PHOTOGRAPHY
David Gaz’s photography is distinguished by a confident use of color and a deliberate, highly structured approach to composition. He often employs color not just as an aesthetic element but as a narrative device—using contrast, saturation, and tonal harmony to guide the viewer’s eye and establish mood. His compositions tend to balance precision with spontaneity, pairing strong geometric frameworks or clear focal lines with moments that feel candid and alive. This interplay gives his images a sense of intention without rigidity, where each element feels thoughtfully placed yet emotionally resonant, resulting in photographs that are both visually striking and quietly expressive.
His photography has been featured in Communication Arts, Graphis, Photo District News and many other publications. David has shot for award winning ad agencies like Publicis, Foote, Cone and Belding, DDB and BBDO and top tier magazines like Discover, Fast Company, Sports Illustrated, Time, Bloomberg and W.
FOUNDER/CEO THE BUREAU OF SMALL PROJECTS
Fortune 500 branding experience put to work for Startups, Nonprofits and businesses making a difference in the world.
During the making of the film Kindness Is Contagious, David interviewed people from non-profits, health care organizations and startups whose day job was making the world a better place. He got jealous, David wanted his day job to be making the world a better place too. So David started The Bureau Of Small Projects.
After many years working with Big Brands, he accumulated a large bag of “sneaky little tricks” learned through years of selling tennis shoes, luxury cars, sugary beverages, fancy clothes, electronics and other stuff that people don’t really need.
David’s goal is to help make the world a little bit better by teaching nonprofits, small to midsized businesses and startups (ones that are making the world a better place) to use these sneaky little tricks for good.
Kindness is central to the brand values and vision of The Bureau Of Small Projects.
BRANDING
The Planetary Society worked with David and The Bureau of Small Projects to update their logo and brand strategy. The original logo was drawn on the back of a napkin by the legendary Carl Sagan and they were looking for a more legible and modern logo – keeping the P that is formed by the rings of Saturn – and clear strategy to grow membership and increase engagement as the world reaches out to the stars like never before.
The Planetary Society was of course founded by Carl Sagan and is led today by Bill Nye. The Planetary Society exists to empower and connect the world’s citizens to advance space science and exploration and some of the brightest stars in history are part of their legacy.
That’s why David was honored to be chosen by Bill Nye to bring the Planetary Society’s branding and messaging into the 21st Century. With competitors like SpaceX, NASA and SETI, this was no easy challenge. But David’s branding process – focused on what makes organizations different and better than their competitors vs the brand story approach favored by most agencies was clearly the way to go. Not only does the Planetary Society have Star power behind them with affiliations by such luminaries as Carl Sagan, Bill Nye, Neil Neil deGrasse Tyson and many more, their mission to make space accessible to everyone speaks to you and me. Finding what it is that makes an organization unique is not always easy but with the Planetary Society we had a lot to work with.
BETTER
This is a book on branding. Specifically a book on branding for small businesses, startups and nonprofits. All well known brands were once small businesses, startups or nonprofits. Apple started in Steve Jobs’ garage, Nike out of Phil Knight’s trunk.
The Bureau Of Small Projects’ Value Proposition is: Fortune 500 and Big Brand Experience put to work for Startups, Nonprofits and businesses making a difference in the world. The way they approach branding is very different than the way most branding agencies approach branding. The way most branding agencies approach it is by focusing on Brand Story. David always hated this because it usually sounds like BS. The acronym for Brand Story is literally BS.
The way The Bureau Of Small Projects approach branding is to look at what your organization does differently and better than your competitors. That’s why Apple is such a strong brand. They make better computers. Nike makes better shoes. Sure they all have great stories, but that is not why they are such great brands. Nobody buys a brand because of their story, they buy a brand because that brand is different and better than their competitors.
Better is a “survival guide” for small businesses startups and non profits!!!
CREATIVE DIRECTION • CINEMATOGRAPHY • COPYWRITING
David Gaz loves the documentary format. Longer-form video that breaks the conventions of the traditional 30-second television spot defying audiences’ short attention spans with content they’ll keep watching. With competition for consumer attention at an all-time high, story is what makes ads that people feel compelled to share. According to research, 92 per cent of consumers trust “earned” media – such as word-of-mouth messages or recommendations from friends and family. More than all other types of advertising.
In this spot for the LA Dodgers, Dodgers hall of famer, Kenny Landreaux, talks about sportsmanship, athletes who are nice guys and what it takes to be a strong competitor.
Click here to watch more clips.
CREATIVE DIRECTION • BRANDING
Having began his career as a photographer in Paris, David Gaz was delighted when visionary fashionista, Michael Williams, invited him to become Creative Director for his NYC fashion magazine Imagista. He spearheaded the development of their new web platform. Imagista is committed to discovering, developing, and presenting creatively-driven, and exclusive content across a multitude of genres. In addition to the art, Imagista is building a massive database that securely hosts the imagery the of top international photographers, artist and filmmakers featured on the site.
