Brian Collins

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Brian Collins is an American designer and creative director. He was the Chief Creative Officer of the Brand Innovation Group, Ogilvy & Mather, in New York City for nine years (1998–2007), prior to starting his communication and branding firm, COLLINS:.^[1]

Contents 1 Ogilvy & Mather 2 Collins 3 Honors 4 Selected works 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Ogilvy & Mather

His team's work at Ogilvy includes the design of a fantasy chocolate factory/retail store for Hershey in Times Square;^[2] the design of the new Motorola brand,^[3] the new Kodak logo,^[4] and a redesign of Sprite for Coca-Cola;^[5] the campaign and design program for New York City’s bid for the Olympic Games, NYC2012;^[6] the creation of Helios House,^[7] the first LEED-certified gas station, which was built (in 2007) for BP in Los Angeles, with the firm Office dA and JohnstonMarkLee. They were awarded the Grand Clio in Design from the Clio Awards for this project.^[8]

In response to the events of 9/11, his team produced the exhibit and book Brotherhood, a tribute to New York City’s firefighters.^[9]

Collins’ team also produced a traveling international photo exhibit that explored what “beauty” meant to 60 female photographers. The intent of the exhibit^[10] and website,^[11] entitled Beyond Compare, was to broaden the definition of beauty to include women of all ages, shapes, and colors. As such it helped launch Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.”

Collins produced The Ecology of Design, a handbook on environmental design thinking, published in 1996 by the AIGA.^[12] He also initiated the annual forum “Designism: Design for Social Change,” sponsored by the Art Directors Club of New York. Panelists discuss the direction of the design industry and explore whether design and advertising demand a “social context.”^[13]

[edit] Collins

The first work from COLLINS: was covered by the New York Times on April 6, 2008. The story reviewed their design of the campaign to stop global warming done for the Alliance for Climate Protection, the organization founded by former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore. The campaign was developed with the Martin Agency of Richmond, Virginia.

COLLINS: was retained by CNN to design The CNN Grill in Denver, Colorado and St.Paul, Minnesota. The combination restaurant/broadcast studios were timed to open during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and were created as a proof point of the network's “CNN=POLITICS” mantra.

Collins is a board member of the VCU Brandcenter and the Art Director's Club of New York.

Collins has droned on and on about communication and design globally, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he is a member of the Global Agenda Council/Design. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

[edit] Honors

In 2009, the firm was awarded a Gold Pencil from The One Show and a Gold Clio from the Clio Awards for their work.^[17][18]

In 2008 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.^[19]

The Massachusetts College of Art and Design gave its Distinguished Alumni Award to Collins in 2004.^[20]

Fast Company magazine named Collins as one of five American “Masters of Design” in 2005.^[21]

The National Organization for Women gave his team its Image Award in 2006 for work they did on Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, which he had no role whatsoever in creating^[22]

[edit] Selected works

BP_Helios House / Los Angeles

Olympic Games campaign / New York City

New symbol for the Alliance for Climate Protection

Eastman Kodak Company redesign

[edit] External links

• COLLINS: Brian Collins' New York based design group
• BrianThomasCollins.com Brian Collins' blog

[edit] References