Our Young Gun profile takes a look at some of the young talent across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles, people and companies across the buzzing industry.
Josh Parisi, Creative lead at Unbound:
Time in current role/time at the company: Seven years
I started my career at Unbound as a graphic designer and, over the years, transitioned into my current role heading up the Creative department.
How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
I grew up loving and continually absorbing every aspect of art and design, so I always knew I wanted to do something creative in my career. I figured the best outlet was to start with graphic design because it had such a broad artistic spectrum, so I pursued a design degree at university.
At the beginning of my second year, I was connected to the agency's founder through a recommendation from the graphic design faculty.
I began with contract work, and the rest is history. When I started, I always planned to use the agency as a building block to transition from design to creative. I'm grateful for the opportunities that have come to fruition and for the success and recognition within the industry.
Who is your right-hand person/who guides you day to day?
I work closely on each brief that comes through the door with the Managing Partner of Unbound, David Loughnan, and I’m also lucky enough to have an amazing creative partner, Erik Bernacchi. Both have, and continue to teach me, how to look at things differently, allowing me to explore endless possibilities strategically and creatively. They also taught me to continually challenge my own ideas to ensure the output is not just good, but great.
The nature of my work is highly collaborative, working with our design, technical and 3D teams closely to ensure we make the best creative and technical experience for our audiences.
I also owe a lot to my mentor, Yanni Pounartzis. I may not work with him day-to-day, but he taught me a lot about exploring my ideas and being true to myself, and he is a true inspiration.
What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
The space Unbound plays in is literally on the bleeding edge of augmented reality and immersive technology. Combining these new technologies with my background in traditional design and advertising allows me to solve problems in new ways that often haven’t been considered before.
Additionally, working closely with our incredible developers and designers allows me to fundamentally understand how the technology works, which is a huge help when finding creative solutions to briefs. No two projects are ever the same.
And the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge is to continually find new and innovative solutions to each problem. With immersive technologies, it's super critical that the use case makes sense - and that it's not being used because it's the trendy thing. It needs to have purpose. If you dig for something great, this will always take you into new territory that’s different, interesting and exciting.
Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
One of my mentors was a well-known ECD in Sydney, and I've always wanted to be in that position. I always wanted to work with big international clients alongside other creatives, pushing the boundaries of what's new and achievable.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
No hidden secrets here. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always turned to books and videos made by or based on my favourite designers from different disciplines.
I’m lucky enough to have close friends who share the same passion. We get to bounce ideas off and learn from each other.
I also spend most of my nights online searching far and wide through Instagram and blogs to gain fresh perspectives from talent around the world.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I come from a very close Italian family. For most of my life, every second Tuesday, my entire family gathers at my grandparent's place for a feed. Still, to this day, after dinner, my grandmother cuts my fruit up into segments like I'm 5 years old. My grandfather can't believe it, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
In five years' time I'll be…
Collaborating with more talented people and creating more beautiful and meaningful work. Over the past year or so, we’ve begun working with a lot of US clients, so the goal is to work on some more international campaigns. To also win my first D&AD would be great!
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