Stink Studios launches creative collective

Global creative studio Stink Studios, part of the Stink network that includes production company Stink Films, has launched a creative collective to bring diverse talent to support advertising projects. The collective, called Not For Hire, brings together artists, photographers, fashion designers, gallerists, musicians, comedy writers, sculptors and more to help brands create, develop and execute creative. Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards Join us July 23 & 24 in Boston Learn more here Led by Stink Studios Managing Director Kunal Muzumdar, Executive Creative Director Michael Kushner and Director Isabella Tobiason, the collective was formed to bring ideas and innovative voices from outside advertising to clients. The idea came from a conversation between Muzumdar and Kushner in which they agreed that outside perspectives can help strengthen advertising creative, Muzumdar told Ad Age. “Looking at all of the incredible things that some artists and creatives are doing just in their own right, regardless of whether or not they’re tied to an agency or a brand, there’s such a cool wave of work and of thinking and creativity happening,” he said. More news: Tips on how to start an ad agency “So much of what we’re seeing in the industry looks the same,” he said, “because so many of the agencies making the work (and the people in them) also look and think the same. But there is an incredible creative community doing amazing things in other parts of culture, and we’re excited to bring these two groups closer together.” Over the last four months, Stink Studios has been recruiting artists to join the collective and introduce them to clients. Not for Hire now has 20 members and has started working on projects with clients in the last month. Stink Studios declined to share further details on clients and projects. Artists in the group are hired and compensated based on their services. The studio has not considered hiring any collective members full-time. “This group of people and a lot of people like them aren’t looking for full-time jobs. They don’t want to just live in the world of advertising and to some extent, I would consider that their superpower,” Muzumdar said. “I love the world of advertising and what we do for brands, but anyone with a full-time job knows you only see the world through that [advertising] lens. And it’s really nice to be able to tap into a lot of different elements.” Also read: What to know about marketing’s gig economy While the collective is currently only operating on the Studio side, the agency is open to expanding its services to the wider Stink network. Members of the collective so far include visual artist and internet culture creative Maya Man; jewelry artist, creative director and founder of Beepy Bella Isabella Lalonde; creative director, filmmaker and event producer Alex Sovoda; head designer of A Better Feeling Lily Max and symbolist and sculptor Yuma Burgess. Not for Hire joins a growing group of collectives. Earlier this year, former Mother New York Chief Creative Officer Corinna Falusi launched Birthday, a creative collective that assembled freelancers for client projects. Saturday Morning emerged in 2016 to respond to the need for more diverse-led, purpose-driven work. The emergence of new collectives reflects the trend of agencies reinventing their models and practices, including hiring talent in untraditional areas, bringing in freelancers and more. ~ ~ ~CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported how the artists were brought into the projects.

Stink Studios launches creative collective

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