GoSee CREATIVES TO WATCH : Art Director NAOMI STANILAND from London presents us her work for ADIDAS here on GoSee
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We are delighted to present outstanding Art Director Naomi Staniland based in London here on GoSee – who is currently working for a creative advertising agency, where she heads global campaigns for ADIDAS.
Since 2022, Naomi has been instrumental in shaping the global campaigns of German shoemaker ADIDAS – and her role, more precisely, is developing creative narratives and defining the visual design of campaigns from concept to end result. Her work is for the adidas business units Originals, Brand Partnership and Sports Performance, where Naomi heads campaigns from inception to delivery – known to have an eye for the right talent to help bring her vision to life. Constantly in search of photographers and directors with an unparalleled style, among her first choice are often subversive or unexpected talent – who do not necessarily have to come from the commercial sector. Personally, she comes from a background in fashion and beauty, and has already worked with the likes of RANKIN, for Hunger Magazine together with Fashion Director Kim Howells, and at Wonderland Magazine with Fashion Director Matthew Josephs.
GoSee : Naomi, please tell us a bit about how you started your journey as an art director, and what inspired you to enter the creative industry? Naomi : My journey towards becoming an art director was not linear, nor was it something I had intended. To be honest, I had never even heard of the term until I started working in the industry. I studied menswear fashion design at university, and back then, I wanted to be a designer. I was very much invested in the landscape of menswear at that time, which was slowly becoming recognized as high fashion, and we would see designers influenced by streetwear showing up at fashion week, aided by funding initiatives and programs such as Fashion East & BFC’s Newgen. It was an exciting time, and by studying the new brands that were coming out, including New Power Studio, Martine Rose, Nasir Mazhar, Aitor Throup, and KTZ, I was beginning to develop my own taste, what I liked and what I didn’t… what inspired me. So during my first year at university, I went to intern for Nasir in London and spent a few months with him helping to source fabrics, make samples & patterns…. At the time, he was focused on millinery, so I would make the molds for the headdresses. It was the first time I got to see firsthand how being a designer worked in the real world. In the following years, I spent time working with Martine Rose and Y’OH Streetwear, all of which was valuable experience, even though I was starting to question whether I wanted to be a designer at all anymore. I had the opportunity to assist Matthew Josephs at Wonderland, who was styling a lot of the menswear fashion shows at the time. So I really wanted to work with people whom I admired. I didn’t necessarily want to be a stylist, but I wanted to be around people I found interesting. I think, around this time, it all started to click for me. Being on set was what I was drawn to the most, seeing everything come together for the magazine cover shoot. I was starting to realize that I wanted to be the person piecing it all together and curating the imagery. It wasn’t specifically about fashion design or styling; it was more about making everything come together to get the perfect shot. So, looking back, it was probably where I was meant to go, I just hadn’t known it at the time.
Since 2022, you have been heading global campaigns for ADIDAS. What are the challenges and perks you have experienced in this role? The biggest challenge is probably trying to stay true to your aesthetic and style in a commercial world. There are always boundaries and pushbacks from clients, and you may get an occassional brief you are not initially excited about but have to envision the end goal. And I always only see this as a challenge; such challenges are what make and keep you adaptable as an art director, how you are able to elevate the ‘not so cool’ briefs just like the nice ones while staying true to your visual identity and your initial intention. That is the only way you’ll be just as creatively satisfied with the results as the client. I always say to people starting out, “You are not doing a college project, so everything you come up with has to have purpose and a rationale. It’s not enough to simply come up with a beautiful look & feel. You are selling your idea to a company that wants to sell a product, so you need to justify everything; why you want it to be shot in this way, with this photographer, in this location, with this lighting, does it connect to the story, ….” It is almost 60% narrative-/concept-driven and 40% visually. The key is to back up how you may already envision the campaign with a solid narrative or reasoning. I think that, on the perks side, I am able to do what I truly love and what I believe comes naturally to me as a job, and I get to collaborate with a lot of amazing photographers and creatives to bring my ideas to life!
