Long white cloud - KesselsKramer

- idea driven

- aspire to innovate and communicate in an innovative way

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I think, as a designer, the best work for me always has that ‘I wish I’d thought of that’ appeal; well Kesselskramer, I really do wish I’d thought of that, and that, and that. Many of the talks we experienced this weekend at We Can Create, for me, offered a great pairing between inspiring work and colourful personality; each boosting the other. While this was the perfect recipe for some I really loved the ‘no gimmick’ approach taken by Engin Celikbas. When your work is as engaging, intelligent and creative as that of Kesselskramer there really is only one approach, as Celikbas put it so succinctly himself  “we like to let the work speak for itself”.

Celikbas talked of Kesselskramer’s desire to create communications in a broader sense. It was only as the talk progressed that the audience began to really get a sense of the brilliance of this approach. In the same show real we were shown big budget campaigns for large clients, a self published book of images of a badly photographed black dog and a collection of ceramic royal memorabilia plates. The great thing was that all these projects, regardless of purpose, medium or budget, were approached with the same honest creativity and genuine passion.

I think it was Eike Koenig from Hort that said he moved away from advertising because he discovered it was all about lying. In my opinion, in the case of the work we saw from Kesselskramer, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Celikbas described it as “taking small things and blowing them up”. The great thing about their work is that these small things are always truths, truths presented in a new and engaging manner that people can connect and identify with. Their work doesn’t glamorise the product and their approach is accessible. Lets face it there was nothing dishonest about the Hans Brinker work, a campaign based around the shortcomings of a grimy budget hostel. And who could fail to connect with a TVC of American’s hosting a party where everyone in attendance is called Ben.

For me it was great to see people working with the pure motivation of enjoyment and succeeding; their humble approach only added to this. It’s a simple recipe inspired perhaps by their innocent surroundings and naïve approach. The studio is in a church “a kindergarten for adults really, it’s like it was designed by a four year old” laughed Celikbas. “It’s really about organic creation, passion and a lot of luck”. Whatever the formula, it’s certainly working and the results were an inspiring addition to this weekends line up. I think the thought on most established creative’s mind’s being, a job at Kesselskrammer… I wish I’d thought of that.