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Cabell Harris
Cabell Harris
Owner
WORK Labs
Both Adweek and Winners magazine have named Cabell Harris—owner of WORK Labs—one of the top 10 creatives in the nation. And today, some of the largest ad agencies and clients in the country depend on him to solve their problems through creative thinking.
Harris began his career the Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia in 1981 and went on to become creative director at Hill Holliday of Boston and Chiat/Day, New York. In 1991, Cabell became creative director of Livingston and Keye in Los Angeles. There, he focused his energy and talent on television production. A few years later, in 1994, WORK was born.
Harris designed WORK to be an agency for agencies. Agencies that have hired WORK include Ogilvy, Fallon, Chiat/Day, BBDO and McCann Erickson. Through these agency relationships, WORK has had the opportunity to do projects for name-brand clients such as Exxon, Sears, Hershey’s, British Petroleum and Miller Brewing.
In 1995, Cabell returned to his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and brought WORK with him. Four years later, WORK joined Ogilvy & Mather’s “Syndicate,” a consortium of six of the nation’s hottest independent creative shops who assisted Ogilvy with new business pitches as well as campaigns for existing clients.
In 2004, Cabell launched WORK Brands, which takes WORK branded products to market. Examples include WORK beer and WORK apparel. A year later, he started a new product development company called WORK Labs. Today, clients come to WORK Labs for original thinking in a marketplace crowded with copycat ideas, shallow thinking and poor execution. WORK Labs has produced nine books to date, and is presently in the production phase of three others.
Cabell’s work has been recognized multiple times in every major industry award show including Cannes, the Clios, the One Show, New York Addys, Art Directors Club, British Design and Art Direction, Effies and Communication Arts.
Along with running WORK, Cabell is a professor at the VCU Adcenter, and, in 1989, founded Save The World, a non-profit educating the public on environmental issues.