DDB, NEW YORK
Menno Kluin was our first Student of the Year in 2005 and has gone on to have several campaigns published in Lürzer's Archive. Accompanied by a team of creatives, he's back with a series of prints for our magazine - and this time it's personal... 
Image: Menno Kluin
After making his name at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York - winning eight Cannes Lions - Menno is now Executive Creative Director at DDB, New York.
Inspired by Japanese artist Tadanori Yokoo, the colourful (in more than the literal sense) cartoons pay homage to our print magazine. We spoke to Menno along with Copywriter Aron Fried and Art Director Carlos Wigle.
"Our original starting point was to stand out in a Lürzer's Archive issue," says Menno.
"We started brainstorming and thought it was funny and ironic because [Aron and Carlos] have never actually been published (they've tried to submit but have never been selected). We wanted to stand out and do something that was more content based and thought this kind of story featuring their grievances of not getting in the magazine would live on. We needed to do something a bit more unusual, so our direction for colours was: do something that you consider horribly wrong.
At first we did everything 'right' and within a Western aesthetic, but it just didn't feel right. It was a little bit too tame and mellow, so we thought: okay let's go into a bizarre direction and do things wrong. It's so bad that it's good! The only way forward is if you break the rules once in a while and do something that's not instinctual." 
Image: Aron Fried [left] and Carlos Wigle [right]
Aron and Carlos, who feature as characters in the cartoons are childhood friends who grew up together and were part of the creative team behind the campaign, which features in Lürzer's Archive Vol. 1/2012.
"I think young advertisers will relate to this, as it's a goal for young creatives to be featured and see their name in print validation," says Carlos.
"We wanted to stop people in their tracks, and there are so many small little details within every execution in the backgrounds here that it's not something you look at and turn the page. It's something you can spend a good amount of time on checking everything out. We wanted it to be something entertaining that people can pull things out of."
One of the main ideas behind the campaign was the frustration felt by creatives who don't make it into the magazine.
"One of the fun things about this is we have exaggerated the anger or sadness of younger advertising professionals who don't get in to Archive," says Aron.
"But the truth is this is often how people actually feel inside - to the point of slicing off my own face! That's kind of how it feels like sometimes! Especially to get great work done it takes so much time and perseverance to finally believe you have something great to submit and get into Archive which is the ultimate goal for any young advertiser. So, finally - we get validation!"
The DDB, New York series is the 17th campaign Menno has had published in the magazine. In 2005, he was awarded the 'Lürzer's Archive Sixpack' for his ad for Hubba Bubba. The Art Directors Club Young Guns Award and contributing to Saatchi NY winning the coveted Agency of the Year 2007 at Cannes add to a long list of creative industry accolades.
Menno's advice to up and coming creatives who hope to feature in Lürzer's Archive is: "It's more about doing something fresh that people (and especially Michael Weinzettl) haven't seen before - do something that's personal and that you as a creative like. I try to do that with pretty much every project. Every creative should do something they personally like instead of trying to fit every grid and formula.
When a campaign I've worked on gets into Archive, it's really interesting to see how many people actually see it and notice it. I always get emails afterwards. It keeps you relevant and that's a good place to be. It's also fun to show the world your recent work and it's like adding something to advertising history, in a way."
Image: "Formula" 
Image: "Digital"
Agency: DDB, New York
Creative Director: Menno Kluin
Art Director: Carlos Wigle, Ben Wallis
Copywriter: Aron Fried, Mike Sullivan
Illustrator: Ben Wallis
Designer: Juan Carlos Pagan
To view Menno's award-winning work such as the Stuffit Deluxe print campaign for which he won a Cannes Gold Lion, visit our online archive or subscribe now.
