The Roses
It was a brief affair. Simon Parker and Ali Taylor didn’t work together for long. But, despite spending only a couple of weeks together as a team in the lofty height’s of The Bridge’s creative department, on the top floor of the former Corsetry, it was an affair to remember.
Parker and Taylor still share the same room at The Bridge, but now with new partners.
During their short spell working together, a brief from Napier University presented the team with their first opportunity.
The work that they produced went on to win a brace of gold awards at this year’s Roses, as well as a couple of bronze too.
It was a challenging brief, but one that they were keen to take on. But with other creative teams having already had a stab at it, the pair knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy ask.
“It was an open brief, so we were allowed to just get on with it and have a bash,” said Parker.
“It was quite an intimidating brief,” continued Taylor. “We were writing an advert to try and recruit people to work as a creative. So, there was a bit of pressure.
“It was the first postgraduate course to be aimed at creatives, so it was, I suppose, like trying to talk to ourselves, or people like us. What would we like? So this fired us up.
“How do you communicate to someone the amazing, fun and challenging nature of the job of a creative, and get people thinking? It was trying to communicate the challenge in the ad itself.”
The Bridge’s three creative teams, overseen by Jonathan d’Aguilar and Liz O’Connor, are constantly kept busy by a combination of new, current and prospective clients.
“Usually all the teams get the opportunity to work across the same briefs. If it is a pitch, or, for example, NHS Health Scotland, usually the teams will all be given the chance to attempt the brief, which is great, as everyone gets quite excited about it,” said Taylor.
“The reviews are useful too, as they allow everyone to see each other’s work,” continued Parker. “Probably at one stage or another, we’ve all worked together in the department, so it is a really supportive environment.”
The creative pair have been at The Bridge for just over two years now. Ironically, they joined on the same day. Parker spent time working in Leeds and the midlands before moving to The Glasgow Agency. With Taylor joining The Bridge after time with Yellow M and Riley.
“This is the biggest creative team that I’ve worked at,” said Taylor. “When you are presented with an open brief, you are really fired up. You have to really be on your toes. If you have the inclination to do it, everyone is given the opportunity. I find that quite motivating.
“We are given a lot of guidance and steering, yet at the same time, it remains quite open in that there is a decent time period between reviews. Obviously, there will be times when turnaround needs to be quick, but the review process that we operate helps the creative process immensely, and is just so conducive to a good, working, creative environment.”
Despite it being a brief affair, Taylor and Parker enjoyed working as a team together. “When you start getting on, you instantly get into little habits,” said Taylor. “We only worked together for a couple of weeks, but even in that short time, we had a daily birthday quiz, although I was often given a 40 year margin to guess the age – especially when it came to former cricket players and sport stars,” she laughed.