You’re responsible for leading the visual direction and narrative of campaigns. How do you stay inspired, and how do you balance the latest trends with the unique brand identity of ADIDAS? I never separate what I am interested in outside work from my work. The two go hand in hand; if I love a music video or a magazine editorial, I will use them as references for an upcoming campaign. I am never ‘off’; I am constantly saving references or creatives I want to work with while I’m scrolling on Instagram. I think you just have to let whatever inspires you flow into your work, and keeping the two separate, I think, is where people go wrong. You have to love what you do and incorporate what you love into your work. I think that’s how you get a distinctive result from work that feels like you.
Can you tell us about any upcoming projects or exciting developments you’re working on at the moment? Well, it’s out now, so I can say I worked on the art direction for the DISNEY x ADIDAS collaboration, for which we did a campaign for four different Disney franchises: The Lion King, Mickey & Friends, Star Wars & Avengers! So keep an eye out for that. I was brought on to help elevate the campaign, and I’m super proud of what we have done. Big thanks to photographer Holly McCandless-Desmond for such an incredible job. Also, the S/S ‘24 ‘Feel Your Strength’ campaign shot by Erika Kamano is out now in ADIDAS stores across the globe!
When selecting talent to bring your visions to life, what do you look for, and how do you identify the best photographers and directors for your projects? I usually instantly have an idea of what the campaign looks like visually when I receive a brief – it’s then about building the story and making sure what you envision makes sense and feels connected to the campaign intention. I always have photographers and directors in the back of my mind when I come up with an idea for a campaign, and by developing the concept, I define who would be best suited stylistically to execute it. I look for photographers or directors who have a unique style or an aesthetic specific to them. I am always drawn to photographers, directors, and DOPs who have a bold and surrealistic approach to their work and who feel aligned to mine. I always push for elevation in the campaigns I create, so using subversive or unexpected talent without previous experience in a certain area, or who perhaps haven’t worked on all too many commercial briefs but do come with a defined point of view is also something I look for. The entire shoot crew is so important to me, and I spend a lot of time curating and sourcing the team – including stylists, set designers, HMU, DOPs, etc. I want us to share a taste level aesthetically and have a mutual understanding that we are all pushing to elevate the result.
You are the head of both internal and external teams, and collaborate with various different creatives. How do you make sure these teams work effectively and communication is consistent? Communicate often, let everyone have their say, and listen to everyone’s point of view. My job is to define the campaign visually and narratively but there are team members working on other design elements, or assisting me on tasks and I think it’s important that you give people the chance to take ownership over their parts of the project. If it isn’t quite right, give them guidance, examples and the chance to look at it again and make amends themselves, rather than just taking over and doing it yourself.
What are the most important skills and qualities a successful art director in today’s advertising industry should bring to the table? Develop your taste level, have a point of view, figure out what you are drawn to visually as well as what drives and inspires you – and have that feed into your work. Have an executional mindset. As I’ve said before, finding cool references or creating a nice look & feel is only the beginning – be cohesive with your references, define the intention, build the narrative, think about how you will sell it to a client with purpose and rationale, be confident and assertive on set so your intention isn’t lost, don’t leave it up to the photographer, and don’t forget to guide and steer the team on set. But lastly, always think about how it will come to life visually and also with regard to execution from start to finish.
Here on GoSee, we present you the latest ADIDAS X END. CONSORTIUM CUP CAMPAIGN ZX8000 ‘FUTURE’ by photographer Alistair Redding and set designer Phoebe Shakespeare. For the launch of the winning silhouettes from END, they drew inspiration from FTW designs combining ‘Past, Present, and Future’ with ‘Dusk, Day, and Dawn’. Plus, we also have the S/S 2024 campaign ‘Feel Your Strength’ by Erika Kamano for you.
For more campaigns and projects, don’t hesitate to stop by naomistaniland.com.
GoSee : gosee.de/fashion
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