributed ideas, lines, and in execution with creativity and experience.
MY ROLE As Copywriter generated many of the lines combing books and food. As a Powell’s employee, I led the takeover of the literary events biggest sponsor at three of the stores’ locations.
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WORDSTOCK
At Powell’s - With four floors, I said, let’s advertise on the stairs. - The Burnside location’s main windows.
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WORDSTOCK
At Powell’s - Both entryways were branded Wordstock. - The weekend before the festival, projections on the store’s main wall told the story of of the upcoming event.
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WORDSTOCK
At Powell’s - One-inch Wordstock buttons in a candy jar. - Security pillars set the table for Wordstock. - A red lunch box sponsored by Target was the event, told the story of Scrambly, an omnivore dinosaur, and was a vessel for a writing kit.
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WORDSTOCK
At New Saason’s - Headlines, written for New Season’s takeover: Have your cake and read it too; - J.D. Saladbar; - And, rare books, well done.
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STOMPTOWN
THE PROJECT Stomptown is Portland with dinosaurs. For the Oregon Zoo summer dinosaur exhibit, 12 pitched the client a campaign based on the idea that dinosaurs live in our culture. Michael Illick, illustrator and ad man, contributed images based on correspondence I had with him over email. In the end, the Zoo went another direction, but said Stomptown was an idea they liked and mentioned it for use in their elephant exhibit.
MY ROLE Concept, Copywriter
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STOMPTOWN
Life in Stomptown - Inserting dinosaurs in the Portland culture. - At Voo-doo donuts; - Dinner parties; - And foodcarts.
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Neighborhood Movie Club
THE PROJECT Michel Gondry is a director and a creative person. He agreed to lead us in his workshop A Neighborhood Film Club. We Sweeded a film one sunny after noon in May that we wrote, directed, and acted in. It’s called Math Fight and is about an evil calculator who steals the world’s math. Gondry screened Math Fight after his movie, A Thorn in the Heart, at Hollywood Theater.
MY ROLE Screenwriter, lemonade stand patron, elevator rider, ninja.
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Neighborhood Movie Club
Math Fight: Night of the Throwing Stars - We came with no preconceived ideas; - Then, we wrote a story; - And scripted scenes.
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NWFC SCHOOL OF FILM
THE PROJECT The Portland Art Museum North West Film Center School of Film asked 12 for help. Their name was too long for a Google search, and people didn’t know the school existed. There was room to grow. W+K 12 went to the school, learned all about what it offered and who attended. Our conclusion: The School of Film is for makers. Those who make, make film. Let’s call it the Film Making School. I wrote Make lines, contributed to the overall idea and designed a spread for the Film Making Guide.
MY ROLE Worked in small groups concepting how to best brand the School of Film. As a copywriter, contributing lines focusing on the act of making, generating the main idea: Those who make, make film.
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NWFC SCHOOL OF FILM
Rebranding the Film Making School. -Short, concise lines live on web banners. -T-shirts to be given to students. -Bright buttons painted on the building’s dark exterior.
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DOGSHIT BOUNTY HUNTER
THE PROJECT It is your right to have a dog in Multnomah County. If you want one and can take care of it, you should have a dog. Walking a dog is a responsibility and a recreation. Like people, dogs shit. The law states that “any person in physical possession or control of any animal off the premises of the animal’s owner or keeper shall immediately remove excrement or other solid waste deposited by the animal in any public area.” When a person walks away from their dog’s shit they have broken the law. The dog shit becomes a crime scene and the person who left it is a criminal on the run. The idea was to hire Duane Chapman, who was out of work at the time, to clean up this mess.
MY ROLE Copywriter.
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DOGSHIT BOUNTY HUNTER
Duane Chapman’s new career. - Banners; - Yardsigns; - And Fliers.
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME
THE PROJECT For the Month of May, W+K 12 lived inside the ad agency. As an art installation called No Place Like Home, 12 created a living space in the lobby of the building, a space designated for art. In the first days of moving in, 12 created a home environment and assorted works of art. The show’s success was based on the group working together and actually living in the space. The show was filmed and broadcast online. Leading up to the show’s opening party, 12 made and became art.
MY ROLE Copywriter, Invites, Screen prints, Jartist, Dweller
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME
If you worked here, you’d be home by now. - The statement. - Screen prints. - The lobby on the first day.
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Don’t just work here, sleep here. - Bedtime stories; - The line: If you lived here, you’d be at work by now; - Jart of my home displayed on shelf.
No.2 WHAT Twelve wanted to talk to the agency in a creative way. Where and how was important. Did you know, on average, an employee goes number two at least three times a week at work? With 350 people working in the building, the bathroom gave us the opportunity to be read over 1,000 times per week. The bathroom is a unique channel to communicate inside W+K because it’s the only place where employees are by themselves with nothing to do but relieve themselves. We decided to make a magazine that lives in the bathroom and fill it with pieces that could be digested in two to five minutes. We called it Number Two. Besides putting the zine in the bathroom at the agency, it lived online and was shared on Twitter and Tumblr by using Issuu. For my bi-weekly spread, I created the recurring characters Egg Pan & Noodle Pot.
WHAT
EGG PAn & noodle pot Egg Pan & Noodle Pot For my contribution to issues of Number Two, I developed recurring characters Egg Pan and Noodle Pot. Happy go lucky, the Pan is an excited sort, while Noodle Pot shoots down ideas, cuts his friend down.
THANK YOU.