Creativity Squared: Crystal Thane’s Endless Curiosity
Born and raised in Myanmar (Burma), Crystal is currently a senior art director at Giant Spoon who is a little too obsessed with flamin’ hot Cheetos. After moving to the U.S. with the intention of studying film, she stumbled into the world of advertising at Boston University and embraced art direction head on.
From Ogilvy in Yangon to Digitas in Boston, Crystal broadened her experience in the industry and eventually made the move to NYC where she currently "stirs sh*t up" for clients like Netflix, AT&T, and NBC. Outside of being an art director, she enthusiastically collects flamin' hot merch and enjoys dabbling in videography through music-related videos and photography for people and pets.
Person
I used to think of myself as an incredibly indecisive person. Is this the right colour? The right font? Is Option 1 actually better than Option 12 after all? I will overthink and analyse a hundred ways to approach an idea. Throughout the years, I’ve realised that what I used to perceive as a flaw — my indecisiveness — is actually fundamental to being a good and intentional creative.
Questioning everything and being endlessly curious but approaching every detail with intention sums up my creative personality pretty well. I’m an indecisive intentional creative. Or an intentionally indecisive creative? I can’t decide.
Because of my upbringing in Myanmar, I see the world through a very open “anything-is-possible” lens. If I was able to grow up under an oppressive military regime where individuality and freedom of thought is not encouraged, and somehow end up on the other side of the world as a creative who is free to fully express herself, anything could happen.
In that sense, I think creativity is both innate and learnable. Even in an environment where my creativity was restricted, there was still a nugget that I was able to take hold of and develop by meeting more creative people, consuming media and being inspired. It’s a muscle that can be trained with routine, but there needs to be an intention to hone it.
Product
One of my first core memories of advertising was at my first ever portfolio review as a student, when a creative director yelled out “F**K” consecutively upon seeing one of my spec ads. Ever since then, my most effective way of judging a piece of work is how much it makes me swear and think to myself “I wish I thought of that.”
If we dig a little deeper into the criteria of what makes a piece of work truly great, I usually find that it’s about being insightful, impactful, and ingeniously simple. The idea has to come from a place of human truth in a way that you hadn’t thought of before. It has to create some sort of impact on the audience and make them want to change their thinking and/or behaviour. And simplicity is everyone in the room going “I get it, that’s really smart.”
For my own work, I’m most proud of bringing the upside down from Netflix’s Stranger Things to New York’s most iconic landmark, the Empire State Building. To promote the release of the show’s record-breaking fourth season, we brought the two icons together in an epic activation with a massive projection show and viewing experiences, complete with drones and helicopters to capture the event. Seeing literally thousands of people gather on the streets of NYC for my work is a moment I’ll cherish forever in my career.
The industry’s creative output is something I’m always fascinated by — there’s always a bigger, better idea. Especially right now, we’re at a very interesting place with the use of AI rapidly growing. Although debatable, I’m excited to see what our industry does with AI (as well as other innovations and tech) and what can be possible in the future.
Process
When it comes to process, I like to think about the brief in the early stages of concepting with just a paper and pen. I start by writing down any thoughts, feelings, and nuggets of ideas that come to me. Then, I get together with my writer / creative partner (ideally in person with comfortable seating) and we throw out everything and anything on the wall to see what sticks. We talk things through, pressure test the ideas we’re liking, and eventually write them all down in a succinct way.
I start to visualise things in my head and pull swipe imagery to help support our ideas. Once we decide on the concepts with the full team, we get to the craft — my partner crafts the words and I begin to design and mock up whatever is needed.
If I’m stumped visually or need more inspiration, I tend to scroll online and get lost in pieces of work that might not have anything to do with what I’m working on but still have the power to inspire me creatively.
I definitely wouldn’t be the creative I am without my partner, my creative directors who push me, and the people I work with. It doesn’t matter where the idea comes from — the work happens because of everyone who builds on it, provides their own expertise, and helps make it real. Good work can’t be done without true collaboration, especially in advertising, and that’s what makes Giant Spoon a special place where we try anything, give a damn, and enjoy each other.
Press
I was born and raised in Myanmar, a country that was often compared to North Korea and Cuba in terms of dictatorship and oppression. Because of this, I was taught at an early age to follow orders obediently and to not speak up or stand out. Access to information and media was limited — sites like YouTube and Gmail were banned, but I still found a way to use them and learn about the rest of the world through pirated DVDs.
'Friends' taught me everything I know about America. WongFu Productions and Kurt Schneider on YouTube inspired me to create videos with my friends and upload them online, even through the painfully slow dial-up internet.
Despite the obstacles, I let my creative nature come out over time, and took the steps to get to where I am now. A lot of it was driven by the people I met along the way and their own creative journeys that motivated and inspired me.
All that to say, perspective is really important in our work and I try to keep an open mind when I’m meeting and working with others. I think agencies and clients should do the same in promoting representation and encouraging people from all sorts of backgrounds to create an environment where creativity can truly thrive.
