Born @ WdKA
Advertising & Beyond

Making the World More Awesome

Lesandjes
Fri 16 Feb
Function Art-Directors
Year 2016
Major Advertising & Beyond
Practice Commercial Practices

Lesandjes are: Lesley Jutte & Jesse Amatsahip, active as all-round creatives and Art-Directors with a feeling for copywriting at Joe Public Take-Away Advertising.

Are you inspired by the same thing?

Not necessarily the same thing, but we always share what we like. Inspiration is everywhere, so we are not focused on one particular thing. We just try to be open for any impulse. We both listen to a lot of music, we love watching movies or binge-watch some series. We also get inspiration from others. For example, colleagues with a different view or creative profession. That is why Joe Public  is a good environment to work in. We share the coolest work from around the globe here - that can be anything - with the entire agency, every day. We do this by an email called 'the favorite of the day'.

You never leave your house without…?

Our iPhones and headphones, because we always want to be up-to-date. Our day starts with a good dose of inspiration and news sites and of course our socials while enjoying some music.

We are the living proof that a creative team of two Art Directors can work just fine.

What is your favorite WdKA memory?

Our favorite WdKA memory is without any doubt ‘The Struggle of Uploading Our Graduation Projects from YouTube Beach in Cannes’. In the last two weeks before graduation we won the YoungDogs 24h Interbest pitch. Talking about the last minute luck… well… Call it luck or no luck, we HAD to go to The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. An opportunity of a life time. Despite the horrible timing and the strict advice from the Head of Advertising ‘not to go’, we have decided to go nonetheless. Of course!  But in the middle of this epic week full of inspiration (and hangovers!) we still had to finish and upload our graduation projects. The Ibis budget hotel was giving us a hard time - their Wi-Fi was so f* up that we did miss the midnight deadline… oops! We were stressing out while everybody was  getting drunk. Fun fact: eventually we ran to the boulevard with our MacBooks to upload our work with the Wi-Fi of YouTube beach. A big shout out to YouTube for that by the way, THNX!

How did your collaboration start?

Well... after our internship (Lesley at Ogilvy & Mather and Jesse at J. Walter Thompson) with different teammates, we have realised that things weren’t working the way they was supposed to. So, we ‘broke up’ and created space for a new relationship, haha. That is when Les and Jes Creative Team was born. We have tried ourselves in a couple of YoungDogs pitches. At the first pitch we have received an honorable mention and the second one we won! Which was incredible because we've got the opportunity to go to the Walhalla of Advertising: Cannes.

How did your collaboration become a success?

It is a combination of sharing the same drive, having a bit of luck, drinking a beer now and then, listening to each other and working hard over and over.

Are you pioneers?

Are we? We don’t know. At the WdKA we were 'drilled' to be or become ones. But for ourselves to say that we are or we are not the pioneers feels a little strange. We are the living proof that a creative team of two Art Directors can work just fine, so you could say that we are pioneers in showing that the old system is an old system.

What is the future of your profession in your opinion?

We believe that the future of our profession is being responsible for making the world a little bit more awesome. Visually and conceptually. And making the difference in funny and memorable ways.

Any words of advice to future students?

Be creative, stay creative, never stop making or creating.

Be creative, stay creative, never stop making or creating.

What are you working on now?

At Joe Public we are working on a lot of things. We have got a broad and diverse portfolio with a lot different brands: GAMMA, OHRA, Lidl, Bertolli, Zamro, EMMA Kinderziekenhuis, Friesland Campina and Vitens. That is exactly what we like about Joe. Joe Public is not your standard advertising agency, we serve a Take-Away Advertising. Anyone can stop by and choose something from our menu, from a radio ad to a whole 360 campaign. Did you know that Joe Public means the ‘ordinary man’ or the ‘average Joe’? In short… we create likeable, funny and memorable concepts and we deliver fast! But WHAT exactly are we working on right now? Sorry, we can’t tell…

Name your favorite recent project.

Last week we have launched our first  big production the television commercial for Lidl with the one and only Frans Bauer! And this week we have launched a romantic Valentine’s activation for GAMMA called ‘Valentijnsspijkers’, a nail with a heart-shaped head. This way we gave the lovebirds the opportunity to create something with love, literally. And bookmark our website - our second television commercial is coming up!

Lidl Commercial

Lesley and Jesse are on Instagram.