Craft, Beauty and Creative Problem Solving
As the clink of glasses chime through winter-fogged restaurant windows, I join a few fellow industry influentials over an end of year dinner, asked to cast my perspective over the last year, along with wishes for the year ahead. And what a year it’s been!
The year will end having seen some incredibly creative and innovative work. The kind of work that keeps us all inspired and muttering, under bated breath, "wish I'd bloody thought of that."
Some personal highlights include work ranging from Kmart’s ‘Jingle Bells’ to 3 Mobile’s ‘Dancing Pony’. From Marmite's ‘Just don’t forget it’ campaign to Volvo's epic splits, it’s quite easy for landmark campaigns done earlier in the year to be neglected. Lest we forget the amazing work done on PETA’s ‘Great Apes’ or Qualcomm’s ‘Snapdragon’.
As we all continue to navigate the ever-challenging production landscape, I'm continually astounded at the level of creative problem-solving required in making the aforementioned campaigns. The executive and bidding producers in the production, visual effects and editorial worlds are working to such an array of complex scenarios, it’s sometimes like nailing jelly to the wall. The historic role of the executer has been far outshadowed by the necessity of true and valuable creative problem-solving.
Since opening our New York studio nearly three years ago, the journey from "boxes in a temporary broom closet" to a fully designed, functioning facility has been amazing. The talented people I work with inspire me every day and the business culture is where there is a tangible appetite for bright artists and producers. NYC has been an incredible and exciting place to start up a business.
Being part of a family of studios has also allowed an unprecedented opportunity for talent and knowledge sharing. We recently opened up new studios in Amsterdam and Mexico City allowing us to tap into some incredible local talent. It's that talent, along with our clients’ insatiable appetite for innovative ways to communicate, which has seen a growth in our work around experiential and interactive projects.
I'm very optimistic and excited for 2014. The Super Bowl work in the pipeline is a bit more exciting than last year, and I feel there is a renewed emphasis across the board on the craft and quality of work being output. This year we've seen some great integrated campaigns with a host of creative activations and our in-house digital team is already busy working on exciting experiential installations for the new year.
The common denominator, I'm pleased to say, is that well-crafted beautiful imagery is still at the heart of all these ideas. As for my wish, it’s hard to settle on just one, but I’m hoping my backhand improves as well as the bottle of ‘95 Margaux that’s been hibernating under my desk for ages.
