Will Johnson

With over 8 years experience in the brand design industry, Will's strategic understanding of what it takes to create a distinctive and successful brand, aligned with his creative eye and dynamic innovative style has kept our designs and ideas fresh and unique for our clients.

Will has received various awards from publications such as Communication Arts and has had many of his designs featured in a variety of design annuals. His clever and organized approach to any project, along with the fact that he often brings in his wife's fresh baking, makes Will a valued member of the WOW team.

When he's not at work you'll probably find Will on the ball field or hitting the trails on either his skis or mountain bike.

Q. As  nine year veteran, tell me about one of your most challenging projects at WOW.

A."Hmm. I'm not sure if I should go here, but I will...

We once had a client, who, to our delight (note sarcasm), formulated a very complex mathematical equation that he felt would determine what the precise size of his new company logo should be for all graphical applications.

Q. Names and identities for the brave. What does that statement mean to you?

A. "Well, in a nutshell, it's kind of a peek into what it's like to work with us. It's saying, 'Don't come to us if you want a nice vanilla logo or a comfortable name that blends into the competitive landscape'. (ie. Copy's Plus, QuickCopy, Copytime, CopyCopy). Rather, we'd like to see clients that really want to be different and stand out from the crowd in a memorable way."

Q. Outside of WOW, what's keeping you busy these days, Will?

A. "Is there such a thing? Well, since you asked, I've recently taken up the seemingly suicidal sport of downhill mountain biking, and have yet to seriously hurt myself or be impaled on a tree branch. I'm hoping to stick with it. 

Q. What type of brands continue to inspire you?

A. "I admire brands that are willing to take a bit of a risk and don't take themselves too seriously. It's a great thing when they're actually able to poke fun at themselves. Simply put, brands that realize that they don't need to appeal to everyone and everything.

Buckley's cough medicine is a great example of this with their slogan: "It Tastes Awful. And It Works." I just love how they're not trying to hide anything, it's a very straight forward admission of what their product does, but they leave you with the confidence that if you use their cough medicine, you'll feel better. I've got to admit, I've bought into it.

The Crocs website recently caught my eye, too. You know, those funny looking, bright coloured rubber sandals with the holes in them. Crocs finally realized the 'love-hate' mentality people have towards their sandals, so they embraced this fact, instead of shying away from it and launched a new website called crocslovehate.com. People can now go on their site and share just how much they love their Crocs sandals, or in contrast, just how much they despise them. To me, that's pretty cool!"