Creative Bites: Frances Hatzipetrou

FRANCES HATZIPETROU

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
FORTUNE
PORTFOLIO NIGHT 8 ATHENS PARTICIPANT
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What single piece of advice would you give a young creative before he or she sits down with you at PN8?

“Be yourself and let us be impressed by you. If we don’t… it’ll be our loss, not yours.”

Finish this sentence: “Kids these days,..”

“… are even more amazing than kids five years ago. Just think about the kids of tomorrow. These kids are the teachers and we should think ourselves as their pupils. “

Do you think there is much of a distinction left between writers and art directors nowadays?

“No. And why should there be any? An art director knows how to express his or her visual in words and a copywriter knows how to reproduce images related to his or her thoughts, right? After all, creation in advertising only works in pairs. And by working as a team, both parts become one.”

A top-notch portfolio is crucial, but how much does personality count towards making a hire?

“Personality versus a spectacular portfolio? I’d definitely go for the first. Advertising is not a “one man show”. It is primarily communication. It is an ongoing flow of ideas among “partners” in good or bad or even in “crime”. A portfolio is a statement of what I can do. But a face, a handshake, a smile is living proof of who I am.”

How do you know when you’ve just seen the best idea you‘ve ever seen?

“I believe that there are a lot of brilliant ideas around us. Simple, solid, elegantly or unexpectedly executed. So when I see the one, I’ll know it. And I’ll be so jealous that you’ll know it too.”