In a Fast World, Alice Tran is Showing Good Things Take Time

Alice Tran is a graphic designer-turned-art director based in Sydney. After almost six years in the advertising industry, she's been lucky enough to get her hands on projects of all sizes -- from shooting brand campaigns all along the east coast of Australia to crafting content and visual identities for hotels in New York.

No matter the scale of the project, her approach to creativity has always been the same. She believes great work is simple with a clear idea. It also doesn’t hurt to be slightly obsessed with the small details and making sure that every part of the project feels considered and intentional.

LBB> Person: What kind of creative person are you?

Alice> I’m a quiet, introverted creative. I like taking my time: reading, researching, and thinking things through before jumping in. In a world that often favours the fast and the loud, I’ve learned to be okay with how my brain is wired and work with it rather than fight against it. Even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, I believe there’s still something valuable in taking your time, especially in a world where we’re creating and consuming content at breakneck speed.

Creativity will always be messy and a little contradictory for me, and that’s exactly what I love about it. The chance to learn, grow, and explore new sides of myself with each new piece of media or project I work on feels endlessly exciting.

I also don’t believe creativity is reserved for a chosen few. I think it’s a mindset shift to be more open to new ideas and possibilities. I know, easier said than done... Sometimes it feels like I’m still trying to find my feet with this whole creativity thing.

LBB> Product: How do you judge the creativity of a piece of work?

Alice> I think a piece of work is truly creative when two unexpected ideas or themes come together and resonate with the experiences of people. It has to be simple too, both in the idea itself and the way it’s visually packaged for the world to experience. I don’t think creative work needs to set the world on fire, but when it gets you thinking even for a second, “oh, that’s kinda funny/spicy/clever”, I believe that’s creativity at work.

As I observe the industry’s creative output, I see that we are really in an interesting time where AI is quickly dominating every part of the process. With its proliferation, it’s abundantly clear how much it’s helped to cut out the time-consuming and inefficient parts of the process. It becomes frustrating however when people think they could completely replace real human creative thinking.

So long as humans walk the earth, I think it’s impossible to completely replace human creativity. It’s not something that can be measured against a series of checkboxes. It’s subjective and fickle, so while I don’t believe AI will take all our jobs (at this point in time), I appreciate that it’s a powerful tool that’s already changing the way we communicate, create and share ideas and I’m looking forward to seeing the tangible changes it can make in solving problems (big and small) in the world.

LBB> Process: Tell us about how you like to make creative work?

Alice> My creative process usually starts with a big ol’ ugly brain dump in the shape of a mind map, and the theme/ prop/ brand name at the centre. It doesn’t make much sense in the beginning because it’s usually more flow-of-consciousness, but I prefer this approach to help me put aside the bad ideas. Sometimes they go somewhere, and sometimes they don’t -- I try not to put too much pressure on solving anything at this stage. Eventually, these would spark a few keywords or expressions that I would build on, investigate further, or use as a springboard for early visual explorations.

Some of my best ideas come when I step away. Sometimes that means sleeping on it, switching up my workspace, or just moving things from screen to paper. Throughout, I try to stay open and zoom out now and then to make sure the brief is still being answered. The work feels done when it answers the brief and looks sharp (but most times, it’s when my CD gives the thumbs up).

While making creative work for clients is a large part of my working day, what continues to keep my creative soul fed outside work is making art -- whether it’s painting a mural for a hip bar in Darlinghurst, collaborating with a shopping centre to design their visual theme, or simply playing with a new paint medium in a tiny sketchbook. Sometimes we need a pressure-free outlet, and it’s cathartic to own a creative direction that’s untethered from stakeholder opinions and testing.

LBB> Press: What external factors have shaped you, and what can make or break a creative project?

Alice> I grew up in the south-west Sydney suburbs and continue to live, work and play here. My first memory of the power of images was in primary school when I came across children’s book author and illustrator Shaun Tan’s work. I’ve always loved drawing, and as much as I appreciated Tan’s artistic style, I resonated with how a lot of his stories made suburbia look magical. I was instantly enamoured, and still am today, by how an image has the power to reflect the world of its viewer and move them.

After feeling a little lost, then graduating with a Bachelor in Vis-Comm, I stumbled into a funny little industry called advertising. In the beginning, I learned mostly through osmosis how creatives crafted ideas and packaged them in a way that was digestible to the masses. At times it can be a tough industry, but what’s helped to shape the creative I am today is asking myself: “what would [insert creative director/fictional character’s name] do, if they were in this position?”

While I’m no stranger to juggling several things at once and needing to work at pace, I think my creativity suffers when I’m stressed on my own. When I’m stressed, I start taking things too seriously, and when I take things too seriously, I stop taking care of myself.

You’d think, then, that perhaps I would be the type to at least make sure that my working area is ordered (one less thing to stress about), but I find that a controlled level of clutter helps spur my creativity. A bit of clutter lets my brain know it’s okay to let loose just a little.