In an interview with propmark, Jack Renwick, president of D&AD, states that the market has not yet reached the appropriate level of diversity
Scottish and designer, the president of D&AD breaks the mold. Founder and creative director of Jack Renwick Studio, an independent studio based in London that bears her name, she fights for resources for arts in public schools in the United Kingdom and believes that artificial intelligence will help the creative industry, however, she warns that we cannot lose the sense of reality.
For Jack Renwick, the market has not yet reached the appropriate level of diversity to reflect an authentic perspective and continues to be prejudiced against women. Regarding creativity, she points out that it is necessary to be relevant.
“A campaign only works if it has a proposal for the audience.” Regarding Brazilian advertising – which won 28 Lápis at the festival this year -, Jack states that, from what he knows, “the works are beautiful and full of energy”, reflecting a vibrant culture.
How long have you worked in the creative industry? And why did you want to become a creative?
Officially, I started working 25 years ago. I graduated in 1998 from the University of Scotland and moved to London. I won the Yellow Pencil at the D&AD New Blood Study Awards and received many job offers in London. I didn’t exactly want to be a creative or didn’t even know I could be. But, naturally, I did very well in art classes at school. A teacher once said, ‘Jack, you can’t draw, but you can think. It has a lot of good ideas. I think you should do graphic design.’ I had no idea what graphic design was. This was in the 1980s, not everyone knew what it was. For me, university was too expensive. So, I started working at a sports store and there was a graphic design student who worked there on Saturdays and he helped me apply to college.
How did you start your career?
After winning the Yellow Pencil as a student, I came to London to do an exhibition and got job offers, as I said. My first job was at the number one design agency in London at the time, Partners, now Design Bridge and Partners, and it was an immense privilege to start there, where I worked for 13 years and left to found my own studio.
What has changed in the market since then?
I think a lot of things have changed, but mainly in relation to technology. However, the solutions to the problems remain the same. You have to understand the audience, what consumers think, but how we access data today has changed a lot with artificial intelligence and other digital tools. I also think that people’s mindset has changed. The new generations, the younger ones, think much more about themselves, well-being is more important to them than it was to my generation. We just wanted to know how to work and have the best job. The passion is still the same, but they have a better balance with their personal lives. And I think that’s very good, I’m even a little envious of it.
What is it like to lead your own business as a woman?
I would say it is harder than it should be and I hope it will be easier for the next generations of women who have their own business. For me, as I have a typically boy’s name, Jack, a lot of people thought I was a man when they saw my name on the records. And I ended up being called for interviews. I think the challenge for women who own their own business in our industry is to build trust with customers. It’s sad, but there are still prejudices. When a man leads an agency, people automatically believe that he understands how the business works.
After all, he is a man. And there is a prejudice that when a woman leads a business, she understands less. As a woman, you need to constantly demonstrate that you understand the business to gain trust from customers. So we work harder to convince people about it. On the other hand, this makes us stronger and more knowledgeable about what we do. And we always need to have all the answers. Proving what we talk about is right is the hardest part. This scenario is slowly changing because we have more women in leadership positions, but I think it will still take time for people to fully trust us.
In particular, have you ever suffered gender prejudice?
Yes a lot. From clients who hired me and when they discovered I was a woman they asked me to leave the room, claiming they hadn’t hired a woman. I worked for clients on several continents and had to use creative directors or men to represent me in meetings to get the work approved. There is a pattern of gender stereotyping, such as flirting and asking women questions they would never ask men, comments about
lipstick, the clothes you’re wearing or a woman’s nails, as a way of taking control.
