Students of Design

Kendrick Kidd – 20 Years at an Ad Agency, Sacrificing Letterform Nuances, and SpongeBob – Ep18

Episode Summary

Kendrick is a Creative Director and VP of Creative at Shepherd, a full-service ad agency in Jacksonville, Florida. He surfs and skates, and you can find him at Kona Skatepark with his kids on the weekends. Kendrick is just an all-around swell guy, and his work is fantastically textured, smooth, slick, cute, gnarly, or literally whatever it needs to be. Despite working at the same agency—Shepherd—for TWENTY YEARS, Kendrick does plenty of independent work for clients like Nickelodeon, Target, ESPN Magazine, Billabong, and Reve Brewing. Tune in for a talk about agency life, typographic taste, and his work for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Episode Notes

Kendrick is a Creative Director and VP of Creative at Shepherd, a full-service ad agency in Jacksonville, Florida. He surfs and skates, and you can find him at Kona Skatepark with his kids on the weekends. Kendrick is just an all-around swell guy, and his work is fantastically textured, smooth, slick, cute, gnarly, or literally whatever it needs to be. Despite working at the same agency—Shepherd—for TWENTY YEARS, Kendrick does plenty of independent work for clients like Nickelodeon, Target, ESPN Magazine, Billabong, and Reve Brewing. Tune in for a talk about agency life, typographic taste, and his work for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. You can find Kendrick on Instagram, Dribbble, and LinkedIn.

Questions for this interview.

• Kendrick, are you a leader?
• What do you think great leaders in the design and advertising industry do well?
• You've worked at Shepherd for 20 years. Why stay at the same agency for two decades?
• Have you ever worried that staying in one place for too long could lead to stagnation or cause you to stop growing creatively?
• What's the role of a Creative Director at Shepherd?
• Can you think of a misconception that people (with no agency experience) have but isn't true in your agency experience?
• You watched a lot of people come and go. Why do you think agency life didn't work out for some people?
• Imagine a recent grad wanting to work at Shepherd. What would you recommend they focus on to prepare for the interview?
• Art Director vs. Creative Director. Has one of those roles been more stressful or complicated than the other?
• How do you feel when someone says you're their design hero or calls you a legend within the industry?
• Where is your comfort zone, and how do you define it?
• You designed a modular typeface called Snips. Where did the idea for the typeface come from? Is there a story to tell?
• Do you think good typographic taste can be taught or learned?
• Who's your favorite SpongeBob character? Were any characters more fun to work on than others?
• What did you use as reference material, and where did you pull inspiration?
• Did working on such a high-profile IP (SpongeBob Squarepants) come with extra pressure?
• Have you outgrown falling into the comparison trap?
• Who's your favorite droid in the Star Wars universe?
• Is there any part of your process or technique that you turn to often enough to consider a crutch?
• You've had a long and successful career. What have you done right to get yourself to that point?
• Would you have stayed at Shepherd for 20 years if they didn't allow you to take on independent clients or support you the way they do?