Top Creatives in OOH 2024: Eddy Herty

by Amber Larkins, OOH Today

For the next two weeks—we at OOH Today will be sharing more information about each of the selections on our list of the Top 10 Creatives in Out-of-Home 2024, and how they have made their marks on the industry.

Today the focus of our Spotlight is Eddy Herty, VP, National Creative Director of OUTFRONT Studios at OUTFRONT Media

Eddy Herty, who leads OUTFRONT Studios, an in-house boutique creative agency for OUTFRONT, has committed to helping businesses from various industries differentiate from their competitors in the OOH landscape. He has spoken at industry-leading events, including Infinity Film Festival, HOW Design Live, and NY AdClub, and he’s been a judge for OAAA’s OBIE awards.

Herty says picking his favorite work is like picking a favorite child, but he will always have a special place in his heart for one of the first billboard campaigns he worked on for Second Harvest Food Bank.

Herty says on awards, “I think STUDIOS has consistently had the most finalists for OBIES and close to the most OBIE awards actually won. I’m not really trying to “count” them, but we have them on a shelf.”

Throughout his career, Herty has had the opportunity to have work published in Print, logo lounge, ADDY awards, and more. He’s also felt honored to judge the CLIOs, the One Show, The OBIEs, and a handful of ADDY awards nationwide.

“[It] has been a real privilege to help decide what defines “Great OOH,” Herty said. But for him, it’s more about the relationships they build with their clients.

He says asking clients questions is important, specifically, “Why do you do what you do?” And he says OOH creators should not accept a generic “marketing-esque” answer, but instead dig for a passionate, personal answer.

“The secret sauce really is just giving a damn about people,” Herty said. “Understanding that if you pour your heart into the work, it will have a positive domino effect in the community.”

He believes it’s a great privilege to help people, places, and businesses grow stronger.

As a designer Herty believes that some elements of OOH design are objective and parts are purely subjective.

“I think people get a little tripped up by pride or ego in their idea and sometimes let that guide them,” Herty said. “However, there are things that are objectively bad in OOH.”

Some examples include the obvious; too many words or images that just don’t work on the specific canvas. But Herty said there is an even more egregious potential design error: when the ad benefits the client over the consumer they are trying to serve.

egregious potential design error: when the ad benefits the client over the consumer they are trying to serve.

“That’s objectively “bad” advertising. It’s without emotion and feels soulless,” Herty said.

Regarding the potential of “soulless” advertising, Herty is a little nervous about AI though it’s already been super helpful in helping him complete tasks that used to take an hour or more and is freeing up his time for conception and building relationships with clients.

But he’s also a little worried.

“The part that I’m worried about is the atrophy of our craft…not just OOH, but design as a whole,” Herty said. “There’s so much we learn in the struggle of ideating, of creating, experimenting, trying something new. AI can be a tool to help us do that or a tool for us to take the easy way.”

Herty strongly believes that OOH professionals should prioritize helping their clients grow and helping them grow for the right reasons rather than merely making a sale or winning an award.

“The work that I take pride in the most is the work that STUDIOS has done… not the work I’ve physically done. It’s when the light bulb goes off in the minds of our clients about trusting us in what they need to do vs. what they think they want… and when that lightbulb was set off by one of the 50 people on our team. That’s the “work” I’m proud of most,” Herty said.