Uprising: Why Comic Sans on Neon Blue Isn’t for Camille Nizet

“My family moved from Belgium to the US when I was two months old, and apparently I cried the entire eight hour flight, gate to gate,” says Camile Nizet when recollecting her childhood. The junior art director attributes the tantrum to her lifelong persistence as she says, “I decided on this career when I was 12 and, well, here I am.” 

Camile’s decision to pursue the role came from a dolphin brochure which she couldn’t help but mentally redesign and the rest as history. “The story there was that I saw this truly hideous brochure about saving dolphins and all I could think of was, ‘no one is going to care about saving the dolphins when it’s neon pink Comic Sans on neon blue.’ So I decided that’s what I would do: good communication for good causes.”

Having decided on the career move so young, she had “plenty of time to plot” and get to a point where she could actually take on the role. “I was always pretty good at drawing, but since I never heard about art direction I focused more on the strategy behind campaigns,” she says. “To make a real impact, I figured I needed to get to know the industry and audience.” She went on to study liberal arts at University College Maastricht and did a mixture of psychology, business, philosophy and even ventured into some classes on sustainability. It was a formative experience, to say the least. 

“I loved it, and I still use my notes when I’m stuck on an idea,” she says, recollecting the classes she attended. “After graduating, I did an internship in strategy but realised I wanted to focus more on the creative side. So, I studied art direction at Miami Ad School and now here I am.” She made the move over to Munich in 2021 as she joined the Innovation team at Serviceplan Munich and began her career. 

Recently, Camile was part of the ‘AIZOME WASTECARE’ campaign which won a Gold and Bronze for Design at Cannes Lions and was featured on several other shortlists. “Some sweat and tears, but luckily no blood,” she jokes when reflecting on it. “We started with pages and pages of data from AIZOME and our own research on the textile industry that we had to condense with Han Gao from WorksbyWorks into a visual system for WASTECARE.

“The Innovation team is just a small group of mostly art directors and copywriters, but we’re really involved every step of the way: from the initial concept to production. Of course, none of this would be possible without collaborating with experts, but we had to learn a lot about things like skincare regulations to sustainable packaging materials. It was a little bit overwhelming at times, but definitely worth it.”

The campaign itself came from what began as a casual joke within the company. “AIZOME’s dyeing process is so clean that you could put the waste on your face,” was the initial jist. Once the team then got past the jokes behind the idea, the reality of the industry became an issue as the toxic dyes have very real effects – especially when most of us come into contact with them daily. “After that, we realised that if AIZOME is going to be setting an example to the industry, we can’t do it halfway. That’s why we really took the time to craft our packaging to use only necessary and recycled materials.”

Specifically focusing on the sustainability aspect of things, that’s something which Camile believes should be a “non-negotiable” for brands. She says, “Coming from the perspective of a gen z, we’re the ones who have to live on this planet 50 plus years from now. I’m pretty proud of how we’re either pushing brands to make sustainability a priority, or supporting the startups leading the way.”

Through the process of creating the ‘AIZOME WASTECARE’ spot, there was a lot learnt from the process. Camile reflects on her biggest takeaway, “I don’t know everything about anything. With sustainability, there’s constantly new research coming out that can debunk it all. Because of that,  it was hard to feel satisfied with this project, because at any moment something new could come out that could improve our project.” Nonetheless, the experience will be one that she cherishes, especially because of the recognition the campaign received at Cannes and beyond. 

Taking it back to the campaign that changed her career, it turns out that it was one that never even saw the light of day, during her first experience with the industry. “I was working as a strategy intern, fresh out of university and I thought I needed to hop on the first job I could get and claw my way up from there,” she explains.

“I was working for a big, big client and we pitched an insight about racism in football that they said no to because they didn’t want to exclude any customers. I was so demotivated after, but it did make me see that life is too short to compromise my values like that,” she says as she realised that her work needed to align more with her beliefs. “I’m super grateful to have found the Innovation team, where we only work with companies that want to make a positive social or environmental impact, or both.”

Also, when considering the things that she believes should change in the industry, the emotional side of creativity is one that is high on the list. “It’s funny, some creatives I know are super-rational – they study past campaigns, analyse the data and crunch the numbers. On the other hand, I also know creatives that make all their big decisions based on gut feelings, and they’ve created work that might still make people generations from now cry (good tears).” But Camile reflects that, regardless of emotions, it’s trusting your gut that should be the priority at the end of the day. 

With working hard, however, there should always be a balance incorporating personal time for activities and interests. And Camille’s… well, it’s quite simple – “I would be lying if I didn’t say memes first.” She continues, “I also love documentaries series like ‘Chef’s Table’, podcasts like NPR’s ‘Hidden Brain’, and comedians like Daniel Sloss.”

And she leaves us with this, “Memes have become like a secondary form of communication with some friends and family so it’s almost like a love language at this point.”