"This is a brief note to describe my professional experiences with Carl Koestner. Though I could use continuously overused words like ‘collaborative’, ‘talented’, ‘professional’, outside the box’, etc., it doesn’t begin to describe Carl. While he displays the above qualities in spades, there are concrete reasons why the very best commercial directors line-up to shoot Carl’s ideas. The emotional impact of each of Carl’s spots go far beyond the requisite ‘bite and smile’ or ‘tear jerker’. Carl’s images are specifically designed to make the viewer do something that very few spots attempt. They make the viewer ‘think’. Carl is a master at getting real emotions to the screen. Doesn’t matter the feeling; laugh, cry, introspection, joy. Carl has continuously provided to his clients and viewers the ability to mold visual textures to very specific emotional ends. While easy to say, and most difficult to do, Carl delivers time after time a much deeper commercial experience than those that air near it. Any viewing of Carl’s reel will make obvious what I’m on about. Not only are you drawn-in by the images, but the story pulls the viewer in even deeper. Each of Carl’s spots strike a very specific chord. While tailored for and around client needs, all of Carl’s work tastefully insist viewer participation. There are only a very select few Creative Directors that execute these wonderful 30 second movies time after time as well as Carl. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions."
Michael Mazur
Director of Commercial Imaging at Filmworkers Club
"Carl is a truly brilliant creative, easily one of the best art directors I’ve ever met. I was privileged to work with him for many years, during which we did some of the best work of my career. Carl lives, breathes and sleeps big concepts; weak headlines and bland concepts seem to make him physically ill. He is tenacious, unstoppable and inspiring to those around him. He also likes baseball."
Eric Hahn
Senior Copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi X
"If there’s a person who loves advertising more than Carl Koestner I’ve never met him. Obviously, the reason he loves it so much is he’s darn good at it. He is a true student of the business which means he knows what’s going on everywheere, what’s been done before and how others have approached similar problems. He dissects every brief and comes up with a highly conceptual solutions. He has a keen eye for detail, plays well with others and always strives to win. But despite his competitiveness, talent and experience he’s never developed an ego to match. And if I know Carl he’s already found the typo in this endorsement. Good catch, Carl."
Dan Franklin
Chief Creative Officer at Creative Alliance
"I’ve admired of the work of Carl Koestner for a hell of a long time. When I was CD at Glass McClure, I hired him as a freelance Sr. AD for many campaigns. And to say that he blew me away would be an understatement.
His conceptual skills are second to none. And he proves it time and time again. He’s just one of those creatives who you’d kill to work with. Because you know that he’ll come up with ideas that you never would’ve thought of before.
If you’re looking for a CD/AD who really gets it and can really do it, call Carl. It’ll be one of the best calls you’ve ever made."
Billy D’Ambrosio
Associate Creative Director at Euro RSCG
"Carl is a tasty Art Director who works toward perfection at every phase. My last shoot with Carl was directed by Joe Pytka. A great shoot (but could have been a tough one) But Carl’s great working relationship with Pytka made the whole process a breeze. A spot which the President of McDonalds called “A home run”. Enough said."
Craig Wagner
Freelance Producer
"Carl Koestner is the kind of business partner everyone should aspire to be and everyone would want as their partner. He’s relentlessly dedicated, extremely hard-working, scary smart, and so ridiculously good at what he does, working with him would be intimidating as hell, if not for the fact the guy has literally no ego whatsoever. He has impeccable art direction and graphic design skills, hawk eye-like (no surprise there, after all, he is a Hawkeye) attention to the tiniest details – and a taste level so high, it’s hard to reconcile Carl’s humble beginnings amongst the rural corn and soybean fields of Iowa. We’ve been partners almost longer than I remember and even when there were a few years where our careers paths changed, and we didn’t work together as much, whenever we reconnected, it was if we had just spoken to each other the day before. And today, even after all this time, and even after the great body of work we’ve created together, Carl still manages to surprise me with his brilliant, unexpected, completely out of left field approach to problem solving on every project we tackle. However, the greatest compliment I can pay Carl – our “brother-from-another-mother” like friendship notwithstanding, is this: Since day one, Carl’s influence has made me better at what I do, and more importantly, he’s made me a better person. Long story short, Carl Koestner is the yin to my yang. So it goes without saying, I look forward to many more years of working together in partnership with him.”
Kevin Miles
Creative Director | Copywriter
“I have been directing commercials for over forty years and in that time I have worked with literally hundreds of art directors and creatives on thousands of projects. I am stating this only to give the following comments some context. In all those years there were only two art directors that I maintained a relationship with and Carl Koestner is one of them. Why? Because Carl, besides being the most affable, pleasant and collaborative person I have ever worked with, he is also the most inventive and creative art director, as well. It has been my great honor to know him and a privilege to have collaborated with him and his wonderful writing partner Kevin Miles on numerous TV spots for McDonald’s, Reese’s Puffs and a remarkable piece of creative, a TV spot for the 2008 Obama campaign. He is a major talent and a great mate.”
