• Work
  • About
  • WNW

JUSTIN GIGNAC

  • Work
  • About
  • WNW

WORKING NOT WORKING

In 2011, my buddy, Adam Tompkins, and I decided to do something about the lack of structure and support for freelance creatives. Not just creatives that were between jobs, but the really good ones that wanted to stay independent so that they could have creative lives beyond how they earned a paycheck. Some of the best talent in the business fits into this category. So we conceived Working Not Working, the first real-time network that broadcasts the availability of the best freelance creatives to companies looking to hire them. Built by Oak Studios, we launched in January 2012. To date we have over 1,000 creatives on the roster and some of the best creative companies in the world use Working Not Working to manage their freelance talent.

WANTS FOR SALE

In July 2007, my wife, Christine, and I started Wants For Sale. We paint things that we want, then sell the painting for the price of the real item. So you can buy "A Wii" for $270.92 or a "Slice of Pepperoni" for $3. When the painting sells we go out and buy that thing. 

In the first two weeks, over 40,000 people visited the site and the project has since been featured in Daily Candy, NPR, GOOD, The New York Times Magazine as well as blogs and newspapers worldwide. So far, we've gotten everything from a plate of Buffalo Wings to a full Vegas Vacation.

NEEDS FOR SALE

After starting Wants For Sale, Christine and I realized there was something that we both really wanted, the ability to help others. With that in mind we created Needs For Sale. It follows the same premise as the Wants series except every painting is for a specific charity. Habitat for Humanity says that a $100 donation buys a kitchen sink, so we painted "A Kitchen Sink", sold it for $100 and donated 100% of the sales to Habitat. Since its launch in 2007, we have raised over $7,500 for charity.

UNICEF GOOD SHIRTS

In 2011, with the worst humanitarian crisis in the world unfolding in the Horn of Africa, BBH New York, Threadless and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF partnered to launch GOOD SHIRTS. The shirts were available on threadless.com and featured an innovative pricing structure: each cost the exact amount of the aid item depicted on the shirt. Twelve shirts were designed and illustrated by my wife, Christine, and myself, in line with our Needs For Sale project. The shirts raised over $375,000 for the cause.

OFFICEMAX : ELF YOURSELF

To help OfficeMax stand out during the crowded holiday season, we created 20 holiday themed websites. Of those sites, "Elf Yourself" exploded to garner over 36 million visits in just 5 weeks. In it's second holiday season, the site amassed over 193 million visits in under 6 weeks. The world's elf fetish has continued every holiday season since the original in 2006, making it perhaps the most viral marketing effort of all time.

NEW YORK CITY GARBAGE

In 2001, I started selling garbage. 100% authentic New York City Garbage. The trash is hand-picked and arranged in Lucite cubes that are signed, numbered, and dated. Today, more than 1,300 cubes have been sold to over 30 countries. 

Regular cubes sell for $50, while limited edition cubes from events like the World Series at Yankee Stadium, New Year's Eve in Times Square and the Republican National Convention go for $100. In March 2007, the first international edition of NYC Garbage was created, thanks to a commission by the organizers of the St. Patricks Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland.

BLINDFOLDED GIFT WRAPPING

What's better than getting a gift? Getting a gift that was wrapped by artists, in blindfolds, at Partners & Spade.

In December 2009, my wife, Christine, and I did our best to wrap gifts blindfolded in the name of art and raising money for charity.

We reprised our performance at the Etsy Holiday Shop in December 2012.

SECURITY!

SECURITY!™ is an 18k gold-plated sterling silver pin with white diamonds on the front and back of the piece. An opulent interpretation of the shoplifters worst enemy.

Designed by Justin Gignac. Fabricated by Max Steiner Design.

3.5 x 1.125 x .75

QRAPPING PAPER

I was inspired to give new life to a technology that had basically been relegated to linking to shitty websites for lame ad campaigns. In a little over 4 weeks, QRAPPING PAPER™ went from conception to market just in time for Black Friday - thanks to the help of my talented friends who helped me concept, shoot and edit 56 ridiculous holiday videos in that time. Behind each QR code is an original holiday video, turning any gift into a tiny holiday film festival.

VIRGIN MOBILE PAYGOISM

Paygoism is born! With the competition heating up in the pay-as-you-go market, it was time to let Virgin Mobile users know what we stood for. Led by our benevolent preacher, Reggie, Paygoism offered salvation from the Evil Contract Demon.

