You might not know Brent Smith personally but, if you’re a Pacers or Colts fan, there’s a good chance you’ve seen his work.
Brent is Well Done’s new senior art director and the talent behind more than 100 chalk art images of Pacers players that were stenciled all over the city in 24 hours to usher in the start of the 2018-19 season. The guerrilla marketing move ended up on the local news and in thousands of reposts on social media channels—and even got a shoutout from Quinn Buckner in the season-opening broadcast.
There’s more. Brent was also involved in projects that showed up at Super Bowls, Men’s and Women’s Final Fours, and other NCAA Championship games and Colts games. He’s also created environmental graphics for Purdue and Indiana Universities and the University of Loyola.
We wanted to know more, so we asked a few questions.
Q: You’ve been involved in a bunch of really cool projects. Which ones are you most proud of?
A: High visibility projects are nice to see once they are completed. But the driving force behind my work is well-thought-out and executed creative, from start to finish. The projects I’ve most enjoyed are the ones that might have received less visibility but achieved the best results for a client.
Q: You’ve got a great portfolio of work. What do you want to accomplish at Well Done?
A: The most successful agencies have a strong team dynamic to their group and that shows in the creative, so it’s what I’m looking forward to.
Q: How did you end up at Well Done?
A: I know Nick Honeywell (Well Done’s associate creative director) from college at Ball State University—we were friends back then. I had been looking for a senior-level art director position, Nick contacted me, and the rest is history. What really intrigued me about Well Done is just what I’ve heard about the staff, and the culture and how nice everyone is. I’m really excited for the talent and potential of this group going forward.
Q: Wait. You knew Nick in college. Tell us more!
A: Nick lived on the same floor as I did for two years. We often hung out together with another friend of mine from Noblesville. After college, Nick was a bit of a mythical creature who wasn’t easy to get ahold of. I’ve been having a great time reconnecting with him. Crazy how small the world can be.
Q: And you’re a Hoosier, right? Did you grow up in Central Indiana?
A: Yep! I grew up in Noblesville and now we (including his wife, Amanda, and children, Brayden, 4, and Giana, 2) live on the northwest side of Zionsville.
Q: You know the area, then, so we can ask for recommendations. What are your family’s favorite spots?
A: We’re connoisseurs of authentic Mexican food. One spot we like is El Toro in Zionsville: They have amazing carnitas. Wherever we’ve landed, we’ve always found a way to gravitate towards good Mexican food.
Q: What else? What other random things will you tell us about your likes and dislikes?
A: We love to travel. We’ve been to Spain, Italy (three times), London, Paris, Jamaica, and Hawaii, where we considered moving. I love new experiences; it’s really the same thing that attracted me to Well Done. I like getting out of my comfort zone so I can learn and grow with new people. And I love eating new food at different places.
Q: What about popular culture—what are you into?
A: I have an affinity for a brand called Homage out of Columbus, Ohio. They are a vintage clothing brand specializing in sports nostalgia. And not only do they have really good products, they also put out some really cool sports memorabilia. I probably have 25 to 30 different shirts from them. I really appreciate their attention to detail in their products and custom shirt design.
And, also, I’m really into Big Brother. My wife and I have been watching since the ninth season, and it’s currently on 22. We even get the live feeds.
Q: What’s the ultimate Big Brother moment?
A: When people are blindsided on veto night and somehow get evicted, it makes the game interesting. Trying to figure out various angles to win the game is also a lot of fun. You can win playing a very good social game or you can go far by winning the most competitions. Big Brother has a lot more layers than people might think.
Well, Brent, we’re happy to have you in the Well Done house and we hope you stick around for a long time!