Doug Jaeger, founder, CEO and creative director at design and branding agency thehappycorp global and director of event/digital media project LVHRD, both New York, has been elected as the 57th president of the Art Directors Club, the premier organization for integrated media and the longest-running global creative collective of its kind with membership in design, advertising, interactive and visual communications.
In addition, four new directors were added to the board, two directors were elevated to officers, and ADC executive director Ami Brophy was promoted to CEO.
Jaeger, 33, becomes the youngest president in the ADC's 88-year history, a move reflective of the organization's commitment to remain fresh and connected as the leading professional hub for both young and experienced designers and creatives. He succeeds Paul Lavoie, chairman, chief creative officer at TAXI, who made significant headway in enhancing the ADC's relevancy, currency, visibility and financial health during his three-year term as president.
Based upon his professional experience in developing social networks and digital communications, Jaeger's overarching goal is to expand the role of the ADC as a hub for connecting members to each other and the world at large. "We will use technology, new programs and events to be a valued online and offline social network for the personal and professional gain of our members," he said.
Jaeger also believes the ADC can breed a strong culture of service to the outside world, not just art directors. "This isn't a creative organization that's interested in being a closed environment where creatives and designers simply talk to one another," he explained. "Design influences culture, and we want to be connected to the outside world in a relevant, and at times provocative, way."
One example he cites is the recent ADC event "The Assassination of Art, When Politics and Art Collide," a talk open to the public with artist Yazmany Arboleda about his controversial Keller-Gates Project from earlier this year involving images of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and a subsequent exhibition of his work at the ADC Gallery, October 22-24.
"We want to surprise people, provoke them, inspire them, unite them in an ideology," Jaeger said. "The ADC is an enabler for all forms of compelling and innovative creative thinking and dialogue to exist."
He added the ADC will bolster its role as a pathway for creatives and designers throughout the continuum of their career, starting with seminars for high school students interested in creative fields, on through portfolio reviews and scholarships for college students, the ADC Young Guns competition for professionals under the age of 30, the Annual Awards program for the creative and design community at large, and the ADC Hall of Fame, which recognizes the greats who have led the industry forward.
After beginning his career as a summer intern at AGENCY.com, Jaeger spent three years at K2 Design before joining JWT as its first creative director for the agency's newly formed digital unit, eventually overseeing a team of 15 and working his way up to partner. In 2001, he joined TBWAChiatDay to start the agency's digital creative practice as group creative director and management board member.
While at TBWA, he worked with colleague Johnny Vulkan to establish the Disruption Group, a new creative practice that went beyond traditional advertising to include product innovation assignments and brand story telling initiatives. He and Vulkan left TBWA in 2003 to launch thehappycorp global, an integrated creative design and branding agency in New York, before Vulkan went on to join Anomaly, New York.
Jaeger, who will serve a three-year term as ADC president through September 2011, is also director of LVHRD (www.lvhrd.org), a project that fuels interaction between creative professionals through unconventional networking events and digital media. He joined the ADC board in 2005, and sits on the Marketing Advisory Board at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
"Keeping this venerable organization fresh is our challenge," said Ami Brophy, CEO, ADC. "We're proud to have Doug Jaeger at the helm to continue on the forward path set forth by Bob Greenberg and Paul Lavoie as the most recent past presidents before him. Doug is the right person at the right time for the ADC."
New Appointments, Board Members
The ADC also announced other organizational changes. A pair of existing board members have been elevated to officers: Rei Inamoto, global creative director, AKQA, San Francisco, becomes first vice president, and Elizabeth Talerman, partner at Talerman + Partners, New York, will serve as secretary. Ami Brophy, previously executive director of the ADC, has been promoted to CEO.
Four members joined the ADC board of directors: David Angelo, chairman, CCO, David & Goliath, El Segundo, Calif.; Craig Dubitsky, co-founder, managing partner, The Kind Group, New York; Rob Feakins, president, CCO, Publicis New York and CCO, Publicis Modem & Dialog East; and Noreen Morioka, partner, AdamsMorioka, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Continuing on the ADC board are Brian Collins, chairman, chief creative, COLLINS:, (also serving as ADC second vice president); Steven Smith, partner, Stephen M. Smith & Co., (and ADC treasurer); Chee Pearlman, principal, Chee Company (and ADC assistant secretary); Roger Baxter, Hall & Partners; Janet Froelich, creative director, New York Times Magazine; Ann Harakawa, principal, Two Twelve Associates; Rick Kurnit, partner, Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz; Benjamin Palmer, CEO, the barbarian group; Rob Rasmussen, executive creative director, R/GA; Anthony Rhodes, executive vice president, School of Visual Arts; and Jakob Trollback, president, creative director, Trollback + Company.
ADC emeritus board members include Rick Boyko, managing director, VCU Adcenter; Jon Kamen, CEO, @radical.media; and Parry Merkley, chairman emeritus, Merkley + Partners. Bob Greenberg, chairman, CEO, CCO, R/GA and ADC past president (2002 to 2005), serves as president of the ADC advisory board.