I’ve been meaning to catch up with Samuel Albert Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III of Friends With You since I started Yo-ster because, to put things simply, we have a lot in common. They believe Magic, Luck, and Friendship™ are powerful enough to trademark (they did). They believe that if you think happy thoughts, patience and charisma will help you achieve anything you want to do. Me too.
Established in 2002, FWY is a well-respected, very cute Miami-based art collective whose bright toy-inspired products and youthful installations made them famous. These days the studio also offers branding, animation and new media to major clients with a common goal: connect people. FWY start any project by creating a unique dream world where imagination becomes reality. Then they introduce you to new endearing friends who will mostly likely send you telepathic ideas of positivity for you to spread. Their happy art is merging the worlds of art and merchandising which is great for business because happiness is, in fact, contagious. Here’s what they had to say:
Can a message of universal kindness change the way people think?
Of course! Our method is to use every modern measure of cultural significance to implant our vision and message. From fine art to entertainment and licensing, to advertising and branding, we are injecting our magic into all modern currents of thinking.
Your unique approach to branding at FWY Studios, where your multi talented team crosses fine art and commercial work for hire, combines several bizarre elements most often left out of commercialism completely: Magic, luck, and friendship. Firstly, how is this even achieved? Are your commercial clients ever skeptical to your hugs? How do you get them to come around and be friends with you?
They can’t deny it. They are starving for the magic.
How do you use the outcome of a campaign to strengthen a future project? What are key performance indicators for you? Aside from, you know, magic and luck and friendship.
Each project gives us new tools and information to do things more efficiently and to dream bigger and better. Each element is like a brick in the construction that is our entire universe.
Do you dream in color?
Definitely!
