Joel Clement /// writer /// cd
Creative direction in every direction. Half my experience gained in Asia, half in the West. A different perspective is what I bring to the table. Most comfortable outside my comfort zone. Cultural chameleon. Unwavering optimist. Hybrid creative. Art Director turned Writer turned CD. Eternal student. Particularly resilient with challenging assignments. Enemy of office politics. Advocate of office hijinks.
For my work history, you can visit my LinkedIn page here.
Thailand. Of the 40 countries I've travelled to so far, none have come close to matching The Kingdom's people, flavors, sights, sounds, life-balance, and beautiful chaos. I loved it so much I lived there for about 12 years. l learned to speak (I say intermediate, my Thai friends say fluent), and even read and write a good bit. This photo is from Chiang Rai, a small town up north where I lived in a wooden house on stilts for extended periods between jobs.
Perspective. I have a strong love of going far outside my comfort zone, geographically and otherwise. Even if it means getting mistakenly arrested and pulled off the street in Sao Paulo, slapped upside the head by a 4-foot tall cop and locked in the back of a cramped paddy-wagon full of Brazilian street criminals.
My first advertising award ever, at age 6. It was such a violent fire that several big, noisy, red trucks from the Peterborough Fire Department had to respond to the call. Joel and his friend had been playing with matches. He was only six years old but had managed to burn down a huge swath of pine forest behind his childhood home in New Hampshire. Later that year, the elementary school where Joel was a skinny little first grader held a poster contest for the annual Fire Prevention Week. As you can deduce, he had a wonderful life experience to draw upon and that insight led him to the concept ‘Keep matches away from children.’ The coveted first place prize, a shiny trophy of a fireman poised with hose, sits on Joel’s desk today. Out of the countless gold, silver, and bronze Cannes Lions, Clios, and One Show Pencils he has won, it is the only advertising award he has ever kept. Neither Alex Bogusky, Jeff Goodby, nor Dan Weiden have one of those.