The Source: Damon Collins

Damon Collins, executive creative director at RKCR/Y&R London, sees himself as a flawed hero and finds his dependence on his iPhone almost depressing

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen in the last few months?

I’m becoming increasing obsessed by taking the conversation to the consumer. So Converse’s Google Adwords and the Twitter portion of the Old Spice campaign are the things I wish I’d done most recently. Both show real understanding of how their audiences are living now.

What’s your favourite website?

For top-level, high-grade, super-concentrated inspiration, nothing beats Notcot.com

What website do you use most regularly?

I could say dig.com, stumbleupon.com or youtube.com. But in trying to address this question truthfully, I challenge anyone to give an answer that doesn’t rhyme with oogle, woogle or boogle. That beautifully simple little search box can open up all the wonders the planet has to offer.

If you could live in one city, where would it be?

Other than London? New York. I can never ever get enough of the place. It’s a runaway train that I jump aboard every so often and hang on to until I’ve satiated myself.

What product could you not live without?

On one level I can’t bear to answer this. The idea of one’s life being so dependent on any ‘product’ is so depressing. However, tragically, there is something. Rather unoriginally, it’s the iPhone. As technology evolves, humans evolve with it, and our behaviours are changing with every new software update. It’s scary how untenable my life would be without carrying email, diary, geo services and camera along with an increasing number of must-have apps all in the same pocket. I hate myself for it.

What track/artist would you listen to for inspiration?

Björk. She’s not a musician, she’s an experimental artist. Her albums are more like the seasonal collections of couture fashion designers than something aimed at the pop charts. You never know where she’ll take you. But it’ll usually be somewhere bonkers.

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds in the Tate Modern was insane. Having the idea and the determination to get 100 million seeds hand-crafted out of porcelain is mind-blowing. I also loved his use of video and Twitter to interact with the audience and ask their opinion in real time of his work. I’d be fascinated to find out how many people called him a loon to his face.

Mac or PC?

Pah. Silly question.

What fictitious character do you most relate to?

Either Homer Simpson or Batman. The ‘flawed hero’ archetype…

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

I Love You Phillip Morris was a cracker. As tellings of true stories go, it pissed all over The Social Network. Totally engaging, brilliantly written and acted, with a bunch of satisfying misdirects.

What’s your favourite magazine?

Flipboard. I know it’s not a magazine in the conventional sense but it’s so much more than just a pretty interface. It’s a wonderful way of totally engaging with the stuff you really are interested in. Just you watch as it inspires iPad magazines of the future.

Who’s your favourite photographer?

Irving Penn. Talk about inspiring. Name me one photographer since him who hasn’t been influenced by the brutal simplicity and profound beauty in his work. His art was taking the ordinary and creating the extraordinary. What Duchamp did for the urinal, Penn did for the cigarette butt.

What product hasn’t been invented yet that would make your life/job better?

Entering awards is a nightmare. Knowing which competitions are out there, when the work has to have run by to be eligible, when the entry deadlines are. Eurgh. Find me one creative person who wouldn’t find it amazing to have some kind of digital countdown timer on their computer that could help with all that. Actually, at RKCR/Y&R, we thought it would be so useful that we decided to invent just such a thing. It’s called the T Minus Awards Countdown Timer and it takes the form of a screen saver. It’s there all year round, reminding you and entirely removing the stress of entering awards. Sadly, it doesn’t remove the stress of creating award-winning ads. I’ll leave someone else to make an app for that.

Who’s your favourite designer?

Fred Woodward. His joyful couplings of type and photography made each one of almost 400 issues of Rolling Stone magazine a master class case study in design excellence.

If you could have been in any band, what band would you choose?

The Clash. The sexiest, coolest, most creative band ever. At the heart of the punk era, but still relevant and beautiful sounding today. Joe Strummer, God rest his soul, was a poet. Mick Jones is an eclectic genius. And sure, Topper Headon was a great drummer, but I reckon if they’d asked me I could have added a certain something to their sound…