Robert Lieberman
Director with DNA
"Working and partnering with a photographer is very much a skill. As a commercial photographer, it takes me about 45 seconds to gauge the ability of an Art Director. Carl is a pro. He’s proof and evidence, that wisdom and experience, and smarts, makes the process and the finished product immensely better. Is he passionate about advertising? Yes, and he wears it like a sombrero."
Steven Wohlwender
WOHLWENDER
"Carl is fantastic to work with. His talent at creating is matched with his eye for detail and his ability to visualize ideas perfectly. I’ve worked with him on many projects over the last five years and every time has been fun and challenging. I feel lucky to have been part of his many successful campaigns."
Ginger Seehafer
Storyboard artist and illustrator
"Carl Koestner is the real deal. An ad man through and through. But also a contemporary creative with a lot of experience and know how to get the job done. And what I really mean is — there are a lot of arm chair creatives out there, who have no idea how to manage a team to produce top work, that is definitely not Carl. Thats why I wholeheartedly recommend him."
Michael Minogue
President/CEO at Darkhorse Creative
"Carl is the epitome of an “Ad Guy.” He’s a gifted art director and strategic thinker, a conceptual collaborator of all things possible. His attention to detail is unparalleled. If you’ve got several hours to kill, ask him to explain his philosophy about kerning."
Barry Zeidman
Freelance Producer
"Carl is an immensely gifted creative talent who takes immense pride in his work. His ability to nurture the creative process from inception to implementation is astounding, and his impeccable attention to detail is what sets his work apart. Carl is a master ring leader when collaborating with creative associates and cultivates a higher-level creative thinking from those around him. His work is precise, appealing and thought-provoking."
David Walker
Art Director at Darkhorse Creative
"I had the pleasure to hire Carl back in 1991 at DMB&B (St. Louis) He was one of the fresh young AD’s that we needed and he didn’t let us down. Smart concepts with very tasteful art direction. And a pleasure to have in the agency. Carl was always looking for a new twist in the work he presented and therefore did some of the better work in the shop, which was one of the best in the country back then. I would hire Carl again in an instant."
George Tenne
George Tenne Consulting llc
"I love working with Carl Koestner. He is extremely passionate about his work and is always open to brainstorming and exploring new creative ideas to make each current (or future project) the very best it can be. Carl is extremely dedicated, collaborates well, and is very considerate as well, which makes everyone on the team want to do their very best work as well. It is always a pleasure to work, edit, transfer, mix and finish with Carl."
Kathryn Hempel
Editor/Partner at Cutters
"Carl is an ad dude. You know: all advertising all the time. I tell him to chill now and then and enjoy life, but he tells me to shut-up. That’s what happens when your hobby is also your profession. He’s an ad nut. An old school ad nut, I tell you. The dude has a love for great work that is unrivaled.
We’ve worked together on a number of clients: McDonald’s, Toyota, Reese’s Puffs, Tide, etc. and it’s always easy and fun.
When Carl and I shot with Joe Pytka (name dropping) he was like a kid in a candy store. Not Joe, Carl. Between talking sports with Pytka and Space Jam and Joe’s commercials, I thought Carl was going to pass out.
Actually he did pass out later but that was from drinking too much soda.
He had a correspondence with legendary British ad man, Neil French. They wrote back and forth for a while talking about the biz.
He went to hear Jeff Goodby in Chicago the other night and brought along his book about the Got Milk campaign. Carl showed me Jeff Goodby’s signature, clutching the book like a kid holding a prize baseball card.
Who does these things?
One man. Carl Koestner.
Carl Koestner once told me the name of every art director in the 1992 CA Advertising Annual.
Once, Carl Koestner fought a bear....I digress.
Carl is a classic art director with a love for big ideas, great typography and an overall love for the business.
Any writer should jump at the chance to work with him.
I do"
Ron Smith
Associate Creative Director at Burrell Communications
"I had the pleasure of working with Carl on a Pillsbury Grands campaign, and was really impressed with his innovative approach to combining the subtle comedic nuances in the commercials with the clients message, making the spots both entertaining and memorable. In addition, his work on the No Kill Louisville print campaign was so emotionally powerful that upon seeing the rough layouts at the end of the shoot, a majority of the crew donated to this worthy cause. Carl is a pleasure to collaborate with, a dynamic asset to any creative process...and is a really good human."
David Jellison
Director at ACCOMPLICE MEDIA
"Sometimes you don’t have to work with someone side by side to recognize the quality of their work. Their work says it all. That’s how I got to know Carl. We’ve “known” each other when I unknowingly judged his work in an awards show. In fact, I gave it a Best of Show. Since that time, I’ve gotten to know Carl personally. He’s a good guy. Most of his work is the kind that I secretly covet, but don’t tell him that. He’s a great art director who knows how to come up with a great concept and design it for maximum communication impact."
