Gabby's WORD 3 April 2012

Last Thursday found me at an art opening in sunny East London. As a Goldsmiths grad, I feel the need to indulge my arty side; so here I am, standing in the sun, drinking some bubbles and discussing ‘ownership’ and ‘recognition’ with a member of the gallery world. How did this conversation begin? I’d brought a friend of mine along to the gallery who’d illustrated a new commercial, but who had worked solely through the production company, was not individually credited, and had never met the agency. At this opening, she did and it was amazing for her to hear the praise that her work was given and to make what could become a prosperous connection. So our conversation stemmed from this example, but we went on to discuss the many photographers, graphic designers and artists whose work is not credited to them, the individual.

 

I started at the tender age of 14 as a runner. I made endless cups of tea, delivered hundreds of U-matics and could work out what the producer wanted for lunch, just by looking at her. Did I get any recognition? Of course not! And I shouldn’t have. But I was fortunate that when I handed a creative a cup of tea and he/she didn’t thank me, my director would make a point of pointing it out. So even when others didn’t see my merit, the fact that my team did meant that it was all worth it; the rubbish hours, dirty Soho streets and at times, rude clients. 

 

‘New Talent’ is an opportunity for a company to show recognition to an individual who deserves praise and acknowledgement for the contribution, hard work and the skill that they display/possess. This is an area within Little Black Book that I am extremely proud of and which I wish I had more time to concentrate on.  

 

People sometimes forget the account exec that amends punctuation mistakes on that deck into the wee hours, the illustrator who works passionately all night, trying not to worry about the rent. The director who writes treatments in endless notebooks, the producer who struggles with tight budgets but ensures all demands are met, the creative who somehow makes a dishwasher tablet seem interesting and the editor who never goes out on a Friday night. Those people, whoever they may be, need to identified and credited for their work; be it in an interview such as our ‘New talent’, within the creative credits at the end of a job or just with a simple ‘thank you’.