Interview: Pedro Izique

Pedro Izique is a Group Creative Director on the Nike account at Wieden+Kennedy

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At the time of this interview, Pedro Izique is a Group Creative Director on Nike at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland. Pedro’s approach to art and creative direction helped him win dozens of awards at the most prestigious creativity festivals in the world and led him to make some of Nike's most iconic work. Here’s a short selection of Izique’s most outstanding works: Nike: Winning Isn't For Everyone • Nike: What The Footbal • Nike: 50th Anniversary — Seen It All • Nike: The Switch • Nike: Babies

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Table of Contents

This interview has 37 bite-sized videos, organized into 5 parts.

Part 1. Foundations and Mindset

Pedro's Creative Call / On Decision-Making / When You Smell Blood / On Pressure / How To Deal With Pressure / On Competition / A Place Where You Can Be Yourself / We Work In The Cool Business

Part 2. Concepting

Spotting a Good Brief / About Questioning Briefs / Compiling References / On Tackling a Brief / Going All-In and Failing Harder / Starting With Lame Ideas / Stories Vs Manifestos / High Bar Trap / Quality Vs. Quantity / On Simplifying Ideas / Ideating Trick: Cartoon Approach / When You Get Stuck / About Using Celebrities / Knowing When The Work Is Ready / On Deadlines

Part 3. Creative Direction & Presentation

Passion As a Secret Weapon / Effective Feedback / Lesson From Dan Wieden

Part 4. Craft

On Craft / The Tone Of The Work / Reflecting On Typography / Practical Tricks On Typography / Trap of Arbitrary Art Direction / Trap Of Too Much Photoshop / Advice on Illustration / You Fully See It When You Draw It / Learnings From a Side Project / Craft Vs. Point of View

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FULL INTERVIEW

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Part 1. Foundations and Mindset

We’ll begin by delving into the foundation of Pedro’s mindset. Here are a few quotes from the clips in this section:

• “I tend to move as quickly as I can, and then, I take a step back to evaluate.”

• “I’d look at pressure as a privilege.”

• “What really helps me with pressure is putting the time in.”

• “You have to find the place where you can truly be yourself.”

• “I believe we work in the business of cool things. ‘The Cool Business.’”

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Part 2. Concepting

In part 2, we’ll explore Pedro’s approach to concepting and ideating. Here are a few quotes from the clips in this section:

• “You need to listen and ask questions during the brief. But I wouldn’t question the brief itself. I don’t think it’s healthy for the process.”

• “As I creative, once I got the brief, for the whole first day I didn’t talk about any idea. I only talked about the brief.”

• “I struggle to push an idea that’s just a manifesto.”

• “I’d rather spend more time on one idea than come up with a lot of ideas.”