Creativity Squared: Get Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable with Joel Walker

Joel Walker found his home at Blue Chip right out of Marquette University in 2004. Since then, he has contributed to the creative of just about every client the agency has ever had. Joel now oversees all creative on accounts such as Procter & Gamble, Emerald Nuts, Gallo Winery, Daisy Sour Cream and Merrell footwear. He has always lived in or around Chicago and never had a preference for any of the city's various styles of pizza. He will graciously enjoy them all.

Person: What kind of creative person are you?

So much of my creativity is driven and inspired by the world of art & culture.

I was the kid that begged his parents to subscribe to like, 10 magazines by age 10, ranging from Spin to Vanity Fair to Sports Illustrated to Premiere (huge Premiere guy). I was obsessed with understanding all I could about how to make something creatively, whether that be a film, a tv show, an album, or even an ad. I think part of the reason I loved magazines, or the printed medium in general, was so that I could rip out ads or photos I found interesting.

I would have stacks of stuff compiled and never wanted to throw anything out. And even now, there’s this great newspaper and magazine shop just down the street from my house that I’ll stumble into whenever I’m feeling stuck.

I’ll buy a few pop culture, art or design magazines that catch my eye, rifle through a few pages, maybe rip some out, and start gathering a vibe that can spark something that I’m working on. I try to do a similar clip/photo dump digitally, but I eventually find myself printing things out anyway and doing it analogue.

Because from there, since I have a writing background, I have to be able to write things down. Ideas, lines, whatever the image or article is inspiring, has be physically jotted down or else it’s almost always gone. So yeah, you could say I’m a tactile, culture-driven, hoarding kind of creative.

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

I typically start with a sense of gratitude and empathy for the creative(s) presenting the work to me. This is an incredibly hard job to do, let alone do well, or at least, do well consistently. So I’d like to think I start there, with that understanding. That way, if something immediately piques my interest in any way, or it simply catches my eye and stops me in my tracks, I know it’s got something. 

Then I evaluate it against the brief and the brand. Is it on both? This step is crucial albeit a bit boring. And sometimes a really breakthrough idea taps into something beyond the brief, beyond the brand’s expectations and things get really exciting. But more often than not, it must feel on brand and on brief. 

And last but not least, I try and always ask the question: will anyone care? Yeah, it might derive from an outstanding insight or look cool or make us laugh, but at a certain point, you have to be as objective as possible and ask yourself in the most critical way “will people care about this?”.

If the answer feels like something you feel like you have to defend, it’s likely symptomatic of a larger issue with the idea.

We talk often at Blue Chip about the RTB+Cs: Reasons to Believe + Care. And no, it’s not just because they’re conveniently the initials of the agency. The reasons to believe are rarely enough to create impact. People HAVE to care.

And I think this criteria continues to evolve because you’re hopefully shrinking the taste gap as you progress into your career. I’ve always loved that Ira Glass quote about the taste gap where early in your career, even if your taste levels are high, your skill levels haven’t quite caught up. So you spend the entirety of your career aiming to shrink that gap and become a stronger overall creative that can actualise the tasteful images and ideas in your mind.

And I think the same is true for how you give feedback.

Early in your career, it is reactionary, impulsive, at times brutally honest, which can be a good thing or a bad thing. But the more you experience different styles of feedback and alternative ways to think about an idea, you begin to hone in on the best way to evaluate the work.

I fear that the industry’s shift to this emphasis on speed can compromise this process if your creative leadership isn’t laser-focused on the strength of the idea beyond the speed of the execution. Whether it be in the context of AI or simply the rush to create and post content, marketing can’t be reduced to an engineering problem. Predictive modelling creates predictable outputs which lack imagination and kills the value of creativity. Speed is nothing without substance and a permission to explore the unexpected.

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

It always depends on the nature of a project, but I typically start with that collection of clippings, saved imagery or videos, or anything else I’ve logged away to help stimulate my thinking. I might put those images up on a wall or create some kind of moodboard or just descend into a deep rabbit hole of YouTube content, but it’s always where I like to start (and more often than not, where I’ll keep going back to until I feel like I’ve got it right).

I prefer to collaborate with others on this process. Hearing/seeing/watching what is inspiring to others provides the variety of perspectives and tastes necessary to ensuring the work feels unexpected and fresh. If it’s all coming from my vibe, my taste or my collection of inspiration, it’s going to inevitably feel connected from project to project. Yes, when it comes to writing the thing or sketching out whatever, I prefer to be alone and focused. But that initial discovery stage should feel like a collective of thoughts and resources.

I’ve always struggled with the feeling of 'it’s done'. I would never call myself a perfectionist, but I’m rarely, if ever, someone that feels like a spot or an ad is finished. Even when I’m perfectly delighted with it, the client is happy, the product is due or literally in market, there’s always something I would want to do to evolve it. Typically in the form of the next element of the campaign. How we might the brand react in social or PR to any response of the creative. I don’t know, perhaps I’m always just ready for whatever’s next. 

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

I think starting at a smaller agency and working my way up from here, and only here, has shaped my entire creative identity. Blue Chip has made me more versatile, more determined, more relentless. Very few creatives get to contribute at the level I was able to contribute so early in my career. And again, the work provided me range – shopper, brand, healthcare, etc. It’s been a remarkable stroke of good fortune. 

But it’s also inevitably created a somewhat limited worldview. That’s why it’s been so imperative that I continue to surround myself with leaders and creatives that have had the complete opposite path. That have completely different perspectives on what great work is and how to get there.

I mean, I’ve always loved looking around other work throughout the industry and pointed to what’s made me the most intrigued, or better yet, the most JEALOUS! And thankfully, I’ve been so lucky to have worked with real industry gamechangers that have graciously enlightened me to what else is possible.  

One bit of advice that I would give clients to get the best from their agencies is to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.

And that doesn’t mean that they should immediately or instinctively throw out rule books or brand tenets. It’s about an openness to hearing and seeing something they would feel uncomfortable running. Doesn’t mean they have to do it or follow through on it. It just shows their agency that they’re always willing to listen, to explore, to push to the limits, and ultimately, willing to embrace change.

If they reciprocate that kind of creative wonder, the work they will receive will never be boring.