NANCY DENNEY ESSEX AND JOSEPH MICHAEL ESSEX
ESSEX TWO, CHICAGO
LENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP: 20 YEARS
Joseph Essex and Nancy Denney met in the 1980s while working
at Burson-Marsteller in Chicago. “I was Nancy’s boss’s boss,”
says Joseph, “so we didn’t have much of an opportunity to work
together. She does say that once I critiqued something of hers so
harshly that I made her cry.”
Full-time work together didn’t start until 1989 when they
started Essex Two. From the beginning, they worked well
together. Early on they created a successful trademark in just
minutes using a Magic Slate, delighting the client and enjoying
the buzz that comes with perfect collaboration. While strategic
branding and identification along with naming and nomenclature
are their core strengths, they are a vertically integrated office, producing
annual reports, websites, and television commercials.
Work fits well with raising two boys, 9 and 11. “They know
nothing and everything,” Joseph says. “They regularly provide
comments, submit their own drawings, and generally critique
what we are doing.” This is especially valuable because much of
their work is for children and education-related clients.
“I love their instinctive, uncluttered reactions,” says Nancy.
Collaborating on large projects, day-to-day tasks are done separately.
“I’m a good art director, but not as good at executing,”
Nancy says. “Joseph is great at both. I often just express an opinion
or make a tiny sketch and he can bring things to life.”
Household jobs are divided according to temperament and
aptitude. “Nancy does the bills,” says Joseph. “I do most of the
shopping, cooking, and picking up. If I am Felix, Nancy is Oscar.”
Theirs is a successful case of opposites attracting. “Joseph and I
are fundamentally different,” says Nancy, “yet we notice the same
miniscule details. I would equate it to yin/yang. There’s a little bit of
work in the personal life and a little bit of personal life in the work.”
For them, it’s ideal. “It’s impossible to live and work any other
way when your partner is your spouse, your creative collaborator,
the mother of your children, and your best friend,” Joseph says.
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