To shed light on our digital lives, we asked recent stars of these pages a simple question: which is better, 1 or 0? Discover the victor of the numerical face-off below. The answer may feel binary but there’s more to it than that.

---

PHILIPPA GROB
Creative Director, Freelance, Vienna

It takes just one spark to start a fire. One notion to change a whole story. In a society of abundance, limitation is maximization. Take just one photograph of what you want to capture. Focus. Present only one concept to your client. Be confident. One is enough, one is all.

---

ABI STEPHENSON
Senior Creative, BETC, Paris

Zero.
Zero fucks given.
Zero worries.
Zero complications.
Zero bullshit.
Zero barriers in the way … Zero is nothing but an opportunity.

---

DANIELA OSORIO
Head of Content, The Juju Agency, Bogotá

I wouldn’t choose zero, but rather double zero. Remember Y2K? When we believed that the first second of 2000 would be ‘00’, causing machines to confuse it with 1900 and potentially triggering a computerized apocalypse that would forever alter the world we knew? That has to be one of our top sci-fi tales, starring the underestimated zero.

---

ERICA BYRNES
Group Creative Director, Area 23, New York

In numerology, the number zero is often associated with potential and possibilities. You have the power to create your own reality. The world is your oyster. Zero is nothing but an opportunity.

---

WALID KANAAN
Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\RAAD, Dubai

I go for zero without hesitation. It’s not because I come from a culture that invented the number, but more for what it represents: It’s the starting point, a blank canvas, for everything. The foundation for new ideas, new horizons, and new perspectives.

Zero is a void waiting for you to fill it, it’s an open invitation.

---

VERA LÄNGER
Creative Director, Artificial Group, Budapest

I want to be a zero. I try to be a zero. Why? It may seem like the symbol of nothing. However, when placed behind a number, it provides a tenfold increase in strength. So, when I stand behind my team, I try to provide them with the same boost and make their talent shine ten times more.

---

CARLOTA BARTOLI
Art Director, Knock Brand Design, Barcelona

‘Zero’ is the nothingness, but in its circular form it includes the whole. That is why, in my opinion, it represents something greater than any other numerical value. ‘Zero’ is the void that symbolizes opportunity, a horizon open to any possibility, It is a number that frightens and excites at the same time.

---

MARY VAMVAKA
Associate Creative Director, Freelance, Athens

I have sat at this izakaya zero times. And this is great. Because I can dream of going back to Japan and sitting there. And that’s better than having sat there once. I have zero favorite works. This is how I can always chase a better one. Zero is my white canvas. It’s real and imaginary. Just like ideas. Or this article you are currently reading. I choose zero.

---

TODD MACKIE
Partner and Chief Creative Officer. Broken Heart Love Affair, Toronto

One is something. Zero is nothing. And if you’re going to try and create something brilliant, you need to start with something. An insight, an observation, or a desire. You can only capture a heart if you know where you’re going. So, start somewhere. Start with something.

---

HUMBERTO MALDONADO
Associate Creative Director, Alma, Miami

One / zero.
To be the one or to feel whole? So much meaning in what seems to have no value.
One is the start, what comes after nothingness.
Zero is infinitely balanced, a blank slate. Oneness makes you feel whole. And being at zero makes you feel free.
Yet, my favorite number is three.

---

GIANNA KATOPODI
Creative Director, Ogilvy, Athens

I’d say that zero is more interesting, at least to me. It’s more than a number. It’s the shape that mouths take when the brain reaches that zero ‘oh’ moment. A moment of epiphany, of orgasm or an ‘oh shit’ moment. Definitely an interesting moment in my opinion.

---

CORA PEREZ FERNANDEZ
Creative Director, the community, Miami

Although visually, zero is way more tempting than one, the answer is clear that one is the winner. And it’s because one is the number that changes it all. One kiss can tie you to someone forever, one experience can change your opinion about something, and one good idea can change the course of your career.

---

SARABJIT SINGH
Group Creative Director, Mullenlowe Lintas Group, Mumbai

Binary one is the fundamental building block of the ever changing digital world, shaping our modern lives, from the devices we use to the information we access. Lastly, why did the on state of the binary number one always get invited to computer parties? Because it had a way of sparking up the place!

---

CRAIG SCHLESINGER
Creative Director, Anomaly, New York

I prefer the number one because ovals are objectively terrifying. (Circles too, but let’s stay focused.) What’s inside that empty space? What could fit in there? Could I fit in there? Will I get stuck inside? Is that how my story ends, lost in a zero?

---

EMILY ADKINS
Art Director, Freelance, Chicago

The number one to me is new beginnings. Optimistic and full of possibilities, it is the first step out of your front door into the great, big, adventurous unknown. Page one. First chapter. Zero is nothing but an opportunity.

---

JENS PETTER WÆRNES
Managing Executive Creative Director. Scholz & Friends Group, Hamburg

One.
One is a moment.
One is individual.
One is free.
One life.
One universe.
One love.
One is first, best, and unique.
One big, brilliant idea. One is the loneliest of numbers, unless it pairs up with other great ones. One is beautiful.