Back in 90 when David Helfrey was a student at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif., a career counselor told him his portfolio was too individualistic for him to get a job. But it looks like Helfrey is having the last laugh.
Hardly unemployable, Helfrey is now creative director at Elvis & Bonaparte, the Portland, Ore.-based ad agency he and two of his colleagues started six years ago. The ad shops most recent campaign was for Internet file storage site Driveway.com. The humorous three spot-package consists of Lord Insidious, Svaakhammer and Wolfman, all directed by Bennett Miller of bicoastal/international hungry man. The commercials promote the sites use as a place where people can store computer files. Lord Insidious is a supervillain who needs to keep his files on world domination safe. Svaakhammer is a Swedish rock group that stores files and photographs outlining the band members less-than-stellar U.S. tour for their mother. Finally, Wolfman features a lycanthropy sufferer who needs to keep his files safe from his lunar fits of destruction.
Helfrey wasnt always busy masterminding spots for national high-tech clients. From an early age, he wanted to be an artist (even though he now says that while advertising can be very creative, it isnt strictly art) so he went to Loyola Marymount, Marina del Rey, Calif., where he studied animation and marketing. A studio art degree from Loyola Marymount is close to one of the most useless art degrees anybody could possibly get, says Helfrey. As smart as I was in school, I wasnt smart enough to figure that out until I graduated.
So after graduation, Helfrey attended the Art Center, where he developed the individualistic style which caused his career counselor such concern. Helfrey admits, though, that he did have a tough time finding that first job. He had about 60 interviews before finally landing a position as an art director at Foote, Cone and Belding (now FCB Worldwide), Los Angeles. I learned the big agency thing; it was very educational, he says. They definitely slap the golden handcuffs on you there, but I knew my portfolio sucked after being there for three-and-a-half years. I looked at what I had to show and I winced.
Helfrey took a chanceaas well as a pay cutaand packed up and moved to Portland to work with Jeff Berry at Gerber Advertising. Three months later, he and Berry went to work at The Evans Group, Portland, where even though he got some good work, he didnt stay long. Helfrey says there wasnt much corporate dedication to the Portland office, so that turned out to be an iceberg that slowly melted while we were sitting on it.
So Helfrey left, and along with Berry and his wife, Cheryl Vandemore, founded Elvis & Bonaparte. It may have seemed like a bold move to open up shop in the shadow of Portland behemoth Wieden + Kennedy, but as Helfrey points out, There isnt a client in the world whos gonna say, AWeve narrowed it down to two, and its Wieden + Kennedy and Elvis & Bonaparte. Thats not something I lose sleep over. Besides, Helfrey feels that Wieden + Kennedy gives Portland creative cachet.
Elvis & Bonaparte is still fairly smallathe agency produced only about six spots last year, including Bill, Dan and Todd, directed by Vance Malone of Food Chain Films, Portland, for Oregon Public Broadcasting. But Helfrey says the agency is now attracting more national clients, something hes very happy about.