VIRGIN MOBILE TEXT FEST

Text Fest – the Paygoistic celebration of expressing your opinions on any subject whatsoever.

STAPLE DESIGN

A collaboration with my crazy talented friend, Craig Duffney, on two pieces for the Staple Design Spring 2012 "Theology" line. Proud to have created the "Jesus Piece of New Eras" with Mr. Staple & Co.

GRIND COFFEE TABLE

The creators of collaborative workspace Grind approached me to take my NYC Garbage project to the next level. They wanted a custom designed coffee table sculpture to enhance the entrance seating area. Instead of garbage as the focal point they requested items that symbolize the old way of working – fluorescent lightbulbs, old beige PC towers, a fax machine, Rolodex and various other relics from office spaces past. 

WORLD RECORDS

Before Dan Rollman and Corey Henderson started RecordSetter it was pretty hard to say, with certainty, that you were the best at anything. But, at this moment, I hold the world record for the Most Incorrect Astrological Signs Guessed in One Minute (32). And am the former record holder of Most Fortune Cookies Eaten and Read Aloud in One Minute (5).

My wife, Christine, and I were the originators and first record holders of the Most T-shirts Transfered Between Two People in 30 Seconds (8), but have since lost that crown. We redeemed ourselves by creating the Largest Lucky Charms Beard (61), which was set on St. Patrick's Day 2010.

NUDES OF CHATROULETTE

Nudes of Chatroulette was started in 2010 as a modern take on traditional figure drawing and brings a bit of humor and sophistication to the act of "Wiener Hunting." Over two days, I documented the various exhibitionists I found on Chatroulette and captured their perversion on paper.

If you are not familiar with Chatroulette you can learn more here or check it out for yourself. Definitely NSFW or children.

A few are still available for purchase. Please email if interested.

STRIDE MEGA MYSTERY

For years, Stride has intimidated and attacked their consumers to get them to chew more gum. With the launch of Mega Mystery, we decided to take the blitzkrieg to the next level and do whatever it takes to keep the secret flavor under wraps. This fueled feverish speculation and debate all over the web about the real flavor and lead to the most successful product launch in Stride's history.

KEEP A CHILD ALIVE

Keep A Child Alive was a brand new charity that spent 100% of donations on buying life-saving medicine for women and children with AIDS in Africa. 

We needed to cut through the clutter and predictability of charity advertising to let the public know that a solution to the AIDS pandemic was now within their reach. That they could personally save a life by becoming a drug dealer.

IBM

IBM wanted us to sell this really cool technology that was going to change the world. But it wasn’t really their product. You couldn’t hold it. You couldn’t see it. And most probably wouldn’t understand it. And the future of their $80 billion company depended on it.

We thought the best way to explain it was through a 10-year-old kid.

HUMMER

Not much setup for this one – just an ad I did in school that I thought should stick around.

WORKING NOT WORKING

— view —

thumb_WNW_800b.gif

WANTS FOR SALE

— view —

thumb_WANTScolor_800.gif

NEEDS FOR SALE

— view —

thumb_NEEDScolor_800.gif

UNICEF GOOD SHIRTS

— view —

thumb_UNICEF_400b.gif

OFFICEMAX : ELF YOURSELF

— view —

thumb_OMAX_400.gif

NEW YORK CITY GARBAGE

— view —

thumb_GARBAGE_800c.gif

BLINDFOLDED GIFT WRAPPING

— view —

thumb_BLINDFOLD_800.gif

SECURITY!

— view —

thumb_SECURITYcolor_800.gif

QRAPPING PAPER

— view —

thumb_QRAP_400.gif

VIRGIN MOBILE PAYGOISM

— view —

thumb_VIRGIN_400b.gif

VIRGIN MOBILE TEXT FEST

— view —

thumb_BATHTUB_400.gif

STAPLE DESIGN

— view —

thumb_STAPLE_400.gif

GRIND COFFEE TABLE

— view —

thumb_GRIND_800b.gif

WORLD RECORDS

— view —

thumb_RECORDSETTER_400.gif

NUDES OF CHATROULETTE

— view —

thumb_NUDES_800.gif

STRIDE MEGA MYSTERY

— view —

thumb_PUPPIES_400b.gif

KEEP A CHILD ALIVE

— view —

thumb_KCA_800.gif

IBM

— view —

thumb_IBM_400b.gif

HUMMER

— view —

thumb_HUMMER_400.gif
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.