Kevin Endres
Freelance Creative Director/Writer
"I had the pleasure of working with Carl when he worked his magic on Reese’s Puffs. His vision and translation of our strategic insights led to great work that drove impressive business results. His concepts were the basis of several integrated programs that allowed us to build a relationship with our multicultural youth target that drove the brand into the top tier of Big G cereals. I look forward to the opportunity to partner with Carl again."
Royal Allen
Experienced Integrated Marketing Professional
"I’ve known Carl for at least 20 years. We’ve worked together at a few places, most recently Burell Communications in Chicago. And one thing that has never changed through all that is his love of the advertising business. He has so much enthusiasm for making ads. It’s really refreshing. And he is a top notch problem solver. He comes from a school of thought where the idea is king, not the execution. Which is why it’s such a pleasure to work with him, especially as a writer. It’s hard not to be enthused about the work with Carl around. He’s one of the good ones."
Vince Cook
Freelance Art Director/Writer
"As a strategic planner, I love working with creatives like Carl, who think strategically, constantly see opportunities and work collaboratively. The results speak for themselves, with Carl’s bevy of strong, relevant and resonant ideas. He loves advertising and always has a unique and thoughtful perspective on … everything. Only thing wrong with him is that he’s a Cardinals fan. Other than that, he’s great."
Stephen French
VP Associate Director, Account Planning at Burrell Communications
"Carl and I have worked together on many TV projects. We have produced campaigns as well as single spots. Carl is creative, insightful, passionate, current and always ready to talk about the latest reality tv craze! He is a pleasure to work with and is all about team work."
Heather Mitchell
Post Executive Producer at Utopic
"It was my pleasure to work with Carl for several years. During that time, I discovered that he had many positive attributes that I was able to tap into. As a creative director, I was responsible for the work of my team. I must say that when Carl was assigned to a project, I never worried about whether or not he would come through. Carl is very astute when it comes to marketing strategies and his creative concepts are always right on target. Not only that but his ideas are quite often the winning ones! That’s because he has the rare quality of being able to fuse strategy and concept in a way that is consumer friendly yet fresh and engaging. As an art director, Carl is not merely a wrist for his writer partner, he is a big idea guy who just happens to have a great eye for visual composition and style. He is also an amazing technician who stays on top of new trends in the field of visual/digital arts. If I was to start my own ad agency, Carl would most definitely be on my short list of people to hire. His skill and expertise always made my job easier. It doesn’t get much better than that."
Brenda Blonski
SVP, Group Creative Director at Burrell Communications
"If you’re looking for creativity and perfection, you will find these characteristics in Carl. I continue to be amazed by his enthusiasm, passion and love for great advertising. Carl regularly burns the midnight oil in order to present the best idea possible. He’s a team player, has an amazing work ethic and a heart the size of Texas! You definitely want Carl on your team."
Debra Amsden
VP/Director of Broadcast Production at Burrell
"Carl is a great Art Director and Creative Director that is a joy to work with. He has a great positive attitude and he is a fantastic creative talent."
Debbie Scoppechio
Chairman/CEO at Creative Alliance
"Carl is one of my favorite people to work with. His can-do spirit and great attitude combined with awesome creativity make him a true partner. He is always willing to go the extra step and is never satisfied until the project represents his best work. I would not hesitate to recommend Carl to anyone looking for a great creative."
Cheryl Blockus
Director of Production Resources at Burrell Communications
"There isn’t a brief Carl can’t crack. There isn’t a brand whose story Carl can’t tell. However, his expansive experience has not given him all the answers.
Instead, it has given him something more valuable: Carl has finely honed a process to get to the good ideas. The kind of ideas that stand out in a presentation. The kind of execution that gets noticed by the Client. And most importantly, the kind of work that gets consumers off their butts and into the stores.
Super easy to work with, Carl comes at a project with insight and intelligence. He doesn’t settle for “one and done.” He teases out different directions, different takes on the same brief. Being able to produce a multitude of directions, Carl brings a lot to the table. Make no mistake, though. Carl knows when he’s got the goods. His instincts are dead on."
Al Wyatt
Creative/Director at Utopic
"Carl is a natural born killer advertising creative. “Carly-Carl” as I call him, has a gnarly gift and passion for this business. Everyone who has been fortunate enough to work with Carl knows his inexhaustible energy to push for something extraordinary ... all day and into the wee hours of the night."
Christine Saldanha
VP, Group Creative Director at Burrell Communications
"Carl is an excellent conceptual art director and designer. His work is not only outstanding, but he is a great guy to be around."
Michael Hutchinson
Creative Director at DMB&B, St. Louis