The word ‘swagger’ suggests a relaxed but cocky, self-confident walk. It therefore seems a fitting moniker for the new company said to be the creative force behind the work being done at Toronto’s Barkinhotstudios.

Two of the four partners in Swagger, Craig Small and Lhiam Greenlaw, are just that – relaxed and confident. Confident in themselves as artists and in their new venture; relaxed because the jobs keep coming in.

Swagger recently launched very quietly in the Barkinhot studios on Toronto’s Phoebe Street. Barkinhot had established itself as a top design shop long before Swagger and newcomer Small entered the picture. There, partners Greenlaw, Chad Maker and Tad Biernot created many typefaces and artwork for clients like Randy River, Adidas, Edwin Jeans and others, along with dozens of posters for such feature films as Better Than Chocolate and Hard Core Logo.

The teaming with Small, who recently left a post as Inferno artist/designer at Toronto’s Spin Productions, opens up further creative possibilities for Swagger, which Greenlaw says will act as ‘the creative team behind Barkinhot. Craig became the glue that holds it all together.’

Small and the folks at Barkinhot started musing about joining forces on a new venture a few years ago after working together on a series of projects through Spin.

‘The relationship with Craig evolved both personally and professionally,’ says Greenlaw. ‘It was a more comfortable fit for us. We share a lot of the same visions and the same ideas and the same direction as to where we want to proceed with our art as well.’

According to Small and Greenlaw, the creation of Swagger gives the advertising and film industries a viable new option for design work across broadcast, film, print, Web and interactive media. They say a key mandate when bidding on jobs is to always push the talent before the machine.

Greenlaw points to a pool of spots Small created at Spin as proof that a $1-million machine is still no match for a creative mind.

The ads, for Toronto radio station Flow 93.5, are simple but memorable. One features half an LP replicating a person’s head as it bobs to sounds one would hear on the urban-music station.

‘With the Flow stuff I had an Inferno [at my disposal], but I grabbed a DV camcorder and did it all on a Mac,’ says Small. ‘I put motion tracking dots on this guy we brought into the studio and had him dance. I tracked the face and applied it to a record. It was low-tech but effective.’

‘They were such great ideas but they were stripped down to such a low common denominator that they didn’t have to be a complete over-the-top, special-effects, 3D-type thing,’ says Greenlaw. ‘The great thing is, though, when we want to we can go to that level. We have the ability, but we don’t have to use Inferno or Henry.’

Small says he has continued working on the Flow campaign with Swagger, where he and Greenlaw agree the vision and the challenge of the company in broadcast is to make good-looking and innovative ads without always having to use the technological staples other shops turn to.

‘It’s like that magician who came out and started exposing all the tricks to the industry,’ says Greenlaw. ‘We’re sort of doing that right now by saying, ‘Nah, you don’t have to do all that.’ ‘

Swagger is currently working on a completely new design for Bluenotes (the relaunch of the Thrifty’s clothing store franchise), which will extend over many media.

One of Swagger’s main focuses of late is work on a touring photography exhibit called Rock Exposed. Sponsored by Kodak and others, Rock Exposed is a collection of the 500 best rock ‘n’ roll shots ever committed to film. Greenlaw is creative director on the project, and Barkinhot and Swagger will be producing a number of multimedia and video components for the exhibit. It begins its tour in January 2002 at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL and ends in Cleveland, OH at its permanent resting place, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

‘We’re really proud that a lot of the creative component will be coming out of Toronto: broadcast, print and merchandising design as well,’ says Greenlaw. ‘We’ve got a number of things proposed and scripted. There are so many components to it and it covers everything we feel we are good at. It’s very guerilla in a sense and very high-end.’

Small adds that the live-action production sequences will be on such a scale that Swagger will need to bring some DOPs on board. He also says that on projects like Rock Exposed and Bluenotes, Barkinhot/ Swagger acts as a ‘mini-agency,’ providing the creative for the ads as well.

‘We’re not restricted by what equipment and what format has to be provided,’ says Greenlaw. ‘We have open rein over the creative [on Rock Exposed]. It’s a chance for us to Swagger.’ *

-www.dontwalk-swagger.com