Edi started his career in Hamburg, Germany where he worked at Grabarz&Partner Hamburg on accounts like Volkswagen, Stern, and IGFM. After winning several awards including Cannes Lions, Clios, NY Festivals, ADC NY and ADC Germany, Edi took a creative sabbatical at the Miami Ad School Europe. There he had the opportunity to work at Saatchi&Saatchi Stockholm, DDB Stockholm, CP+B Boulder, and Y&R NYC.During that time, Edi won Young Gun Student of the Year for his work on Kinder Surprise, a D&AD inBook for Deutsche Bank and a Global Best Digital Award for McDonald’s Burger Roulette.
He was then recruited by Doner Detroit to help create work for brands like Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, and KBB. During his first year, he created award-winning work for KBB.com, helping the brand introduce a whole new website and drastically grow their click-thru rate.
After Doner Edi made the move to CP+B in Boulder, Colorado. There he helped relaunch an iconic American brand — Fruit of the Loom. As a lead creative on the brand, he helped produce work that was recognized by the NY Times, creativity online Editor’s pick, TIME and many more news outlets. He also worked on brands like Domino’s, Microsoft and Jell-O.
Two years later Edi decided to pack up his bags once again, but this time to take an around the world backpacking trip to work on his photography skills and re-energize. This trip lead Edi back to Germany where he worked for 2 years as a freelance Creative Director for agencies like Heimat, Jung von Matt, DCMN, DOKYO and Plantage on brands like Heineken, Coca-Cola, Netflix, Mini, Hyundai, Volkswagen and many more.
Edi is Swiss/Mexican and is currently working at RPA, Los Angeles where he works on Honda, UNICEF, Farmers Insurance and Apartments.com. He is also Co-Founder of Viva con Agua California, a non-profit organization dedicated to bring water to the world using the power of joy.
His work has won several awards and was recognized by the numerous news outlets. He speaks Spanish, English, German, Swiss German, Portuguese, and sarcasm – fluently.
questionnaire
1. What was your very first job? What does it feel like to look back at it now?
DJ in a Bar in Hamburg, St. Pauli. Far yet present.
2. Please describe, in your own words, what your current job is and what work it entails.
I solve problems with tailored creative solutions to help clients’ growth.
Consult clients on strategy, branding, production, creative direction, and art direction.
3. How did you discover that the creative world is right for you? Was there a time in your life that you credit to this discovery? Which train of events did bring you to where you are today?
Being creative, exploring and solving solutions, has always been the driving force of what I do. I got the opportunity to go to Hamburg to study graphic design that eventually led me to work at Grabarz & Partner. From then on, I’ve worked at several agencies all over the world including CP+B, Heimat Berlin, DDB, Saatchi&Saatchi, on clients like Coca-Cola, Adidas, Heineken, Mini, and lead project-based creative for start-ups and independently-contracted clients. All of that experience brought me to LA, where I am working at RPA on clients like Honda, UNICEF, Farmers Insurance and Apartments.com.
4. In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how and where do you usually find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?
Be curious about everything. Inspiration might hit you from many different directions if you let it happen.
5. If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation it required, rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be?
For one entire year, I snapped a photo every hour while I was awake. The project is called “Every Waking Hour.” It was an idea that came to me after reading that teen suicide attempts were linked to increased anxiety due to the illusion that someone else’s life is better and more interesting. The root of this is social media. But what teenagers see are photoshopped and curated moments that don’t necessarily reflect an individuals life. With this project, I wanted to show that it’s ok to have boring moments because they are part of us. An influencer shows how awesome it is to be in Ibiza by the pool sipping on champagne, but doesn’t often show the not-so-aesthetically pleasing way of how he/she got there, the food they ate, the TSA line they had to stand in, and so on. By showing my life for a year — even the most mundane of moments, I hope to help ease the anxiety and pressure that social media is putting on society.
6. Which creative disciplines do you commission most, and are most interested in seeing more of and why? (ie photo, film, social, experiential, vr, etc)
I am interested in everything that pushes the envelope using creativity and a good technique or technology.