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MK: A—B recently rebranded to NewWorld, marking a new chapter for the studio. What sparked that shift, and when did it become clear that a change was needed?

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When we went into our own rebranding process, we really wanted to shift to a name and identity that felt much more evocative and reflective of who we are as a creative agency, and how we saw our collective future. The old name worked for us at the time—it was a metaphor for change (i.e. going from A to B); it was also the initials of our founder Andre Banks. But we needed something that felt more urgent, a breath of fresh air that would inspire both our clients and our team to dream big and think about what a brighter future meant for all of us.

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The name NewWorld was inspired by a Bjork lyric, and I think it gives us an unlimited vessel to do our most powerful creative thinking. We also loved the idea of always striving for newness, to inspire breakthrough solutions in all aspects of our business and the climate at large.

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MK: There's so many unique focuses for NewWorld—cultural intelligence, deep persuasion, countering disinformation. How do those ideas reshape what branding can (or should) do today?

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Branding has gone through continual evolution ever since we started living most of our lives on the internet, and this moment is no different. Some people think traditional branding is dead. Some think it's completely irrelevant, that content is king, logos don't matter and advertising is falling on deaf ears.

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To me, branding can still be as imaginative and inspiring as it's always been, but the form has changed, and it requires a deeper level of understanding and intention for it to be effective. It's harder than ever before, but good branding will always communicate the spirit of whatever organization you're working for.

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At NewWorld, a primary focus is truly understanding audiences and their motivations. Who is persuadable, who is not, and why? This goes beyond simple demographic analytics, it requires a very deep dive into culture, values and the context in which people are making decisions about what they buy, who gets their attention and how they vote. We obsess about how a particular idea sticks. How messages, whether we agree with them or not, are consumed, at what velocity, and at whose expense. The environment for advertisers, storytellers and marketing people has become a chaotic warzone. One that is littered with confusion, red herrings and bad intentions.

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Given this climate of rampant disinformation, we believe branding has the power to tell the truth. To invite, connect with, and inspire audiences to create cultural movements bigger than what any one organization can do on its own. Branding can be a powerful part of that energy, to bring positive force and contribute to an exponentially greater good. This can be as small as a magical moment with a product, or as life-changing as inspiring someone to discover their life's mission. But in order to do that, you have to start with a deep cultural understanding. You have to obsess over who you are talking to, understand what moves them, and what turns them off. If the message isn't landing, all our "award-winning" work is just for our egos. Actual connection is more important than ever.

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*We actually just launched our first ever whitepaper, titled Everything's on Fire, and the theme is around why trust is collapsing - link here for anyone curious

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MK: You've worked with some serious names recently—YouTube, Google, A24, Gunna, Keith Lee. What's something from the past year that opened up a new lane—or level—for the studio?

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I think understanding technology, content and audiences has been a massive shift in the way we think. If people are skipping ads and doom-scrolling, as marketers we need to reckon with the possibility that we are making incredible creative that will never be seen. How can you communicate a serious message when brainrot is everywhere and everything's a meme?

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Creators are our new messengers. Social media is the new news. Raw content is more believable than overly precious design. Hero videos need to be 7 seconds. This new reality drastically changes how we concept creative ideas and who we partner with.

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One of our clients—a platform focused on helping people build financial confidence and independence—asked us to develop a rapid campaign to grow their user base, particularly among young people of color. We built a culturally resonant concept and partnered with talent like Gunna, Druski, Offset, and Keith Lee to spread the message of financial freedom. The results spoke for themselves: over half a billion impressions in just a few weeks, far surpassing expectations. Honestly, I don't think a traditional ad buy could've pulled that off. Short, spicy, and simple has been a winning formula for us lately.

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MK: What's a project from the past year that you feel most proud of—and why?

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A personal favourite of mine was the Mental Wellness project we worked on with Youtube last year. We were asked to help uplift their suite of mental health tools within the platform. The rates of mental illness and suicide in young people have jumped by 50%+ over the past decade.

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We worked with doctors and healthcare professionals from three world-class organizations—American Academy of Pediatrics, Child's Mind Institute, and The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)—to create a series of short, animated videos to help young people in crisis. The videos were super adorable, accessible and simple for kids to exercise their skills in self-compassion and grounding techniques. Being a part of something that could potentially be life-changing or life-saving was a massive honor that we didn't take lightly.

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MK: "Design is ready for a shakeup—and AI might be the thing to spark it." What do you hope that shakeup looks like?

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There's obviously been a lot of thought leadership and opinion about how AI can change our lives, for better or for worse. Is it a helpful tool that will save me time and make me better at my job? Or will it replace me entirely in 6 months? When it comes to AI, the only thing I know for sure is that we're all probably wrong about how exactly it will affect our future. Historically, humanity has always been completely off the mark about the direction and impact of pretty much every technological advancement.

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Having said that, I don't think the design world can escape an AI reckoning. It's already happening. Coke, H&M, and plenty of other big brands are making AI-generated ads. It's sparked so much debate around ethics, ownership, sustainability, and as an industry we're being confronted with existential questions about what the future of design will look like.

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My hope is that it will democratize design and unlock an entire generation of creatives. The high barrier to entry in design can be a thing of the past. Gatekeeping fonts will be over. Design obsessives from all economic backgrounds can have a more even playing field. I'm excited about what design will be able to do in the next era after we work out the logistics (and paranoia!).

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MK: Anything coming up soon that you're particularly excited about? I also saw NewWorld is hiring—happy to plug that to our community if you'd like to share anything!

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I'm actually really excited about design's place in our collective resilience. I'm excited to see how we will all adapt and get better and ultimately win in this era of change and uncertainty.

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Recently, I was invited to the Pratt Institute's School of Design to meet graduating students, review their portfolios and discuss future opportunities. This generation may be dubbed "the anxious generation," but I didn't see that at all. They were full of optimism and had so many incredible ideas about how they can build a new future, and how they can apply the tools of today into solutions for tomorrow.

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Pressure creates diamonds! And beyond any particular project, I think I'm most excited about how designers and creative people, particularly young people, will come up with new culture, languages and codes to push through to a better world.

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Full Bio: Clarence Kwan is the Chief Creative Officer and Partner at NewWorld.

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As Partner and CCO at NewWorld, Clarence leads the agency’s Creative Studio, overseeing all brand strategy, campaign development, design and creative execution, maintaining the highest standards for design thinking and strategic excellence.

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A transformational creative leader with 20+ years agency experience, Clarence’s clear vision and no-nonsense leadership have helped top-tier organizations—including A24, Adidas, Amazon, Canada Goose, Doctors Without Borders, IKEA, Lululemon, McDonald’s, MTV, New Era, Nike, the Olympic Games, Red Bull, Timberland, and YouTube—discover and evolve their identities through internationally-recognized, award-winning creative.

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An experienced brand builder with a deep understanding of design, culture and identity, Clarence has an innate sense of where culture is going, what is relevant and who are the people driving culture forward. He creates impactful connections that rise above the noise, devising surprising solutions to the most massive problems—and the tiniest ones.

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His writing and cultural commentary have been featured in 032c, i-D Magazine, The LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Vice, and at The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY).