PDN: What types of content are driving creative executions for digital advertising the most?

Cyrus Vantoch-Wood: In terms of the most leading and innovative and creatively exciting advertising and marketing, "anything goes" is the answer. I've been working with photographer Vincent Laforet on a project for a large client. We're taking his photography and making it interactive so that users control it by mixing it with music, video and graphic design.


PDN: Doesn't video dominate digital advertising?

CV-W: Video is king in the experiential [interactive advertising] arena, but when you get to the brand platforms, photography is definitely king. If you have a deep and extensive Web site, there's no way you're going to put video all through that. Also, from a brand perspective, you need to start owning a visual style. Having a single photographer [shoot images for] a brand [site], which is much deeper and more information-heavy than a piece of experiential advertising, definitely has huge benefits.


PDN: How much of a role does stock photography play in digital advertising?

CV-W: It does have a role, but needs to be used correctly and in moderation. In the banner advertising area, you're using such a small canvas and the message is much more illustrative, [so] you need cheesier, over-the-top lifestyle photography. But the industry is moving away from banner advertising, and much more into experiential [advertising]. People using stock photography in that space aren't going to differentiate themselves or their messages.


PDN: So this transition to interactive advertising sites could be good for assignment photographers?

CV-W: I would think it is. The people that understand the emotional impact of the interactive space are the people pushing the envelope within the online community. They're the people that recognize the importance of quality. If you have crap assets, you're going to have a crap campaign.


PDN: Does digital advertising demand a different esthetic approach than print advertising?

CV-W: You need the same quality and production level for the online space [as you do for print and outdoor campaigns]. There can be a perception that because it's on a screen and maybe not very big, that you can get away with poorer quality. [But] you need high quality input for online applications because they're going to be compressed and deteriorate.

PDN: Is it easy to leap creatively from print to digital advertising?

CV-W: I would say the creative leap is much more in understanding the technology and user behavior. It's not like print, which is a specific medium that uses photography in a certain way. In the online space, the biggest challenge for photographers is making sure they understand the restrictions and opportunities around their images.


PDN: What do you mean by that?

CV-W: I'm talking about things like having the knowledge to talk intellectually with whoever is building the site about things like compression and deterioration, file sizes and downloads. The more understanding they have of the technology and way images are sent across the internet, the more power they're going to have working collaboratively with people like myself.


PDN: How do the assignment briefs differ for digital advertising compared to print advertising?

CV-W: It totally depends upon the project. I did a project a little while ago with Timothy Archibald. It was for a very big corporate web platform, and in that instance, the brief was pretty much like a brief for any other piece of advertising. Whereas, when you're doing something much more [interactive] and you're using photography in combination with many other types of media, you do get incredibly different briefs. It depends very much on the scenario.


PDN: How do rights and rates differ?

CV-W: This is not really the area I work in. I don't feel comfortable talking about it.


PDN: Is there pressure on rates from stock photography?

CV-W: I'm not sure I'm the best person to [ask] because I tend to run away from anything financial pretty quickly.


PDN: In hiring photographers, are you looking for anything in their style or vision that differs from what you'd look for if you were hiring a still photographer for a print ad?

CV-W: No, I don't think so. I look for photographers who have a certain amount of diversity to their technical ability, if I want to collaborate with them in an experiential way. [That way] I can push them into areas that maybe they're not necessarily comfortable and familiar with, and they're willing to try new things.


PDN: Besides gaining technical fluency, what other advice do you have for photographers who want to shoot digital advertising assignments?

CV-W: Have a good Web site. I would say four of the last six photographers I've hired, their Web site has had an impact [on my decision]. I was able to see their photography quickly and easily. I think people should put large images online. I recognize photographers are paranoid that people are going to nick their images, but the more your images travel around, the more money is going to come back to you. If they're great images, they're going to get tracked back to the photographers.

One of the other things photographers need to work in online space is [ability and willingness] to collaborate. If you're working with someone from video, or with musicians, you need to be listening to their requirements and their needs. You need to be listening to the technological people. That's the best way to get ahead. What makes interactive and online media different from traditional advertising is that everything is reliant on technology and teamwork. A lot of photographers have an egocentric approach to photography. It's all about their vision. I think that's a much harder thing to transplant into interactive space, because it has to be a shared vision. You can't dictate a vision in the online space. If you don't listen to other people in the process, the technology will bite you in the ass.