Hannah and Kate: A Partnership Built on Chaos and Research
Today the Brave’s copywriter and art director duo, Hannah Lawson and Kate Idle first met during their time at DDB. And it didn’t take long for their partnership to grow into a force to be reckoned with.
Together they have worked with clients such as McDonald’s, Ovarian Cancer Australia, and Westpac. Their ability to work with incredible empathy has seen them crowned AWARD’s Emerging Creative Team of the Year in 2023.
LBB’s Casey Martin caught up with the talented duo in order to discover what makes them tick.
LBB> What were your first impressions of each other?
Hannah> Honestly, it was so long ago now! What I do remember of Kate was that she was a freelancer coming in for a famously tough brief. Still smiling through it, and seeing the best in it.
And that’s how I knew that she was a good person, a really good person.
Kate> I was sitting opposite Hannah. She had so much enthusiasm and kept talking about really interesting ideas so I always found myself listening in. So, basically I was eavesdropping on her conversations all the time, which was really great, because she inadvertently gave me a sense of energy and cool new ways to look at things.
LBB> As a copywriter/art director duo, how do you balance each other out?
Hannah> I feel like we’re both the same chaos, in a way.
Kate> But we balance the chaos nicely. It’s like either one of us is absolute insanity while then the other one is the calm presence and support. Or sometimes we’re just both chaotic, together.
Hannah> I think we also have a super open dialogue and communication in place, where we can express what we both need in that moment. We continue to be empathetic and try to understand what the other person is going through.
LBB> What is something the other has taught you, even if they might not know that they have?
Hannah> Kate taught me how to use Photoshop.
Kate> Resilience.
LBB> When working together on a project, what are the first steps that you take to understand the brief?
Both, in perfect synchronisation like the twins from The Shining> Research. We think nailing the brief doesn’t just stop at Googling the problem, you have to use all the tools available. From TikTok, YouTube, Instagram to Reddit, you have to know what random people in all corners of the universe have to say about whatever their thing is.
Hannah> At Today The Brave specifically, our process has changed a bit in the eight months we’ve been here. We really try to be creative with how we begin our thinking on each brief, and that’s a mindset the whole team has. We often get briefed offsite in creative places, or come into the process much earlier, like during the strategy.
This way we don’t get stuck in a rut of making the same kind of ‘addy work’ and instead approach each brief like a unique problem that needs to be solved for our clients.
LBB> Is there a particular project that you’ve both worked on that has stuck with you? If so, how has it continued to impact your work?
Hannah> The Ovarian Cancer piece, because it had such a beautiful cause behind it. And it was one of those things where, when everyone cares about something, something beautiful can come out of it.
We gave so much care and work and research into it, to find something really interesting and truthful about the cause, which meant we were able to make work that actually reflected what people are going through and actually aimed to help. I think that’s impacted my work for the future, because it’s made me not try and make ads that I want to see, but ads that need to be there for whatever it is.
Kate> It was also one of the first pieces that we’ve got to work on where it wasn’t about the result of money, or even necessarily ticking the KPIs of the client, it was about helping women. And it was about something bigger than advertising or marketing, which was nice.
LBB> I imagine that being a creative duo requires a lot of trust. How did you know that Hannah/Kate was the right person to trust in your creative endeavours?
Hannah> Because Kate would be nice when I cried.
Kate> Because I was crying at the same time Hannah was.
LBB> Has there been a moment together that has brought you both such joy that you love to tell the story about it?
Kate> One of my favourite stories was when we were on the Banker and the Ref shoot. We were trying to choreograph a scene and what they were doing on set was not working. So Hannah and I say, “No, it should go like this”. And without rehearsing, without saying a word to one another about what we were about to do, we got up and did a short couple dance routine perfectly, first go. Everyone thought that we had been practising or something but we both just knew we had the same vision in our heads.
Hannah> Probably when we left work one day to go get some vinyls for the Today the Brave office. We do this thing here called Deep Cuts, where each new person, team member, friend or client, brings in a vinyl for the office that means something to them and they present it to everyone on a Friday afternoon. It was really special to go to the record shop and find something that will be a part of these walls forever. And something as personal as music? Offft, so special.
Kate> We had so much fun trying to figure out the perfect albums to introduce ourselves, and it’s been great to hear about everyone else’s as well. Shockingly, I didn’t pick the Sound of Music.
LBB> Finally, if you were on The Office and had to give a straight-to-camera comment about each other, what would you say?
Hannah> I’m really worried about the balloons, because they’re in the office and Kate’s afraid of them and being really nice and won’t let me get rid of them, but I need to murder them for her.
Kate> Hannah gave me her noise cancelling headphones so I can hide in the corner, while she goes and pops all the balloons.
